In collaboration with Oracle, HP will develop a clear path from the databases to the HP Indigo press. May 2, 2002 -- (*WhatTheyThink.com) -- Speaking at the ON DEMAND show last week, HP Indigo executives said their intent is not for their digital presses to reside in the in-plant, an area where HP has no vested interest, but with commercial printers. The company plans to influence print demand by creating a clear path from the data to the commercial printer. The statements were made by Bill McGlynn, VP and General Manager of HP Digital Publishing Solutions, and Indigo Founder Benny Landa. (Landa will become a strategic advisor to Carly Fiorina, CEO of HP.) The comments were in response to concerns that HP Indigo would compete with printers by placing on-site facility managements or presses within companies. The HP sales force will look for an outsourcing opportunity and a special force will present a solution and determine which of the buyer's printers has an HP Indigo press. If none do, they will approach a printer to get one. They have “no intention of being an interloper, but will make the introductions," according to Landa. Landa told the crowd that “HP owns the buyers of commercial print” with their “60% market share in the office environment.” He said that vendors who are trying to push printers to push marketing managers is not a workable approach. Says Landa, "Of the $400 billion in print, 3/4 is in marketing materials and HP's enterprise sales force is already talking to these buyers." "Did you ever wonder," he asks, "If there's more information, how come you're not printing more?" His answer is because there is no clear path from the data to the commercial printer. The HP enterprise sales force is already dealing with storage and networks. In collaboration with Oracle, HP will develop a clear path from the databases to the HP Indigo press. With products such as HP Production Flow and HP Custom Publishing, the company will use their servers and applications to help customers become ready for variable data printing. "They will be putting the process pieces in place," says Landa, "so marketing managers can create almost at the press of a button." According to McGlynn, their customers want content to be device independent. Elements such as print, streaming video, wireless, should be pulled together on the web. He wants to use HP's access to buyers to create demand while providing databases utilizing CRM, capable of merging content media and creating a seamless workflow to output. Declared McGlynn, "The database should service the digital press, the cell phone and the web." *Editor’s Note: This news story contains excerpts from a special report written by Carole Alexander. The complete article entitled, “Xeikon and Indigo: Where Are They Now?”, details the paths of these two industry pioneers. All visitors can access this special report by visiting www.WhatTheyThink.com.