HP Sells Infrastructure Usage For A Monthly Fee

Hewlett-Packard has unveiled a new service, Infrastructure On Tap, that plugs Web-centric businesses into a standardized IT infrastructure, via the Net. The service allows B2B hubs, its initial target market, to avoid designing, building, operating and owning their own IT infrastructure. HP will provide the technology, management, and global capability these businesses need to conduct business on the Web. B2B customers pay according to usage on a monthly basis.

The question is, will this service put HP in competition with potential influence partners/Web integrators? It may be too soon to tell, but there may be overlap in some instances.

HP kicked off its program by signing two hub customers. The first, Lawson Software, is using Infrastructure on Tap to power its electronic job recruiting service. The second, IPNet Solutions Inc., is using it to create virtual trading communities that will optimize the supply chain. The selection process was not an easy one; the system maker started with 1,000 possible partners, and narrowed the list down to two.

IPNet's users can tap IPNet's software, leaving their value-added networks and saving money. The company integrates with trading exchanges and portals to help companies build their brand and competitive strategy in the supply chain. "The relationship with HP is specifically allowing us to become an ASP," explains Kian Saneii, senior vice president, worldwide marketing for IPNet in Newport Beach, Calif.

Saneii says IPNet's users wanted ASP-like services, so the company shopped around with Web integration firms like Exodus and Digex and even considered building its own data center. But it chose to work with HP's new Infrastructure on Tap service because it was the most cost-effective solution for IPNet's needs. "We are buying infrastructure [use] almost like a utility," Saneii says. "We put our applications on their infrastructure, and they worry about the hardware. We can now become an ASP with minimal effort and without becoming experts in or accountable for our hardware growth in that area."

Saneii says IPNet pays as it goes with HP's plan, and has no long-term commitment, just a month-to-month contract. HP also has a financial stake in IPNet, so Saneii says the two companies are partners in more ways than one.