HP to expand Business Solution Center network

New Delhi

April 4 2008

In a bid to give their customers hands on experience on a wide range of its
products, HP India is looking to open 10 Business Solution Centers by the end of
July this year. The company had initiated the concept in 2007 by opening up a
center in partnership with Chennai-based Precision Group. Recently the company
shook hands with Pune-based SHRO Systems and inaugurated a center in the city as
well.

The company has already identified the regions and the new centers will come
up in cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and few in the upcountry locations
as well. At present HP has five such centers in cities including Chennai,
Dehradun, Haldwani, Ahmadabad and Pune.

Talking about the concept, Sameer Mathur, Director-Solution Partners
Organization, Hewlett-Packard India stated, “We have been running the
initiative for quite some time now and given the response we received from our
partners and customers, we resolved to add another 10 centers this year. We
wanted to offer our mid-market and enterprise customers in the metros and the
upcountry market an opportunity to touch and feel the products and understand
how it functions at the same time.”

The center is designed to give customers an opportunity to experience HP
products and solutions and choose products in accordance with their business
requirements. The HP Business Solutions Center showcases the latest product
portfolio comprising thin clients, commercial desktops and notebooks,
workstations, commercial printers, server, storage and HP genuine accessories,
for the enterprise and mid-market segments. This initiative has been rolled out
under HP's Total Care campaign aimed at enhancing customer experience.

Mathur further explained, “We will focus both on the upcountry markets and
the metros alongside. We have been closely observing the customer's buying
behavior and we aim at creating awareness amongst them. Besides, this is also a
value addition we are offering to our partners.”

Sharing his thoughts on the concept, V Murali, Director, Precision Group
stated, “SMB customers are now looking at future prospects and want to feel
the products before investing in them. The HP Business Solution Center helps in
establishing credibility amongst customers. Besides, with this innovative center
in place, our sales have also improved in Chennai.”

Dehradun-based Vikas Dewan, CEO of Strategic Marketing, another partner with
who HP collaborated in September last year for its center said, “We were faced
with a situation where the accounts we address including SMBs, education and
government wanted to have a feel of the products. Besides, when it came to
giving demonstrations carrying the equipments to the client's location and
then giving a demo was not an easy task. The Solution Center has been designed
in a manner whereby it replicates a live office and hence the customers can pick
products pertaining to their requirements.”