Compaq Announces A Major Contract To Supply BZW with 5,700 Compaq Professional Workstations.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 1997--

Editors' Summary

-- BZW, a UK-based global investment bank, is purchasing 5,700 Compaq Professional Workstations.

-- The contract also includes several thousand Compaq monitors, as well as 80 Compaq servers.

-- Roll-out of the systems will take place from February 1997 to August 1997.

Coinciding with the recent launch of the Compaq Professional Workstation (see related release 29/10/96: Compaq Enters The Workstation Market), Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE:CPQ) has announced that it has been awarded a major contract to supply 5,700 Compaq Professional Workstations to BZW, the UK-based global investment bank of the Barclays Group.

The contract was awarded as a result of BZW's decision to relocate to new global headquarters in Canary Wharf, London. The Compaq Professional Workstations will provide an integrated hardware platform from which any number of software applications can be accessed.

BZW chose a complete Compaq solution that will be used in both the trading environment and general office, with a network of 5,700 Compaq Professional Workstations running Microsoft NT operating system, Compaq Q Vision 210 monitors and Compaq V70 monitors. In addition, 80 Compaq Rack-Mounted ProLiant 5000 servers will be running the Microsoft Windows NT Server operating system.

Traders and general office staff will be viewing information on Compaq monitors, as the solution also includes 5,000 Compaq Q Vision 210 21-inch (19.5-inch viewable) monitors and 2,000 new Compaq V70 17-inch (15.68-inch viewable) monitors.

The official roll-out of BZW's new Compaq solution will take place from February 1997 to August 1997.

"The agreement with BZW underlines the appeal of Compaq solutions to global businesses and represents a tremendous vote of confidence in the abilities of the new Compaq Professional Workstation as a tool for the financial sector," said Peter Blackmore, Compaq's Vice President, Enterprise Computing, Europe, Middle East and Africa. "Both the Compaq ProLiant 5000 and Compaq Professional Workstation have set industry-leading price performance benchmarks and the Compaq network at BZW will provide a powerful and cost-effective solution. After deciding to standardize on one desktop hardware platform running Windows NT, we chose Compaq as our partner because it could provide the most powerful, cost-effective solution for our business and is clearly best placed to support BZW in implementing a global IT solution," said Bryan Hotston, IT Director, BZW.

The BZW Compaq Solution

The Compaq Professional Workstation is a highly integrated, dual-processor-capable workstation based on Microsoft Windows NT and the Intel 200 MHz Pentium Pro processor. The 5,700 Professional Workstations at BZW will be running Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 transitioning to NT 4.0 with the data resident on the dual 200 MHz Pentium Pro-based Compaq Rack-Mounted ProLiant 5000s.

Company Background

Compaq Computer Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is the fifth largest computer company in the world and the largest global supplier of personal computers, delivering useful innovation through products that connect people with people and people with information. The company is an industry leader in environmentally friendly programs and business practices. Compaq is strategically organized to meet the current and future needs of its customers, offering Internet and enterprise computing solutions, networking products, commercial PC products and consumer PCs. As the leader in distributed enterprise solutions, Compaq has shipped over a million servers. In 1996, the company reported worldwide sales of $18.1 billion. Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners. Customer support and information about Compaq and its products can be found at http://www.compaq.com or by calling 1-800-OK-COMPAQ. Product information and reseller locations can be obtained by calling 1-800-345-1518.

Compaq EMEA Background

Compaq Computer Corporation, founded in 1982, is the world leader in the manufacture of PCs and servers. Compaq first entered the European market in 1984 and established its headquarters in Munich, Germany, serving Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Today, it has 21 subsidiaries in the EMEA region with products sold in 80 countries through a network of more than 14,000 outlets.

Compaq, which has European manufacturing facilities in Erskine, Scotland, also operates a European Distribution Centre in The Netherlands. Compaq can be reached at internet (http://www.compaq.com)

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CONTACT: Compaq Computer Corporation

Gary Frazier

281-514-0484

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Miller/Shandwick Technologies

Sue Vaillancourt

617-536-0470

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Compaq Computer EMEA

Graeme Lisle

49 89 99 33 2238

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Miller/Shandwick Technologies

Michelle McGlockin

44 171 583 0525

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Ian Bamford