1.Will you continue to partner
with ESRI, Intergraph or other GIS companies to offer a total solution?
Who would normally take the lead in identifying customers?
The new Hewlett-Packard Company
intends to continue to partner with leading GIS companies, and we will
expand our current portfolio as it makes sense for us to do. In fact,
we plan to leverage those partnerships to extend our reach into new regions
and new markets. As we identify key areas of growth for GIS solutions,
we will put teams in place in the geographies to build local partnerships
with our ISVs, so that we can get even closer to our customers.
2.Compaq has introduced many
competitively priced servers.Do you see them delivering value to GIS customers
with large spatial databases?
Absolutely. AlphaServer™ systems
have a significant presence in large, mission-critical GIS solutions, including
some of the world's largest spatial database implementations. We
announced during the launch of the new HP that the RISC- and Intel-based
product roadmaps of both pre-merger companies will not change. So
now, the breadth of our product and services portfolio from the combined
company will enable us to put together the most cost-effective spatial
solutions, on a choice of platforms, for our customers.
3.The iPAQ is everywhere! What
plans do you have to further reach buyers, both corporate and individual,
with wireless location solutions?
Wireless applications have been
a major growth area for GIS during the past few years. This is one
component of what we refer to as "Anytime, Anywhere GIS", and indeed the
iPAQ™ is by far the leading device for mobile location solutions.
The iPAQ has replaced Jornada as HP's line of handheld products, so iPAQ
will continue to be everywhere -- the industry's standard Pocket PC.
4.Microsoft is pushing the .NET
(MapPoint .NET specifically) strategy heavily.Will we see HPQ engaging
with them for GIS solutions?
We are still working out some of
the details of our strategy as the new company is just weeks old.
5.Your international effort
is aggressive.Are those markets (Asia/Pac, Latin America) growing faster
for GIS solutions than in the U.S.?
Certainly some international markets
are growing very fast, and the size of the combined company will give us
an even greater presence in some parts of the world. I see significant
potential in China and Latin America for large GIS projects in specific
industries and government initiatives. There are many good opportunities
in North America as well.
In recent years we focused our efforts on partnering with key GIS companies at the corporate level. Our aggressive push into international regions is aimed largely at establishing local teams and partnerships with regional system integrators and local ISV distributors. As we move that out into the geographies, and consequently get that much closer to the customer and the end-user, we will be much better able to demonstrate the advantages of working with the new HP.
When a customer sees a local team dedicated to working with them to help solve their spatial technology problems, the real value of these partnerships manifests itself in a way that cannot be fully realized at the corporate level.
6.What will the organizational
structure of the new GIS group within HPQ look like? As separate companies,
I believe both had an emphasis on GIS but Compaq seemed more visible.Comments?
I would agree that prior to the
merger, Compaq was the more visible company within the GIS space, particularly
during the past two years or so. Details of the GIS organization
in the new HP are still being worked out, but a few things are certain:
- GIS will be an important focus in the new company;
- We will continue - and in many cases expand -- the kinds of initiatives we have undertaken in the past with our partners.
...watch for more on this from Directions Magazine...
Compaq, AlphaServer and iPAQ are
trademarks of Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P.in the United
States and other countries.