Cashing In

DUBLIN, IRELAND  January 22, 2002  Equitant announced today that it has signed a multi-year business process outsourcing deal with Hewlett-Packard EMEA to provide its full suite of Order-To-Cash (O2C) services for HP's online B2B sales to its SME customers. This deal further extends the existing business relationship Equitant and Hewlett-Packard have established over the last two years.

In assuming full responsibility for the O2C function, Equitant will enable HP to accept, process, and close online commercial business. Working with HP, Equitant will deliver a full range of O2C services, including credit assessment, billing and collections, cash application, bank management, and financial performance reporting.

According to General Manager of HP's EMEA online sales, Ted Speroni, "HP is building a new channel to market for which we also need to build the required critical infrastructure.  The Order-To-Cash function is especially critical because it is our back office business link to our customers.  We are also introducing new payment methods to our commercial customers that include not only traditional credit card payment but also online open invoicing, debit cards, and advance payment, all of which are extremely innovative for this type of online business transaction.  To do all this, HP must have access to a flexible, technology-enabled O2C function that can handle the scale and forecasted growth for our online business.  We chose Equitant specifically for their comprehensive O2C outsourcing solution and the speed and flexibility of their implementation."

Equitant's Ivor Deane, Vice President of Field Operations, commented, "We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to help HP develop its new business.  HP is the right type of partner for Equitant, having chosen to strategically source a critical but non-core business function to a provider with proven, best-in-class delivery and resources.  Working together with HP, we have developed over a dozen operational service-level goals, such as 'percentage of credit requests closed on time' and 'maximum number of Days of Sale Outstanding'. These metrics, in turn, support HP's key business goals of controlling costs, maintaining high levels of cash flow, and ensuring superior customer service."