HP taps new Microsoft Office System to deliver solutions and services.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) has announced a portfolio of nine solutions and services based on the new Microsoft Office System that help streamline business processes and improve collaboration for businesses of all sizes. The offerings, built on Web services, help customers improve organizational productivity by providing access to critical business data and integration with business processes.

The solutions and services help enterprises take advantage of the HP Adaptive Enterprise strategy by enhancing their responsiveness to market changes and customer demand. Enterprises can gain competitive advantage and increased business agility by enhancing worker productivity through improved collaboration and information sharing among employees, partners and customers. Small- and medium-size businesses can gain greater ease of use, reliability and more service and support at competitive prices.

For businesses of all sizes, HP solutions--built upon industry-standard platforms from Microsoft and HP--help strengthen the link between business and IT. These solutions help reduce bottom-line costs, improve information access and enhance automation of business processes, collaboration and decision-making, while leveraging existing investments in desktop and enterprise applications.

Building on HP's expertise with Microsoft .NET technologies, Microsoft Office, SharePoint 2003, Exchange Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows Server 2003, the portfolio is available worldwide through more than 1,500 HP Services professional consultants with expertise in Microsoft Office System technologies as well as Web services. These specialists are part of a worldwide team of 23,000 Microsoft-trained HP professionals.

"Our breadth and depth of services and solutions built on Microsoft technology will enable customers to adapt and respond to change quickly, with improved collaboration and decision-making," said Ann Livermore, executive vice president, HP Services. "Backed by 20 years of experience designing, developing and delivering reliable, agile, adaptive business solutions with Microsoft, HP is the brand of choice to deliver Microsoft Office System-based information worker productivity solutions to global enterprises and small- and medium-size businesses."

At the foundation of HP's Microsoft Office System solutions are infrastructure technologies featuring industry-leading HP ProLiant servers--complete and capable industry-standard servers available for Microsoft environments. The platform of choice for Exchange, 54 percent of all Exchange implementations are deployed on HP ProLiant servers.

The new Microsoft Office System, offering unprecedented levels of XML-based capabilities, enables development of flexible, comprehensive and integrated solutions. HP is already working with customers who have selected HP as their preferred partner for Microsoft Office System solutions and services. These customers include Lake Washington School District, Kirkland, Wash.; PGGM Insurance and Pension Fund Manager, The Netherlands; Tracy Unified School District, Tracy, Calif.; and Wolters Kluwer Health, New York City.

"HP has an impressive record in infrastructure and Web services solutions using Microsoft's technologies," said Joe Eschbach, corporate vice president of the Information Worker Product Management Group, Microsoft Corp. "With these new solutions and services, HP is building a strong foundation to help customers derive superior business value from the Microsoft Office System."