HP Heats Up Unix Server Wars with Rebate

Hewlett-Packard attempted to fortify its position in the high-end server market Tuesday when it announced a new program designed to entice IBM and Sun Microsystems customers to move to its Superdome server.

The program, effective immediately and available worldwide, matches and adds an additional 10 percent to trade-in offers for IBM’s p680 or S80 and Sun’s UE10K.

Under the terms of the program, HP customers (both end users and resellers) that trade in an IBM S80 or p680 system against the purchase of an HP Superdome server between Sept. 25, 2001 and Jan. 31, 2002, and meet other program requirements, are eligible to receive double the standard rebate for the IBM S80 or p680 system.

HP customers that trade in a Sun UE10K system against the purchase of an HP Superdome server between Sept. 25, 2001 and Jan. 31, 2002, and meet other program requirements, are eligible to receive an additional 30 percent rebate over and above the prevailing rebate for the Sun UE10K system.

Should IBM or Sun provide a more competitive, documented, counteroffer to the eligible customer for the IBM S80 or p680 or Sun UE10K systems, HP will meet that offer and raise it by 10 percent.

All rebates, however, are subject to program conditions and approval by HP.

Enterprises currently using the Unix-based Superdome server include General Mills, GlaxoSmithKline, Liz Claiborne, Mitsubishi Electric, Porsche, T-Systems (formerly Debis IT), Vodafone, and the U.S. Navy. In addition, four of the top-five automobile manufacturers worldwide, five of the top-seven telecommunications companies worldwide, and four of the top-six aerospace companies worldwide run Superdome servers.

“Unlike systems based on Sun UltraSPARC 3 or IBM’s Power4, where a forklift upgrade or box swap is required, customers can upgrade their current HP Superdome servers without a box swap,” said Mark Hudson, worldwide marketing manager, HP Business Systems and Technology Organization, citing Superdome’s advantages.

“Additionally, customers can use HP Superdome servers to mix and match PA-8600 and PA-8700 processors, which is further investment protection that our competition does not even come close to matching,” Hudson added.

Enterprises planning to mix and match, however, must configure the HP Superdome servers with multiple partitions. PA-8700 processors must be in a separate partition from PA-8600 processors.