HP Boosts Support for HP Imaging & Printing Solutions Business Partner Program

Increases program investment by more than 50%

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, June 16, 2008 – HP today announced that it is bolstering its HP Imaging & Printing Solutions Business Partner (SBP) Program, with more than 50 percent increase in its program and resource investment for development partners, as well as a revitalized route-to-market with increased incentives for its system integrators (SIs) to hunt, mine and close business in the Asia Pacific region.

The announcement coincides with the annual HP Asia Pacific & Japan Imaging & Printing Solutions Business Partner Conference which is integral in advancing HP’s Enterprise Print 2.0 strategy – to help customers optimize their imaging and printing infrastructures, manage their device environments and improve workflows through working with HP and its partners.

“HP has been working with some of our solution partners for about eight years. Today, our commitment to existing and newly recruited partners is stronger than ever with the enhancements HP’s Imaging & Printing Solutions Business Partner Program,” said Kelly Tan, vice president, Enterprise Printing, Imaging and Printing Group, HP Asia Pacific and Japan.

“We plan to accelerate our momentum in the marketplace by providing our partners with improved programs, tools and resources that help them compete more effectively, while helping our customers optimize their infrastructure, better manage their printing environment and improve paper-based workflows.”

Into its seventh year, the Conference has grown with active participation this year to about 80 accredited development partners and SIs from across the region.

Customers can now rely on the proven expertise of HP as well as its fast growing pool of partners and SIs to help improve business outcomes. In the past year through Q1 2008, the number of development partners and SIs grew 40 percent and 50 percent respectively.

Greater integration and time-to-market for development partners
HP recently introduced a revitalized standards-based HP SBP Program for companies whose solutions interoperate and integrate with HP’s imaging and printing offerings. The program gives HP development partners the benefits of unprecedented access to the newest HP and partner technology, which enables them to deliver the most advanced solutions to the customer environment – capabilities for capturing, routing, indexing, storing and delivering documents and content more securely and cost-effectively.

Under the Gold and Silver membership tiers for solutions business partners, the program advances HP’s enterprise imaging and printing go-to-market strategy by enabling HP to efficiently address specialized customer needs together with partner technologies and services.
Program enhancements and resources for development partners include:
· Reduced development time and support costs with the HP Open Extensibility Platform
· Increased reach to HP’s Enterprise market with incentives now created for HP’s direct sales force for selling gold partner solutions

“The HP Open Extensibility Platform is a great launch pad for us to develop and introduce new solutions, ultimately contributing to our business performance,” said Jean-Francois G. d’Estalenx, President, Jetmobile. “With shorter development time, greater compatibility and reduced costs, it has allowed us to accelerate our business-cycle and achieve faster time-to-market.”

“HP is very committed to the solutions arena and is laying out the foundation in small steps by offering solutions applicable across verticals, and addressing small pockets of the solution rather than a deep dive end to end approach as adopted by other vendors in the market. The success of this strategy will clearly depend on the development of partnerships and relationships with SI’s going forward. HP is well-positioned on the path to success with a focus on ‘printing and output’ rather than ‘printers’,” said Suchitra Narayan, Research Manager, Asia/Pacific Peripherals Research, IDC Asia Pacific.

Enhancements to program will help systems integrators drive business growth
The new changes to HP’s Imaging & Printing SBP Program are designed to help drive growth, collaboration and streamline compensation for SIs. These enhancements reflect the company’s focus on SIs as a core component of its strategic approach to help Enterprise customers build their Enterprise Print 2.0 plan.

“The latest program enhancements were created to offer even more rewards for partners driving new business growth, as well as to identify opportunities for partners to capitalize on new markets,” said Horacio Miranda, strategic programs office manager, Enterprise Printing, Imaging and Printing Group, HP Asia Pacific and Japan. “For our enterprise customers, it means that they benefit from a single HP point of contact for products, support and services.”

Program enhancements for SIs include:
· Integration and alignment to HP’s enterprise go-to-market approach
· New compensation model based on pre-sales support, implementation and solutions support
· Business development and co-marketing efforts targeted at the SMB market
· Access to full range of HP Imaging & Printing solutions

“As HP’s system integrator since 1999, KAPS IT has focused on helping Enterprise and SMB customers optimize and reduce the cost of producing, distributing and managing documents,” said J. Raviraj, Managing Director, KAPS IT India. “The HP Imaging & Printing Solutions Business Partner Program enables us to expand our relationships with customers and more efficiently leverage HP resources to help our customers develop imaging and printing strategies that they can implement successfully.”

The HP Imaging & Printing Solutions Business Partner Conference also sets the stage for a series of business development and technical training sessions designed to help HP and its partners align business strategies for optimal, profitable growth in 2008. Throughout the conference, partners will hear what the company is doing to help make it simpler, easier and more predictable to do business with HP.