PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 11 -- HP and NetSuite today announced they are partnering to offer software as a service (SaaS) business applications to the small and midsize business (SMB) market.

The relationship enables the HP channel of 15,000 value-added resellers (VARs) in the United States to offer cloud services to SMB customers.

According to AMI Partners, a leading SMB research firm, 62 percent of midsize businesses see customer relationship management as strategically important, yet only 14 percent have implemented it due to return on investment pressures and limited resources. Further, while 64 percent think enterprise resource planning is important, only 16 percent have implemented it for the same reasons. HP’s infrastructure technology and robust channel network combined with NetSuite’s hosted SaaS suite offer SMBs an easy-to-implement, reliable business management solution delivering an affordable alternative to on-premise solutions in this tough economic environment.

NetSuite’s comprehensive business management suite provides SMBs a single integrated system to manage all key business operations, including customer relationship management, accounting, enterprise resource planning and ecommerce. The company’s cloud-based services use enterprise-class technology to enable real-time insight into all aspects of business computing without the typical overhead costs.

Together, HP and NetSuite have developed a referral-based program for HP channel partners. In addition, partners can offer new value-added management and implementation services related to the NetSuite Software offerings as part of the HP Total Care portfolio of services, software and support that helps SMBs manage, protect and grow their business.

“SMB customers are looking for new ways to avoid up-front technology costs, and on-demand services are the ideal solution,” said Enrique Lores, senior vice president of the solution partners organization and commercial sales at HP. “Our partnership with NetSuite offers the HP channel network an excellent method for participating in this growing SMB market opportunity. They will now have access to the tools they need to stay at the forefront of technology with new ways to deliver outstanding service to their SMB customers.”

“This collaboration with HP will accelerate our penetration of the SMB market worldwide and demonstrate that the channel can play a major role in delivering cloud computing solutions,” said Zach Nelson, chief executive officer of NetSuite.

SMBs can have peace of mind knowing that they are supported by their trusted channel partner and that their software services are running on high-performance HP ProLiant servers with HP StorageWorks Modular Smart Arrays (www.hp.com/go/msa). Services can be scaled up or down to meet the changing needs of businesses, ensuring that they only pay for what they need, when they need it.

HP and NetSuite are increasing the breadth of VAR offerings to include SaaS as well as hardware. As the cloud market develops, SMBs will require the ability to use a mix of on-premise and hosted solutions as their needs and budgets change.

“The trend toward services delivery by channel partners has been marked in the last several years, and it will only continue to increase,” said Christina Richmond, channels analyst at IDC. “Partners must evolve toward a more solution-centric approach gradually, while maintaining their core hardware competencies. This offering from HP goes a long way toward enabling partners to easily incorporate hardware, software and services which, as a solution, will assist the channel in taking the necessary steps to transform their business models for the future.”

NetSuite has established dedicated resources to support HP resellers as they bring NetSuite offerings to market, including a toll-free hotline for sales support and a self-service portal where resellers can access sales tools and online training resources.

About NetSuite

NetSuite Inc. is a leading vendor of on-demand, integrated business management software suites for midsized businesses and divisions of large companies. NetSuite enables mid-market companies to manage core business operations in a single system, which includes accounting/enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and ecommerce. NetSuite’s patent-pending “real-time dashboard” technology provides an easy-to-use view into up-to-date, role-specific business information. For more information, visit www.netsuite.com.

About HP

HP, the world’s largest technology company, provides printing and personal computing products and IT services, software and solutions that simplify the technology experience for consumers and businesses. HP completed its acquisition of EDS on Aug. 26, 2008. More information about HP is available at www.hp.com/.