News release

HP Launches Service Delivery Platform to Help Operators Unify Telecom, Web and IT into Convergent Services

HP today announced an enhanced network platform to help telecom operators provide services to millions of customers.

HP Service Delivery Platform (SDP) 2.0 enables operators to offer their customers greater access to convergent, multimedia and “Web 2.0” services on their mobile devices.

The platform also addresses the need for operators to increase revenue from convergent services while simultaneously reducing the cost and risk of creating such services.

HP SDP 2.0 incorporates software technologies for governance, management and quality that help service providers take full advantage of the platform’s service-oriented architecture (SOA).

This approach creates a unified resource layer through which multiple services communicate with underlying wireless or wired networks, third-party applications and innovative combinations of web services known as Web 2.0 mash-ups.

As a result, HP SDP 2.0 enables operators to create converged services that blend the best of telecom, web and IT resources. Examples are music, video and business services that personalize content delivery using:

• network resources that show a customer’s active presence on the network or his or her physical location;
• web resources for access to vast stores of information, multimedia content and social communities; and
• IT resources such as billing, network management, and other business and operations support systems (BSS and OSS).

“HP SDP 2.0 incorporates three years of innovation by HP and its partners as well as our experience deploying SDPs around the world,” said Ananda Subbiah, vice president, Solutions, Communications, Media and Entertainment, HP. “Our customers understand that a flexible, SOA-based SDP can help them create new services quickly at lower cost, less risk and faster time-to-market.”

HP SDP 2.0 also provides service-level controls, identity management and security mechanisms that translate to a better experience for end customers. In addition, the platform is fully supported by HP consulting and integration services, which expedite deployment.

“To offer new convergent services quickly and cost-effectively, we must simplify our infrastructure,” said Gianni Canal, manager, Services Layer and Messaging Innovation Lab, Telecom Italia. “As we move toward converged technologies and service-oriented architectures, HP expertise is valuable, as is its proven track record in service delivery platforms.”

SDP with governance, management and quality enhancements

SDPs address a key shortcoming in traditional wireless, wired and broadband infrastructure, in which services tend to be in vertical “silos” – each with its own direct links to needed network resources. As new services are added, the silo-based structure becomes increasingly cumbersome, costly and a barrier to efficient integration of converged services.

HP SDP 2.0 provides a standards-based, integrated interface between wireless or wired services and the underlying network. Services applications that link to this common, unified layer automatically have shared access to all needed telecom network resources, thus eliminating inefficient duplication.

To meet the challenges of web-based competitors – and take advantage of Web 2.0 opportunities – HP SDP 2.0 uses governance, management and quality capabilities to help operators expand their application environments to the thousands of non-telecom developers who can build personalized, content-rich services.

“SDPs are germane to a service provider’s ability to compete in the future,” said Brian Partridge, program manager, Yankee Group, a technology research and consulting firm. “New converged services can become very complex, and if you’re going to create and maintain them by the hundreds, you’d better have an SOA-based SDP framework that allows you to weave together all the disparate threads from web, telecom and IT.”

With HP SDP 2.0, developers also will have the ability to provide identity management, virtualized control over user profile information, and SOA mechanisms to share context information such as location, preferences and web community affiliations.

The HP SDP 2.0 enhancements include:

• HP Third Party Framework – takes advantage of HP SOA Systinet and HP SOA Manager along with HP Select Access to provide complete lifecycle governance and security, including network abstraction, third-party developer access and control, and OSS/BSS integration. From design through run-time, the framework delivers the key controls, policies and infrastructure to align IT resources with organizational goals and business models.
• Virtual Identity and Profile (VIP) Broker – uses the latest SOA technologies to provide virtualized, single-point access and control to customer information stored in disparate services silos. The VIP Broker thus enables real-time personalization and the ability to gather real-time business intelligence and context data that can support new business models based on advertising or location-specific content bundles. For example, a service provider might be able to offer a specific bundle of games, screen savers and music to 60,000 people attending a concert.
• Enterprise Service Bus – creates the bridge between network and IT resources including operational and billing systems. HP SDP 2.0 is based on open, industry standards, and supports multiple middleware platforms. This gives customers the flexibility to integrate HP SDP 2.0 into existing middleware environments.
• OSS Adapters – provide a 360-degree view of network, network management, service management and quality of service. From a single console, administrators can monitor and control hardware, software and applications to ensure conformance to service-level agreements.
• Service enablers – such as HP OpenCall software to bridge current telecom environments, to emerging Internet Protocol Multi-Media Subsystem (IMS) and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)
• Testing tools – delivered through a combination of HP Performance and Quality Center products, including Service Test and Service Test Management, methodologies and best practices which, when combined, have been proven to reduce testing costs up to 50 percent and improve speed and quality of service delivery.

More information on the HP Service Delivery Platform is available at www.hp.com/go/sdp.

About HP

HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers – from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world’s largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $100.5 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended July 31, 2007. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could 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 but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning expected development, performance or market share relating to products and services; anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its customers, suppliers and partners; the achievement of expected results; and other risks that are described in HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2007 and HP’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2006. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

© 2007 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.