HP 2008 Annual Report Download - page 10

purposes. ESS, HPS and HP Software are reported collectively as a broader Technology Solutions
Group (‘‘TSG’’). While TSG is not a business segment, this aggregation provides a supplementary view
of our business. In each of the past three fiscal years, notebooks, desktops and printing supplies each
accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated net revenue.
A summary of our net revenue, earnings from operations and assets for our segments and business
units is found in Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, which is incorporated
herein by reference. A discussion of factors potentially affecting our operations is set forth in ‘‘Risk
Factors’’ in Item 1A, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Technology Solutions Group
TSG provides servers, storage, software and information technology (‘‘IT’’) services that enable
enterprise and midmarket business customers to better manage their current IT environments and
transform IT into a business enabler. TSG products help accelerate growth, minimize risk and reduce
costs to optimize the business outcomes of customers’ IT investments. Companies around the globe
leverage HP’s infrastructure solutions to deploy next generation data centers and address business
challenges ranging from compliance to business continuity. TSG’s modular IT systems and services are
primarily standards-based and feature differentiated technologies in areas including power and cooling,
unified management, security, virtualization and automation. Each of the three financial reporting
segments within TSG is described in detail below.
Enterprise Storage and Servers
The server market continues to shift towards standards-based architectures as proprietary hardware
and operating systems are replaced by industry standard server platforms that typically offer compelling
price and performance advantages by leveraging standards-based operating systems and microprocessor
designs. At the same time, critical business functions continue to demand scalability and reliability. By
providing a broad portfolio of storage and server solutions, ESS aims to optimize the combined product
solutions required by different customers and provide solutions for a wide range of operating
environments, spanning both the enterprise and the SMB markets. ESS provides storage and server
products in a number of categories.
Industry Standard Servers. Industry standard servers include primarily entry-level and mid-range
ProLiant servers, which run primarily Windows↧,(1) Linux and Novell operating systems and leverage
Intel Corporation (‘‘Intel’’) and Advanced Micro Devices (‘‘AMD’’) processors. The business spans a
range of product lines that include pedestal-tower servers, density-optimized rack servers and HP’s
BladeSystem family of server blades. In fiscal 2008, HP’s industry standard server business continued to
lead the industry in terms of units shipped and factory revenue. HP also has a leadership position in
server blades, the fastest-growing segment of the market.
Business Critical Systems. Business critical systems include Itanium↧(2)-based Integrity servers
running on the HP-UX, Windows↧, Linux, OpenVMS and NonStop operating systems, including the
high-end Superdome servers and fault-tolerant Integrity NonStop servers. Business critical systems also
include the Reduced Instruction Set Computing (‘‘RISC’’)-based servers with the HP 9000 line running
on the HP-UX operating system, HP AlphaServers running on both Tru64 UNIX↧(3) and OpenVMS,
and MIPs-based NonStop servers. During 2008, we continued to transition all Business critical systems
platforms to Itanium-based servers.
(1) Windows↧ is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
(2) Itanium↧ is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
(3) UNIX↧ is a registered trademark of The Open Group.
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