HP Unveils Small-Business Services

Hoping to improve its standing among a group that provided almost 30 percent of its revenue last year, Hewlett-Packard is expanding its program of products and services for small- and midsize-business customers.

Last September, HP announced a $750 million initiative geared at marketing and research and development efforts for small and midsize businesses. Customer feedback since that announcement has prompted HP to create new services packages that are delivered through HP's partners or directly from HP services in North America, says M. L. Krakauer, vice president and general manager of customer support business.

The company announced more such services at the HP Partners America Conference in Los Angeles Monday. HP also announced Monday several storage devices for small and midsize services.

Earlier in March, the company unveiled new ProLiant servers for small to midsize businesses.

New for Small Businesses

New services for small and midsize businesses include:

• HP Proactive Plus, a support program for HP servers running operating systems from Microsoft. Customers can request help for five incidents over a one-year period for $1175, and receive help for an additional incident if the service is ordered by July 31.
• HP Learning Curve, which provides unlimited access for one year to online resources such as instant chat with a technical support representative for $149. Access for an additional person is included for free if this service is ordered by July 31.
• HP IT Professional Help Desk, which allows customers to access Level 2 and Level 3 help desk support through HP's professional services organization. For $1550, customers can seek help on up to five incidents, and can receive help on an additional incident if the service is ordered by July 31. Level 2 support generally requires a more advanced IT staff member, while Level 3 support is reserved for the most critical and difficult problems.
• HP ProLiant System Minder Solution monitors ProLiant 300 servers for crashes, maintains the system remotely, and patches the operating system for fees of $3650 annually or $308 per month.

The company also plans to offer a number of existing products such as the Compaq dx2000 desktop PC, the ProLiant ML110 server, and the HP LaserJet 3000 Series all-in-one printers in packages tailored to specific vertical markets such as health care or real estate, says Nigel Ball, an HP vice president in the Enterprise Products Group. Some of those packages will get bundled with some of the new service offerings, he adds.

HP's Opportunity

HP has taken great strides in improving its relationships with the market for small and midsize businesses since its acquisition of Compaq, says Helen Chan, an analyst with the Yankee Group. The company's focus on improving its relationships with channel partners after that merger will help it a great deal in the SMB market, where companies prefer to purchase products from local resellers, she says.

"If you're trying to sell technologies users haven't used before, that requires consultative selling," Chan says. Part of HP's plan is to show owners of small companies who don't have a technology background what the latest products and services can do for their business. That's hard to do without a strong partner program, she notes.

HP thinks it has an advantage over competitors such as Dell and IBM because of its close relationship with partners and its roster of technology experts in areas ranging from imaging and printing to servers and storage, says Chris Ogburn, director of sales and development for HP Americas.

Small-business customers will pay more for products that come through partners who can help them set up and configure their new equipment, says Ray Boggs, an IDC analyst. These customers don't want to learn the intricacies of network management, and will value service packages that allow them to implement IT products while keeping their main focus on their growing business, he says.

Services packages like the ones HP announced Monday also boost the company's standing among its channel partners, Boggs says. These smaller resellers are used to selling low-margin hardware products such as printers and PCs, and services are higher-margin offerings that also give the resellers more opportunity to sell additional hardware while engaging with the customer, he says.