Let's Get Talking

HP

has also joined the internet bandwagon with its tool e-speak

which enables websites to talk to each other.

Call it

a tradition or a coin- cidence that happens once too often,

the slow-to-react Hewlett-Packard again let the first wave

of internet craze pass. While IBM and Sun nimbly introduced

their ecommerce and Dot.Com strategies, HP decided to keep

quiet. However, it came as a big surprise when HP announced

its strategy for e-services. The surprise is not that it entered

the market late-HP trackers must be used to that by now-but

that it decided to enter a segment hitherto unassociated with

HP. The software segment. The 'e' in HP strategy revolves

around a tool called e-speak. Not that HP does not have a

background in software development.

But traditionally

the software tools have come only as part of their peripherals.

Of course, its OpenView software can be said to be an entry

of sorts, but none of the hype went with it. The e-speak,

with Oracle 8i as the preferred database repository, is a

technology designed to enable e-services on the web. Acting

as an 'infomediary', the tool can 'talk' to other sites and

pull up the best-fit information for the browser without having

to search the web or be flooded with search results which

the surfer has to wade through to arrive at the right site.

For instance,

if the information being sought is vendors of red chairs with

reclining backs at a particular price range, the e-speak installed

then talks to all sites that offer chairs and presents only

those sites to the browser that best fit the requirements.

Such a concept already functions in www.ariba.com, a site

dedicated to facilitating business between suppliers and buyers.

The concept of e-speak can change the way we do business on

the web. A lot of frustration in getting information from

the internet would end if this concept is successfully implemented.

Citing the example of what a travel site can do, Stacy Plemmons,

Enterprise Computing Sales Organization, HP India, says, "Instead

of you having to click so many times to find out who offers

ticketing services, hotel reservations, taxi booking, you

can just give the relevant information to one travel portal

which then does the searching and offers what best suits your

needs.

The other

advantage is if there are any last minute changes, then you

don't have to get hassled since the service provider again

does the needful." If there is a change in the travel program

the site can again be given the information and all the cancellations

will be taken care of. Similarly, if there has been a change

at the other end-the airways, or the hotel-those sites will

proactively pass the information back and the user will be

informed by the travel portal either through mail, phone,

mobile phone, or pager. E-speak can pull up information from

sites that have e-speak installed. Explains Ganesh Ayyar,

President, HP India, "With the kind of services possible with

this tool, websites will be compelled to have this tool installed."

He adds,

"In fact,

Indian companies will be able to offer e-services abroad using

this tool since the tool will do all the work." This, he feels,

will offset the fact that there is not enough local content

to push the product in the country. HP is also supplying developer

toolkits since e-speak is a barebone system that will require

customized tools for developing interfaces depending on the

type of services offered. While e-speak can be freely downloaded-ensuring

the pull for the product-the toolkits will come with a price

tag, the point of profit.

The company

is targeting financial institutions, software development

companies, manufacturing, communication companies and government

agencies in addition to educational institutions. HP is already

negotiating with a few companies for the product. To promote

this concept, HP is also financing new e-commerce enterprises

that will develop sites using e-speak for providing services,

since it feels that lack of finance is the most inhibiting

factor in the country. "We believe that companies should focus

only on their core competence-which is service-and not on

finance or technology," says Ayyar. Some of the financing

options worked out by the company are pay per use financing,

solutions financing or venture financing.

Through

its e-speak, HP is steering clear of its traditional rivals

IBM and Sun. However, by entering into software, especially

for the internet, the company is bound to make new enemies

since barriers of entry is much less here. Financing e-ventures

and giving the tool away for free make for compelling reasons

to opt for the tool by anyone who is serious about doing business

on the web. With lower marketing costs and experience from

OpenView, the company may well pull it off.

MEERA

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