HP Utility Data Center Makes Grid Environment More Secure, Flexible

SAN FRANCISCO, InfoWorld CTO Forum 2002, April 9, 2002 -- Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HWP) today announced it plans to offer the HP Utility Data Center (UDC) to help extend grid computing for commercial use.

The grid -- the worldwide network that uses the Internet to build distributed computing infrastructures -- has been used mainly for technical and scientific applications.

By connecting the HP UDC to the grid, HP is helping accelerate the adoption of grid technologies by providing both technical and commercial computing environments with more security and flexibility.

"Security has been a primary concern when companies consider the grid environment as a viable option for getting computing power as a service," said Vernon Turner, vice president, commercial systems and servers, IDC. "By hosting the grid environment through its Utility Data Center, HP is providing customers with the best of both worlds -- computing power on demand and the highest levels of data security."

The HP UDC segments the pool of computing power into varying levels of security and allows for dynamic allocation of resources without compromising that security.

"The grid must be trusted to be used, and one of HP's priorities is to build trust and security into the computing infrastructure from the hardware up," said Rick Hayes-Roth, chief technology officer, HP Software. "Though many companies can host grid environments, HP can now provide data security through the HP UDC across the physical infrastructure, as well as across grids."

The HP UDC, announced last November, is self-adapting, self-healing and policy-driven, meaning computing power allocation and management is automated. In addition, the HP UDC's open system supports multiple hardware vendors and operating systems, giving customers more flexibility.

This marriage of grid computing and HP's Utility Data Center is a result of HP's extensive research, which, according to a recent report from Gartner, gives HP up to an 18-month lead in the policy-based computing space.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services -- is focused on making technology and its benefits accessible to all. HP had total revenue of $45.2 billion in its 2001 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the possibility that the market for the sale of certain products and services may not develop as expected; that development of these products and services may not proceed as planned; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's annual report on Form 10-K, as amended on January 30, 2002, for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2001, and subsequently filed reports. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP's results could differ materially from HP's expectations in these statements. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.