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HP unveils Web strategy
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May 11, 1998: 2:35 p.m. ET
New electronic commerce products will compete with IBM, Sun
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Hewlett-Packard Co. Monday unveiled its electronic business strategy with a line of products designed to help companies conduct business on the Internet more efficiently.
HP announced its Web Quality of Service (QoS) product line, which the company said will help businesses handle unexpected surges of demand on their Web sites and prioritize transactions based on customer profiles.
The company also said it will be working with computer networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. to develop Web technologies and solutions that provide "predictable Internet service end to end."
"Our customers are telling us that they can't apply the Internet to e-commerce as aggressively as they'd like because they can't predict or control Internet traffic very easily," said Nigel Ball, general manager of HP's Internet and Applications Systems Division.
As part of the strategy, HP introduced the HP Domain Commerce, an electronic commerce server platform that bundles essential software elements for managing Internet commerce applications.
The new QoS line also includes "user classes," which allows companies to distinguish occasional customers from premier customers and provide different levels of service accordingly.
HP has been slow to enter the e-commerce market while such competitors as IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. have been placing greater emphasis on Internet business solutions.
Art Russell, an analyst at Edward Jones, acknowledged that HP has been "behind the curve" regarding an e-commerce strategy. But because the industry is still in its infancy, he said HP can use its patience to its advantage.
"We're still early in the game," he said. "They may have learned how to effectively deliver the right products by seeing what the others have been doing up to this point."
Russell added that HP's product initiatives are encouraging enough to automatically regard them as a major player in the Web commerce field.
"Anything they can do to prioritize transactions… is another step on the road to providing guaranteed qualities of service on the Internet," Russell said.
Shares of HP (HWP) climbed 1-1/16 to 78 in midday trading. 
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Hewlett-Packard
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