The challenge
The Hewlett-Packard Indigo press division distribute highly sophisticated digital
printers to the enterprise sector. These printers cost a great deal and HP’s global
sales team are finding the market increasingly competitive. One of their vital needs
is to be able to illustrate convincingly to clients the potential benefits and savings
over traditional lithograph printers.
HP needed a standalone application that was easy to use and simple to understand,
but capable of handling numerous variables of costs, print run, colour, materials
and quality compared with similar variables for lithograph printers.
The solution
First we needed to understand all the variables and components of the process, and
its context. We constructed a theoretical model which HP took away and carefully
assessed. When that was approved, we built a user interface to allow a worldwide
sales team, using several languages, to illustrate the advantages of digital printers
– quickly, accurately and convincingly.
The result
We delivered the standalone Comparison Engine on time and on budget, and exceeded
expectations with an official launch at the 2005 IPEX Event, the world’s largest
English-language print and publishing event. Early indications show that the Comparison
Engine is being readily accepted by the sales teams – partly because of the detailed
training material we created and partly because the interface works simply and flexibly.
HP tell us they’ve been extremely impressed by our professionalism and breadth of
understanding. We’ve given them an IT solution that exactly matches their requirements.