Compaq aims at e-commerce

The applications, set to be announced next week at the Internet Commerce Expo in Boston, range from a desktop electronic commerce application built by Inex Corp. to ProLiant servers that come with Microsoft Corp.'s Site Server Enterprise and Raptor Systems' firewall, said Compaq (CPQ) officials in Houston.

Compaq will sell the ProLiant 850R, with about 32MB of memory, and the ProLiant 6500 server, with 128MB of memory and a 4.3GB hard drive. For example, the 850R, with the Microsoft commerce software and Raptor security software, will cost $13,396.

Move focuses on back offices
Compaq is also building a set of enterprise e-commerce applications designed to handle large volumes of transactions called the iTP Certificate Solution. Built in conjunction with Compaq's Tandem division, they are expected to cost in the six-figure range and will be sold with high-end servers.

The products are being aimed at banks and other financial institutions, a traditional stronghold of Tandem.

"It's just a repackaging of what is already out there," said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Piper Jaffrey in Minneapolis. "From their perspective, their people need to wear one hat, the Compaq hat. When you sell a high-end server [you want] follow-on sales of mid-level servers, etc., [to be the] standard Compaq package."

Compaq Computer Corp. is poised to announce a series of partnerships and repackaging deals intended to firmly plant the PC company in the middle of the electronic commerce fray.

The applications, set to be announced next week at the Internet Commerce Expo in Boston, range from a desktop electronic commerce application built by Inex Corp. to ProLiant servers that come with Microsoft Corp.'s Site Server Enterprise and Raptor Systems' firewall, said Compaq (CPQ) officials in Houston.

Compaq will sell the ProLiant 850R, with about 32MB of memory, and the ProLiant 6500 server, with 128MB of memory and a 4.3GB hard drive. For example, the 850R, with the Microsoft commerce software and Raptor security software, will cost $13,396.

Move focuses on back offices
Compaq is also building a set of enterprise e-commerce applications designed to handle large volumes of transactions called the iTP Certificate Solution. Built in conjunction with Compaq's Tandem division, they are expected to cost in the six-figure range and will be sold with high-end servers.

The products are being aimed at banks and other financial institutions, a traditional stronghold of Tandem.

"It's just a repackaging of what is already out there," said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Piper Jaffrey in Minneapolis. "From their perspective, their people need to wear one hat, the Compaq hat. When you sell a high-end server [you want] follow-on sales of mid-level servers, etc., [to be the] standard Compaq package."