Overview

Hewlett-Packard Company and its subsidiaries provide products, technologies, software, solutions, and services to individual consumers and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), as well as to the government, health, and education sectors worldwide. Its Personal Systems Group segment offers commercial personal computers (PCs), consumer PCs, workstations, calculators and other related accessories, and software and services for the commercial and consumer markets.Its Imaging and Printing Group segment provides consumer and commercial printer hardware, supplies, media, and scanning devices, such as inkjet and Web solutions, laser jet and enterprise solutions, managed enterprise solutions, graphics solutions, and printer supplies. The company was founded in 1939, employs 350,000 people, and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

HP’s PPS Services team is responsible for providing worldwide services attached to HP’s computers and printer usage. Traditionally, these services have been primarily break/fix services and warranty repair. As HP searches for new profitable business lines, it has become focused on leveraging its brand, channels, and technical capabilities to offer full IT services to small and medium size enterprises and businesses (SME/SMB).

The PPS Services team is headquartered in Cupertino and has high-level executive interest in its plans to develop an IT support/service product for SMB customers. Small and Medium Business (1-999 employees) have highly varied needs for services to protect or enhance the usefulness of their computing and printing office products. From owner managed to outsource or in-house IT managed environments, SMB customers are actively seeking solutions to make their office technology effective and efficient at supporting their business needs.

HP is looking to services as a large, high margin business opportunity to augment the stagnant revenues and thin margins of their PC lines, and declining sales and profitability of printer consumables.