Forget all that posturing about the future of e-services you may have read from HP’s brass in front-cover interviews. The fuzzy concept got real specific at HP World, when HP announced the first application-on-tap deal from the HP 3000 division (CSY) since e-services went public in May. This fall the world will be able to order telephone management services delivered from an HP 3000, and the only thing a customer needs to get started is an Internet connection and phones to manage. If that sounds like a vast market, Internet R&D program manager Alvina Nishimoto would only say that “it’s a horizontal, not a vertical,” meaning this “app-on-tap” cuts across industries for a broad prospect list. Longtime HP 3000 software provider Telenomics makes its proven PWARE program something you can purchase for just cents per use, running on 3000s in a Boise, Idaho HP datacenter. It can be ordered in November.

The HP move is endorsed by a real customer already using e-services delivered from an HP 3000. PWARE customer Palm Springs Convention Center has been using the Telenomics software for almost 10 years. Jim Dunn, vice president and general manager there, said “Over the past 18 months, we’ve experienced tremendous growth in our telecommunications needs. Moving our service to the “apps on tap” model is the natural transition to continue to receive secure and reliable service, with the added benefit of HP and Telenomics support.”

Telenomics provides the application support, while HP does the datacenter support. PWARE features include on-line telephone directories, telephone billing, call detail reporting, reporting through e-mail systems and the ability to track all calls. Because PWARE can potentially save a company thousands of dollars in fraud detection, HP expects it to be easy to justify the cents-per-use cost, and even easier to sign on since the HP 3000 doesn’t have to clear IT hurdles to start working for a company. The tracking ability enables a company to detect pirated telephone calls, those illegally placed through a company’s system by an outside party.

Telenomics will continue to sell HP 3000s and their software in addition to the e-services deal, HP said. While the supplier has versions of PWARE that sell for NT and Unix systems, it chose the 3000 for its e-services entry because “they love the 3000,” said Nishimoto. “It’s very easy for them to work with it. They’d rather do it [on a 3000], and it has a lot of scalability — which for apps on tap is ideal.”

HP is also pumped up about being able to spread the 3000’s benefits to places which don’t even own a system. “Telenomics and HP have been partners for over 16 years,” said CSY general manager Harry Sterling at the show. “We are excited about this latest development, which is helping to establish pay-per-use solutions as the next generation of computing.” HP said that there are other deals with 3000 software vendors being prepared for the apps-on-tap arrangement. The deal changes the rules for getting 3000s working at sites, skipping over the “sell it to the IT department” phase. It also gets a 3000 working in places where one support application wouldn't be enough to get a system installed.