HP Storage System Boosts Reliability, Capacity and Performance of AFFINA's Information Systems

Business Wire, Nov 12, 2002

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 2002

HP StorageWorks Technology Halves File Compression Time for

Major Customer Service Company

HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced that AFFINA, a leader in providing comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) services to Fortune 1000 clients and government agencies, has implemented a complete computing infrastructure based on HP's storage area network (SAN) technology.

AFFINA selected HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) technology, a virtual RAID storage solution designed for enterprise-scale applications, over competing systems due to HP's price/performance benefits. Installed by HP SAN implementation services, the system is now helping AFFINA to manage its overwhelming data requirements.

"CRM requires that you track, analyze and crunch lots of disparate data to determine patterns and common elements," said John May, senior system administrator, AFFINA. "StorageWorks allows us to easily store, manage and retrieve large volumes of data spread across a variety of applications."

The speed and fail-safe operation of the HP EVA is already making a difference where it matters most: in the response time of AFFINA's key software applications.

"The StorageWorks EVA system delivers substantial performance improvements to our Microsoft Exchange environment," said May. "Before implementing this HP storage system, it took 2.5 hours to compress our personal information files, but now we can do it in half the time, dramatically reducing our server downtime."

The HP StorageWorks EVA is designed for customers who have a critical need for improved storage utilization and scalability while meeting application specific demands.

It is one of the highest density disk-storage solutions in the industry featuring a redundant architecture that eliminates single points of failure between servers and storage devices. The HP StorageWorks EVA is enabled by VersaStor technology, offering a virtual RAID storage solution that removes the time, space and cost boundaries of traditionally architected storage.

More information about the HP StorageWorks EVA is available at www.compaq.com/products/storageworks/enterprise/index.html. Information about AFFINA is available at http://www.affina.com.

About HP

HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its merger transaction involving Compaq Computer Corporation on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available 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 and performance 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 quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 31, 2002 and reports filed subsequent to HP's annual report on Form 10-K, as amended on January 30, 2002, for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2001. 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.