HP Helping Tax Man With Deductions

Hewlett-Packard Thursday said it has signed a blanket
contract with partner PlanetGov to help the IRS consolidate its servers and
network storage devices.

As part of the deal, Chantilly, Va.-based IRS contractor PlanetGov and HP
will replace an undisclosed percentage of the 4,400 IBM and Dell servers and
approximately 30 storage area networks (SANs) currently in use at the IRS for the next four years.

The news comes as the Palo Alto, Calif.-based firm is trying to avoid
being mired between its two biggest rivals.

“It is popular to say that HP is stuck between IBM and Dell,” HP CEO
Carly Fiorina said to analysts in New York this week. “It is particularly
popular for our competitors, IBM and Dell, to say we are stuck between the
two but the facts don’t support the thesis.”

HP said it will supply some 3,000 if its HP ProLiant servers, including
blade servers, and 30 HP StorageWorks storage area networks. The agreement
also includes a package of HP’s professional consulting services.

“Together, we are providing the IRS with a blueprint for the
implementation of emerging technology through the consolidation of servers,
while providing maximum storage capabilities and efficient system management
tools and practices for network enterprise solutions,” PlanetGov CEO Steve
Baldwin said in a statement.

This is not the first time HP has secured a coup with the IRS. Last year,
HP and PlanetGov secured a three-year, $100 million purchase agreement to
supply the IRS with Compaq Evo desktop and notebook PCs. The contract
supplanted Dell as a major supplier for the best-known
branch of the Department of Treasury. Dell executives blamed a sharp rise in
the price of components for not being able to deliver.

HP has also swiped other contracts from Round Rock, Texas-based computer
maker. Most notably, HP scored a three-year, multimillion-dollar contract to
become the preferred provider for computer hardware for General Mills’
Pillsbury division.

Likewise, IBM has lost its share of customers to HP.
Earlier this year, HP Thursday said it had beaten
out Big Blue and other vendors in a deal to provide MTV Networks with a
variety of new servers and storage products. The multi-million-dollar
contract included multiple HP UNIX servers and storage products, along with
consulting and support from HP Services.