Ryerson Tull to Automate Data Center Management with HP and Tidal Software

Business Wire, June 28, 2004

PALO ALTO, Calif. & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- HP OpenView and Tidal Enterprise Scheduler Software Helps Reduce Costs, Improve Service Levels for Nation's Largest Metal Company

HP (NYSE:HPQ) (Nasdaq:HPQ) and Tidal Software today announced that Ryerson Tull, North America's leading distributor and processor of metals, has selected an integrated software offering from the companies to automate management of its order generation, billing, invoicing and report generation applications.

Ryerson Tull will deploy the HP OpenView Operations platform and Tidal Enterprise Scheduler(TM) throughout its network in the United States and Canada to enhance performance of its complex computing environment, which includes SAP Business Information Warehouse, Microsoft Windows(R), IBM-AIX and Linux platforms.

Using the combined HP and Tidal solution, Ryerson can proactively manage and monitor its databases, operating systems, networks, business applications and business workflow from a consolidated console. This is expected to reduce cost and provide better service levels to Ryerson's employees and customers.

"The automated management capabilities of the combined HP and Tidal solution will enable Ryerson Tull to streamline the process of automating, integrating and managing business application workflows, decrease staff effort, and dramatically reduce total cost of failure," said Len Bogolin, senior manager of Distributed Systems, Ryerson Tull. "We evaluated other alternatives, but were very impressed with the ease-of-use and advanced functionality of the HP and Tidal solution. HP and Tidal clearly understood our needs and demonstrated a collaborative effort that reassured us they were truly working together."

"Taking steps to synchronize business and IT is critical to Ryerson Tull's journey to becoming an Adaptive Enterprise," said Todd DeLaughter, vice president and general manager, Management Software Organization, HP. "HP is committed to providing solutions that reduce IT cost and complexity and ensure resources work together. Strong collaboration with companies such as Tidal Software help us to deliver and deploy those solutions exactly the way the customer wants them."

Tidal Enterprise Scheduler is tightly integrated with the HP OpenView Operations system management platform, which consolidates job scheduling management along with performance and availability management into a single console. The performance and availability capabilities of HP OpenView Operations will allow Ryerson Tull to reduce service-level agreement exceptions, improve system uptime and reduce total cost of operations.

"Together Tidal Enterprise Scheduler and HP OpenView give Ryerson Tull the ability to accelerate the pace of business innovation while retaining their data center investments," said Flint Brenton, president and chief executive officer, Tidal Software. "Tidal Software and HP have provided Ryerson Tull with an industry-leading application automation product and the solution of choice for corporations who embrace the role of the enterprise as a revenue center."

The HP OpenView portfolio includes solutions for network, infrastructure, event, application, identity management and information technology (IT) services management. HP OpenView solutions enable companies to understand, manage and optimize the user experience, the infrastructure elements and the direct linkage between the two. By providing visibility into the infrastructure, application and service health, IT can respond more quickly when problems occur or when adapting to changing business requirements.

Tidal Enterprise Scheduler automates applications across hundreds or thousands of servers running heterogeneous operating systems and application platforms. Tidal Enterprise Scheduler facilitates enterprise application integration, server consolidation and reduction in operating and failure cost, while bolstering productivity and competitive advantage. Tidal Enterprise Scheduler supports HP-UX and HP OpenView in addition to a variety of other computing platforms.

About Tidal Software

Tidal Software is a leading provider of application automation, integration, and management solutions. Based in Mountain View, Calif., Tidal provides software products that ensure applications run at peak efficiency and bolster the business value that companies need to be successful. Tidal's software is used by more than 20 percent of the Fortune 500 data centers, including Microsoft, HP, General Mills, T-Mobile, Warner Brothers, Agilent and many others. The privately held company is venture-funded by JPMorgan Partners, Novus Ventures and VantagePoint Venture Partners.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended April 30, 2004, HP revenue totaled $76.8 billion. More information about HP is available at www.hp.com.