HP sets out e-services vision

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has fleshed out its vision of what a computer services company should offer to enterprises in an Internet world - and rounded up a posse of major partners to act as cheerleaders.

The launch of HP's e-services programme came the day after it announced surprisingly good quarterly results, which enabled outgoing CEO, Lew Platt, to proclaim the company as "re-energised".

As Platt spoke, the company's stock price was moving up over 5 per cent to a 52-week high of $93.64.

Platt said: "With the foundations of e-business and ecommerce now in place, we believe that businesses and consumers are ready to extract full value from the Net with e-services. Companies are now looking for ways to extend their reach beyond Web sites and Internet storefronts. E-services offer companies new ways to reach customers, new ways to make money and new ways to manage IT resources. This is the foundation for the second chapter of the Internet."

Ann Livermore, CEO of HP's enterprise computing organisation, outlined three trends that are driving the e-services marketplace: the rise of "apps on tap," an explosion of next-generation portals and the emergence of a "dynamically brokered" e-services marketplace.

Highlights of the day's announcements included a strategic alliance with Qwest Communications to develop "apps on tap", plans with Microsoft and PSINet to deliver and host pay-as-you-go messaging solutions for companies ranging from small businesses to large multinationals, and a partnership with Answer Financial, the Swedish government and Internet Travel Network to create a new generation of portals delivering a range of e-services.

HP also outlined an intriguing technology called e-speak that it hopes will be the glue to bind together its e-services vision. The e-speak platform provides a common services interface which makes it easier to create, deploy, manage and connect e-services. The company said e-speak technology will serve as the "universal language of e-services".

Pilot programs and endorsements for HP's e-speak technology came from Andersen Consulting, Novell, Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP and Seagate Technology, amongst others.