HP Pulls Plug on HP Hiflex Management Information System and HP Hiflex Web-to-Print Solutions

The day after I was unofficially informed about HP’s decision to pull the plug on future Hiflex sales, the story ran in the German trade press and I was also contacted by a competitor in the space asking if I had any details. The German trade press article (also with “unofficial sources” basically stated what my confidential source had indicated to me:

I also spoke with Lane Press of Vermont, the first U.S. implementation of Hiflex in 2004, to get their perspective. And, of course, I reached out to HP to see what they had to say.

Hiflex was acquired by HP in December of 2011. At the time, it was a little puzzling as to why the business was placed in the Laser Jet and Enterprise Solutions Business rather than in the company’s Graphic Solutions Business. The acquisition process was started during the ill-fated tenure of Léo Apotheker, who was CEO of HP from November 2010 until his firing in September 2011. Interestingly, Apotheker is from Aachen, Germany, the same city where Hiflex was founded by brothers Thomas and Markus Reichert, and reportedly, Thomas and Apotheker knew each other.

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About Cary Sherburne

Cary Sherburne is a well-known author, journalist and marketing consultant whose practice is focused on marketing communications strategies for the printing and publishing industries.

Cary Sherburne is available for speaking engagements and consulting projects. To get more information contact us.

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