Con Edison Communications Turns to HP to Enhance Customer Service Through IT Infrastructure Consolidation(email this article)

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 2003-- HP (NYSE:HPQ - News) (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies) today announced that Con Edison Communications® (CEC), a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., has selected HP OpenView management software to manage its business-critical networks, systems, databases and applications.

CEC builds and operates a fiber optic network that delivers managed data transport services, custom networks, local and long distance voice services and Internet services to local and long-distance carriers, Fortune 1000 corporations, small- and medium-size businesses, and Internet, cable, wireless and video companies.

HP OpenView software solutions will enable CEC to manage its information technology (IT) infrastructure from a single console rather than a collection of individual devices. This consolidation will simplify the management of CEC's comprehensive range of transport products and services and enhance the performance of its customers' networks.

HP OpenView Network Node Manager will enhance the ability of CEC's customer care operators to identify the source of IT network problems, determine what is impacted and work toward a resolution. This will enable CEC to improve upon its already efficient and timely customer care services and provide even faster response times. In addition, HP OpenView software will allow CEC to streamline resource allocation and devote more resources towards building and managing its ever-growing network.

CEC plans to implement HP OpenView Operations to manage its multi-platform infrastructure from an IT services perspective. Network management functionality, based on HP OpenView Network Node Manager, will be integrated, and these HP OpenView solutions will offer a consolidated, services view of various enterprise solutions, including those from Cisco, HP, Microsoft and Oracle.

With HP OpenView offerings, CEC expects to lower costs and increase return on IT investment, resulting in significant advantage over competitors that do not recognize their IT infrastructure as a means to leverage competitive advantage.

"We looked at a variety of companies in the software management market and knew that HP was the one to provide us with the most scalable, robust and flexible software solutions," said Felipe Alvarez, chief operating officer, CEC. "The advanced monitoring and notification functionality of HP OpenView helps us stay ahead of the competition by enhancing our ability to detect and promptly correct fiber cuts, facility problems and equipment failures."

"It is important to CEC to stay ahead of the competition by elevating use of their existing IT resources. To achieve this, CEC needed to incorporate a centralized IT infrastructure management system," said Todd DeLaughter, vice president and general manager, Management Software Organization, HP. "True to our commitment to provide customers with an adaptive enterprise and help them transform their IT environments into a solution that responds directly to the needs of their business, HP will enable CEC to better manage its multiple networks and IT solutions by creating one point of reference. This in turn will allow CEC to concentrate on its business and ensure that its customers receive reliable services."

CEC is a long-standing customer of HP software and has already consolidated its telecommunications infrastructure management under the HP OpenView TeMIP Operations Support System. HP OpenView TeMIP is at the heart of the CEC Network Operations environment and provides fault management, service impact analysis and service activation. It further provides a central point for CEC's operations functions including performance management, problem resolution including trouble ticketing, and a link to CEC's mapping technology. Pairing management with the mapped physical location of all cables and fibers enables CEC to identify and locate problems so they can dispatch repair crews quickly, maintaining maximum network availability.

More information about HP Adaptive Enterprise solutions is available at www.hp.com/go/adaptive.

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 consumers, enterprises and small and medium businesses. For the last four quarters, HP revenue totaled $71.3 billion. More information about HP is available at www.hp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they ever materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements 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 proposed contract may not be entered into on the terms or within the timeframe currently contemplated or at all; 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; any statements of belief; any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended July 31, 2003 and HP's other Securities and Exchange Commission reports filed after HP's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2002. 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.