Watch out IBM - HP/Compaq is out to get you

NEWS The merger between HP and Compaq may well create a world-beating PC powerhouse, but as far as HP is concerned, that's not really the point of the deal. A senior HP figure said today that the company's real ambition is to take on IBM at its own game by providing a comprehensive range of hardware, software and services - the latter being an area in which IBM has been dominant in recent times. Bernard de Valence, president of HP Europe, said at HP's Software Universe conference in Monaco that the merger is mainly about developing better services and standards. Speaking for the first time since the merger was announced in September, Valence said the industry had misinterpreted the deal. "They thought this was about the PC business," he said, "but it's about the core computing and services that HP can offer. "HP will be the largest company in the world to support open standards and unifying structures. The merger will allow us to build stronger alliance partners and create a ball of standards to counter-balance IBM," he said. Valence is confident the deal will be passed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US and the European Commission - a belief reflected in his continual references to how HP will be affected when, not if, the merger is sanctioned. "HP will be number one when it comes to access devices, IT infrastructure, imaging and printing as well as number three in storage. We'll have 65,000 services people and over 140,000 employees in essentially every country in the world," he said. Valence also had some words of reassurance for the two companies' existing customers. He said: "We've put in the best athletes to form a merger team so that when we get the approval of the authorities and the shareholders we'll be ready to go. Within one month of the merger we will be able to communicate a technology roadmap and tell you who to go to for support."