News release

HP Announces New Initiatives at Partner Event

At the first conference for its combined pre-merger Compaq and HP sales channel partners, HP (NYSE:HPQ) announced enhancements to its U.S. partnerONE program designed to help partners grow top-line revenue and bottom-line profitability.

Approximately 1,000 channel partners are attending the conference with top HP executives, including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina.

The partnerONE program -- introduced 100 days ago -- provides benefits to HP partners, including resellers, system integrators, independent software vendors (ISVs) and service providers. It spans HP's entire product and services portfolio and rewards partners for their performance and initiative.

Program enhancements in the United States include:

• HP's Campaign Central now enables partners to develop marketing campaigns from HP's partner Web site using customizable sales collateral in combination with their own targeted distribution list or one that can be purchased from a mail list provider.
• New rebates for selling HP OpenView software and HP servers running Linux in addition to existing incentives for application developers, enterprise storage and networking partners.
• Expansion of the HP Software Online e-commerce Web site to four times as many partners by the end of the year. The online shopping Web site enables partners to easily make HP's software product portfolio accessible to their customers. To date, more than 50 partners have integrated HP Software Online with their own Web sites, giving their customers easy access to more than 250 HP products. HP Software Online is offered free to partners, unlike some competitive offerings.
• The Authorized Service Delivery Partner initiative is now available to all HP partners following a successful pilot project. Qualified partners can sell and deliver HP Care Pack services to customers that have purchased HP ProLiant servers. To qualify, partners must have necessary technical skills and certifications, along with top customer survey ratings for services delivery.
• HP is working with selected channel partners in a Solution Opportunity Zone pilot project started last month. The project involves a security solution that includes HP ProLiant servers along with Network Associates McAfee software. Upon successful completion of the pilot project, HP plans to extend the initiative into other areas in an effort to bring solutions to small- and medium-sized business customers while helping partners increase sales.
• A new big deal pricing process for partners is being instituted in the United States that consolidates pre-merger Compaq and HP programs. Called Assigned Rebate Model, it gives HP partners market-competitive pricing in the form of an upfront discount, instead of rebate claims made after a sale is completed, as required previously.

And, in a worldwide announcement, the HP Certified Professional framework is now finalized with 64 certification tracks that align with HP products, technologies and solutions. The 98,000 partners, employees and customers with pre-merger HP and Compaq certifications will be contacted about their status and migration plans. The certification program provides a strong development framework that builds and validates valued IT competencies.

More information on the partnerONE program and partner initiatives is available on HP's partner Web site at http://partner.americas.hp.com.

About HP

HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its acquisition of Compaq Computer Corporation on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.