Web QoS is internet key

Hewlett Packard has unveiled its internet strategy in an attempt to position the company as the dominant e-commerce provider, at its 'How to succeed in e-business' forum in San Francisco.

Called Web Quality of Service (Web QoS), it will control and provide more predictability for the internet and particularly for e-commerce sites, claims HP.

The first products to be launched are HP ServiceControl, which will provide guaranteed levels of service and access for electronic transactions and the e-business platform, HP Domain Commerce, for secure, volume, mission-critical applications.

The areas covered by the strategy include peak-usage management, user and service classes. These will prioritise requests and class those accessing an e-commerce site into slow and fast streams for access. Regular customers and those buying, as opposed to surfing a site, will find their connection shunted to the front of the server queue.

Nigel Ball, general manager of HP internet and applications division said: 'The customers' experiences can now be controlled. It will add structure to the internet. Businesses need a solution that is not the IBM way of throwing hardware at the problem. A site like World Cup 98 is expecting between 15 and 100 million hits a day and QoS can balance that load.'

David Birmbaum, product line manager, added: 'There is a major attraction for resellers in the QoS strategy. It is focused on important areas for all businesses. There is a value add opportunity there.'

Analysts at Zona Research commented: 'Users will move across the internet and focus on individual sites as more opportunities become available.

Technology that offers (classes) will become important in this emerging hit storm environment.'