News release

Meijer Stores Reduces Cost with PC Management

Meijer Stores LP has adopted Compaq Computer Corporation's (NYSE: CPQ) Intelligent Manageability—an award-winning suite of tools designed to simplify PC management, increase information technology (IT) efficiency, and lower costs. By employing the Altiris eXpress software suite, Meijer Stores anticipates it will realize significant cost savings as it remotely maintains and upgrades more than 6,000 desktops in 150 locations with limited support staff and very little end-user involvement.

In a very competitive retail market, every effort must be made to get maximum value from all technology. PC management is the largest single cost associated with PC ownership in corporate environments—44 percent of the total IT budget, according to Forrester Research Group.

Meijer Stores, a 65 year-old Midwest retail chain, operates super-centers in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. The company needed an efficient tool to refresh and maintain its vast number of desktop computers operating on both Wide Area Network (WAN) and Local Area Network (LAN) environments.

"We have been a Compaq shop for several years, so we are familiar with the dependability and power of Compaq products," said Gary Dall, manager of Network Technology IT Services for Meijer Stores. "We were pleasantly surprised by the options that Altiris offers as a Compaq business partner. The Altiris eXpress features that appealed to us most were its imaging capabilities, the RapidInstall package, and the ability to use Altiris with different operating systems."

Altiris eXpress is an easy-to-use, integrated software suite for remote management of PCs throughout their lifecycle. The software allows companies to deploy software images to new PCs, migrate user preferences and data from old systems, distribute software updates for ongoing management, and back up critical PCs for disaster recovery.

Altiris eXpress is one component of the Compaq Intelligent Manageability suite, a client management solution that helps reduce time and costs associated with PC ownership. This comprehensive offering allows companies to redeploy IT resources to focus on projects that contribute directly to their profits. Hardware features, software tools, and management utilities are available individually or in combination for a full range of management services.

"Managers are looking for ways to simplify PC management so they can concentrate scarce IT resources on higher value business activities. Compaq is responding to the increasing needs of IT in large and mid-tier markets," said Bill Weaver, vice president U.S. Sales for Compaq. "Compaq Intelligent Manageability tools simplify day-to-day IT tasks and help customers such as Meijer Stores maximize resources and systems to save time and reduce PC management costs."

Altiris eXpress is just one component of a sophisticated enterprise infrastructure featuring Compaq ProLiant industry-standard servers and additional Compaq clients that drives overall IT efficiencies at Meijer.

Company Background

Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation ("Compaq") is a leading global provider of enterprise technology and solutions. Compaq designs, develops, manufactures and markets hardware, software, solutions and services, including industry-leading enterprise storage and computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, communication products, and desktop and portable personal computers that are sold in more than 200 countries. Information on Compaq and its products and services is available at http://www.compaq.com.