Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) yesterday announced a metered service, similar to a mobile phone billing plan, that allows corporate customers to pay for only the amount of server computing power they use.

The program, called the HP Pay per Use utility pricing program is designed to let businesses align their IT costs with revenue, HP said in a statement. The program is available on new Unix-based Superdome servers as well as servers based on Intel Corp.'s 32-bit processors. Customers using the plan receive a monthly bill based on the amount of actual computing power used during the month, HP said. HP already offers a similar service for printers under the HP Managed Print Services label.

The HP Pay per Use pricing program is available on Superdome servers in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, South Korea, Japan and Singapore. The plan is also available for customers with Intel-based L-series servers in the U.S., with that plan expected to be offered in the U.K., France and Germany by the end of the year, HP said.

Pricing varies depending on what type of server a company uses.

The plan complements both HP Instant Capacity on Demand, which allows customers to activate additional servers or processors as needed, and HP's Pay per Forecast pricing plan, which allows companies to set up a payment schedule based on forecast usage, HP said.

HP, in Palo Alto, California, can be reached at 1-650-857-1510 or at http://www.hp.com/.

» posted by abennett

IDG News Service

• Email
• Print
• Share
  • Slashdot
  • Digg
  • Stumble
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine