Compaq announced a change in its sales strategy yesterday, pushing
services to large corporate customers in a bid to emphasise that it
does more than make hardware.
Compaq will tie installation and technical support services to its
hardware sales of PCs, servers, storage and handheld devices.
Calling the initiative "Computing on Demand," Compaq plans to offer
customers computing services as a utility cost, like a water bill,
according to a news release from the company. The initiative is
intended to allow customers to focus on their core businesses,
while outsourcing IT requirements to Compaq.
Computing on Demand includes a number of categories: Capacity on
Demand, Server on Demand and Storage on Demand. Customers can
reserve PC, server and storage capacity and then Compaq releases
computing power to them as required.
Under the Capacity on Demand programme, Compaq will install reserve
computing power for customers using AlphaServer and NonStop
Himalaya servers. The server capacity can be put into service
immediately on request, and paid for as it is used. Server on
Demand will extend the plan to the company's ProLiant server line
in the third quarter. The plan includes flexible financing options,
as well as a pay-per-unit computing model based on application
usage.
Compaq's Access Utility is a package of hardware and services with
options that can be customised, according to the company. It offers
four desktop or portable configurations using Microsoft's Windows
2000 Professional and Office XP software, along with help centre
support, installation, program management, asset reporting, and a
technology upgrade every three years.
Optional services can be added. Those services include asset
recovery, backups and system restoration, desk-side support, data
migration, custom image loading, and enhanced hardware
support.
The Storage on Demand and Compaq Private Storage Utility programs
perform the same kind of services function as the other on-demand
programmes, allowing customers to meet unanticipated storage
requirements by purchasing additional capacity like a utility, on a
"pay-as-you-grow" basis, according to Compaq.