News release

HP Drives Mainstream Adoption of Open Source Software with JBoss Deal

Partner agreement plus new HP services make it easier for customers to reduce costs with industry-standard technology using open source

HP today announced an agreement with JBoss, Inc. to make it easier for enterprise customers to deploy open source software.

By providing a single point of contact for JBoss support, as well as a full range of consulting services, HP is using its expertise with the JBoss platform to address customers' migration concerns and help them reap the substantial cost savings of industry-standard technology.

"A main concern of customers when deploying Linux and open source software is availability of service and support for those products," said Al Gillen, research director, System Software, IDC. "Collaboration between HP and its software partners is helping turn this problem into a solution that empowers customers to deploy open source products in their IT infrastructure."

HP leverages its partnerships with open source application providers and major Linux distributors to design, build, integrate, manage and deliver innovative solutions. In addition, HP fields more than 6,500 Linux service professionals globally to provide for the consulting and solution support needs of enterprise customers around the world.

"The combination of HP industry-standard hardware and exceptional support with solutions from key partners has broad appeal to enterprise customers looking to simplify their infrastructures and save money," said Martin Fink, vice president, Linux, HP. "Our expanded agreement with JBoss allows more customers to easily realize the cost savings and flexibility benefits of deploying Linux and open source on HP systems."

HP + JBoss

HP is the first and only major Linux vendor to have certified JBoss open source software solutions. The companies' latest agreement adds enhanced support and additional services - architecture and design, implementation, and integration and migration solutions - for JBoss products on HP industry-standard platforms, including HP ProLiant and Integrity servers. In addition, HP plans to offer in early 2005 HP OpenView Application Management solutions which monitor, troubleshoot and manage change in JBoss Application Server environments.

The agreement with JBoss also helps minimize the risk for customers seeking to incorporate open source solutions into their data centers by providing additional support for HP's Linux Reference Architecture. HP is the first and only major vendor to offer Linux Reference Architectures - a completely integrated software, services and industry-standard hardware solution stack for Linux - that enhance customers' abilities to deploy open source and Linux solutions quickly and effectively.

"We are pleased that HP now delivers a full portfolio of services to support JBoss solutions, which adds value to HP open source offerings and eases deployment and migration for customers," said Bob Bickel, vice president of strategy and corporate development, JBoss, Inc. "Our business continues to grow as more customers recognize the open source model as a cost-effective and flexible alternative to proprietary models. Working with HP means that our joint customers have the full support of a leading proponent of open source - this is why we've just named HP our '2004 Partner of the Year.'"

More information about HP open source offerings is available at http://www.hp.com/linux.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended July 31, 2004, HP revenue totaled $78.4 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they ever materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including the expected development, performance or rankings of products or services; statements of expectation or belief; and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the development, performance and market acceptance of products and services and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended July 31, 2004 and other reports filed after HP's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2003. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.