A company must be able to move with speed and agility to capitalize on the opportunities created by today's rapidly changing marketplace. With the right IT infrastructure in place, a business can do that — its information technology can adapt easily to changing business requirements.
HP defines an Adaptive Enterprise as an organization in which business and IT are synchronized to capitalize on change. There is much to be gained by making the move to an Adaptive Enterprise, including simplicity, flexibility, agility and better business performance — together with a significant reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO).
HP Financial Services can make the transition to an Adaptive Enterprise more affordable and manageable with customized leasing and lifecycle asset management services. "HP Financial Services provides the capital to capitalize on change," says Irv Rothman, President and CEO of this wholly-owned HP subsidiary.
The recent implementation of an adaptive infrastructure by DaimlerChrysler Services IT (DCSIT), the company's shared-services provider, illustrates the potential benefits of synchronizing business and IT.
DaimlerChrysler Services, the financial services arm of the DaimlerChrysler Group, wanted to maintain its strong growth in a highly competitive industry sector. "The needs of the DCS business demanded a more scaleable, flexible infrastructure to which new capabilities could be added more or less on demand. With the current infrastructure being significantly under-utilised, cost reduction was also an important priority," explains Dirk Marzluf, CTO of DCSIT.
HP Financial Services helped create a compelling business case to support the solution, encompassing delayed payment, Instant Capacity, and buyback of existing HP equipment.
"The new infrastructure is doing exceptionally well, with a performance improvement of some 50 per cent for batch jobs and online processes alike," says Peter Barnes, data centre manager at DCSIT. "This means not only an improved service for dealers but also higher productivity for the end-user."
According to Barnes, the entire DCS operation is speeded up and orders are processed much more quickly than before. At the same time, server consolidation has led to significant cost reductions, estimated at £500,000 (€700,000) over a three-year period.
"In terms of supplier relationships, this is the best project I have ever been involved with. Thanks to HP and [channel partner] Kavanagh, we now have an adaptive infrastructure that will support rapid change and expansion of services in the future, whatever the demands of the market," concludes Barnes.
HP Financial Services offers a complete range of financial management solutions, all designed to help customers achieve greater business agility and maximize the value of their IT investments, which is what an Adaptive Enterprise is all about. "Customers choose the services that will help them most effectively manage their data centre and desktop assets, and their balance sheet, at the same time," says Rothman.
Another pan-European HP customer wanted to improve help desk services, optimize productivity and, most importantly, reduce costs. How was it done?
HP Financial Services created a sale/lease-back and asset recovery solution. HPFS bought the client's IBM mainframe. The customer then acquired a solution that included HP Superdomes, HP Services Consulting and Integration, HP Support Services, HP training and Oracle.
In addition to purchasing the legacy equipment, the HPFS financing solution included a deferred payment plan. "We also bundled hardware and services into the financing agreement, along with built-in tech refresh options," explains Rothman.
The customer benefited in several ways. Savings over a four-year period were an estimated €50,000 annually. The client turned fixed assets into liquid assets — specifically in the form of payment for its existing IBM mainframes. HPFS also managed the recovery and disposition of those assets.
Ultimately, the HPFS solution reduced the number of telephone help desk queries and time gathering client technical data. Clients are now more satisfied with their overall help desk experience. The help desk operator can gather technical data automatically, eliminating the need for technical questions and increasing productivity.
Thanks to the HPFS lease, the solution cost was spread over the equipment's useful life. "Keep in mind that equipment lifecycle costs can run five times higher than an initial investment," Rothman points out, "so efficient asset management is absolutely critical in reducing total cost of ownership."
What is different about HPFS, as compared to competitors?
"Our approach," Rothman says, "is collaborative, with customized solutions that are neither prescriptive nor restrictive; heterogeneous — we finance multi-vendor/multi-technology solutions; standardized — consistent around the globe; and innovative, e.g., our first-to-market Pay per Use offering."
"Wherever a customer wants us to be, we're there," Rothman notes, "with the added dimension of complete lifecycle financial flexibility. We help customers easily and affordably evolve their infrastructures to the simplicity and agility of an Adaptive Enterprise. We do that while relieving customers of the risks of owning information technology — and we assume responsibility for disposition when that technology reaches the end of its useful life."
Rothman concludes, "We're here to help customers make that journey to the future, to an Adaptive Enterprise."
HP Utility Pricing Solutions
To help businesses solve their cyclical IT demands without simply buying more machines, HP offers its customers Pay per Use (PPU). Since its introduction, companies from around the globe in a variety of industries have deployed HP's utility pricing solutions to better align IT costs with unpredictable business needs and overall growth. PPU was recently extended to support Microsoft Windows Server 2003 running on HP Integrity servers — leveraging the server family's distinctive ability to run multiple operating systems.
