HP Delivers Industry's First "Carrier-Grade" Internet Service-Management Solution for Large LSPs Worldwide.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 7, 1998--

Fall Internet World 98

HP Firehunter/PRO Helps Service Providers Profitably Deliver

Premium, Verifiable Services to Gain a Competitive Advantage

Hewlett-Packard Company today introduces HP Firehunter/PRO, the industry's first Internet service-management solution that enables very large ISPs and enterprise IT organizations to deliver Internet services with quality that can be ensured and verified with service-level agreement (SLA) management. HP Firehunter/PRO enables end-to-end, "carrier-grade" performance, which is critical for on-time service delivery and service-level guarantees that corporate business customers demand today. The announcement was made here at the Internet World '98 conference and exhibition, which runs through Oct. 9.

HP Firehunter/PRO is a highly customizable and scalable Internet service-management software solution designed for ISPs and enterprise IT organizations worldwide. It is ideal for organizations that run more than 60 Internet servers and handle on-time service delivery to business subscribers with mission-critical requirements, or for large corporations moving to Internet-delivered services.

HP Firehunter/PRO comes standard with built-in service models for managing core Internet services such as e-mail, news and basic Web-server capabilities common to most ISPs and enterprise IT organizations. It can be extended easily to manage new emerging Internet services such as Virtual Private Networks (VPN), electronic commerce, Web hosting and voice-over-IP (VOIP), and can be integrated with existing management tools, such as HP OpenView Network Node Manager. HP also provides professional consulting services for on-site customization.

"Large corporate customers are moving to the Internet en masse and demanding guaranteed service quality from their providers," said Tom White, HP vice president and general manager of the Communications Test Solutions Group. "HP Firehunter/PRO is HP's answer to helping service providers that want to overcome the current shortfalls of the public Internet and profitably expand their businesses with large corporate customers. HP Firehunter/PRO helps the delivery of mission-critical Internet services with the reliability and quality assurance to give these businesses a competitive edge."

HP Firehunter/PRO extends the core capabilities of HP Firehunter, which is designed for small to midsize ISPs. The advanced capabilities and features of HP Firehunter/PRO result in carrier-grade Internet service management, enabling large ISPs to deliver premium, verifiable services that operate at peak performance. These features include the following:

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--   SLA management, which captures requirements from SLA contracts,
     monitors guaranteed service levels and sets thresholds for
     pre-emptive alerts on possible violations on a per-customer
     basis. Improved visibility of service-level performance and
     automated monitoring of service agreements significantly reduces
     SLA violations and SLA contract management costs;
--   service-level reporting, which provides reporting on a
     per-service, per-customer basis, on-demand or scheduled
     reporting. These SLA "report cards" verify compliance across all
     Internet services and validate the service quality delivered to
     ISP customers;
--   scalability through the diagnostic measurement server (DMS) and
     agent architecture. A composite service model can be partitioned
     easily across multiple DMSs to accommodate constantly changing
     services and establish management of new services quickly. It
     supports large-scale national and international Internet
     environments; and
--   customization for enabling the extension of existing service
     models with new measurements and addition of new views and
     reports for tailored solutions that fit particular ISP
     service-management needs.

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U.S. Pricing and Availability

HP Firehunter/PRO is expected to be available in November for $100,000. Standard software supplied with the solution requires customization and configuration for the specific ISP environment in which it is deployed. HP Firehunter/PRO is delivered through HP's Solution Services Organization.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 127,200 employees and had revenue of $42.9 billion in its 1997 fiscal year.

Information about the family of HP Firehunter products can be obtained on the World Wide Web at http://www.firehunter.com.

Notes to Editors: Sales information may be obtained by calling 800/452-4844 ext. 6146. Please do NOT use editor-contact or corporate telephone numbers for sales information.

Information in this release applies specifically to products available in the United States. Product availability and specifications may vary in non-U.S. markets.

If you choose to review this item, your readers will receive the quickest response to their inquiries by mailing them to Hewlett-Packard Company, Test and Measurement Organization, 5301 Stevens Creek Blvd., MS 54LAK, Santa Clara, CA 95052.