HP Workforce Solutions Advances Strategy to Deliver Exceptional Employee Experiences

Rhea-AI Summary

HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) announced advancements in its Workforce Solutions division at HP Imagine, aimed at enhancing employee experiences and productivity. Key highlights include:

• Expanded access to HP Workforce Experience Platform with new features for printer management and AI-powered fleet management
• Introduction of advanced Monitoring and Management capabilities through global command centers
• Launch of an industry-first out-of-band remediation service for remote PC issue resolution
• New AI advisory service to help customers maximize benefits of Microsoft 365 Copilot
• Global availability of HP Managed Collaboration Services
• Expansion of HP Certified Refurbished hardware portfolio
• Extension of HOPE Recycling Futures program to Mexico

These initiatives aim to support flexible work environments, improve IT management, and drive digital equity.

Positive

• Expanded access to HP Workforce Experience Platform with new features
• Introduction of advanced Monitoring and Management capabilities
• Launch of industry-first out-of-band remediation service for remote PC issues
• New AI advisory service for Microsoft 365 Copilot implementation
• Global availability of HP Managed Collaboration Services
• Expansion of HP Certified Refurbished hardware portfolio
• Extension of HOPE Recycling Futures program to Mexico

Negative

• None.

Insights

Tech Expert

HP's Workforce Solutions division is making significant strides in enhancing employee experiences and IT management. The expanded HP Workforce Experience Platform now includes printer management and AI-powered fleet management, potentially reducing IT support needs. The new out-of-band remediation service is a game-changer for remote support, allowing technicians to fix complex issues even when PCs won't boot. These innovations could significantly improve productivity and reduce downtime for HP's enterprise customers. However, the actual impact on HP's bottom line will depend on adoption rates and the pricing of these new services. While promising, it's too early to determine if these advancements will materially affect HP's financial performance in the short term.

Sustainability Analyst

HP's expansion of its Certified Refurbished hardware portfolio and the HOPE Recycling Futures program demonstrates a commitment to circular economy principles and digital equity. By refurbishing LaserJet Multi-Function Printers and EliteBook notebooks, HP is tapping into the growing market for reliable second-life devices, which could open new revenue streams while reducing e-waste. The HOPE program's expansion to Mexico and its impact on over 16,000 children in 22 countries showcases HP's efforts in corporate social responsibility. These initiatives may enhance HP's brand value and appeal to environmentally conscious consumers and investors. However, the direct financial impact of these sustainability efforts is likely to be modest in the short term, with potential for long-term brand and market positioning benefits.

Introduces solutions to boost productivity and collaboration while accelerating growth and fulfillment

News Highlights

• Supercharges HP Workforce Experience Platform with expanded access and capabilities
• Introduces managed services that reduce downtime and keep employees productive
• Announces the industry’s most advanced remote remediation technology
• Launches HOPE Recycling Futures to give PCs a second life while accelerating digital equity

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today at HP Imagine, HP Inc.’s (NYSE: HPQ) Workforce Solutions division (HPWS) today announced a series of significant advancements designed to enable companies to achieve growth by delivering more personalized, fulfilling experiences.

As part of this, HP is expanding access to HP Workforce Experience Platform, giving CIOs access to enhanced tools, data and insights to ensure their employees are connected and productive. For customers wanting HP to manage their IT environment, HP is announcing advanced monitoring solutions and global availability of HP Managed Collaboration Services that proactively remediate incidents before employees are impacted. And when technology does fail, HP is launching a new service that helps get employees back up and running quickly. HP is also introducing a new service to help companies harness the power of AI to drive further productivity in the workforce and expanded refurbishment programs to drive a more circular economy.

“We are at the intersection of two major trends – AI and Flexible Work – and both are having a profound impact on our lives,” said Dave Shull, President of HP Workforce Solutions. “At the same time, employees want greater fulfillment and companies want improved productivity. Our Future-Ready portfolio of software and solutions helps guide companies through this shift.”

Keeping Employees Engaged and Productive

HP Workforce Experience Platform Expands Beta Access and Introduces New Features
HP Workforce Experience Platform – a platform that intelligently anticipates and resolves digital friction across every employee endpoint from a single dashboard – has been in private beta for three months with more than 270K devices enrolled.^[1]

HP is now expanding access by making the Workforce Experience Platform Beta available to new or renewing HP Proactive Insights customers in the United States at no extra cost.

As part of the new release, HP is rolling out new features that enable customers to monitor, secure, and manage printer performance at scale, in addition to PCs. New capabilities in AI-powered fleet management and employee sentiment analysis will help reduce IT support tickets and employee downtime through proactive anomaly detection and smart recommendations.

Additionally, HP Workforce Experience Platform supports integrations with Microsoft Power BI, Power Automate and Tableau (available now) and plans to support Microsoft Intune and ServiceNow in a future release, enabling IT to leverage Workforce Experience Platform data easily and securely within their existing workflows. This means IT has a more holistic view of their device fleet, better data accuracy, and more tailored IT operations that help drive down expenses and improve return on investment.^[2]

New Global Command Centers for Advanced Monitoring Capabilities
As companies look to shift their IT support from a reactive to a proactive approach, HP is announcing advanced Monitoring and Management capabilities – enabled by new global command centers – to help customers monitor and manage both HP and non-HP devices across the world, including detecting and remediating incidents.

Leveraging telemetry,^[3] HP monitors thousands of data points in conference room equipment, printers, and PCs. This enables HP Service Experts to detect and identify issues and take remote actions to proactively remediate incidents before employees are impacted. These HP Managed Services are available globally for HP’s managed solutions customers and sold through direct channels.

Industry’s First Out-of-band Diagnostics and Remediation Capability
Data shows that 90% of employees prefer flexible or hybrid work.^[4] Employees have also come to expect the same level of support remotely that they would receive in an office. But existing remote support tools can’t always address the problem, like when a PC crashes and won’t reboot.

To help reduce the time and frustration involved in restoring productivity for both hybrid employees and IT, HP is introducing a new HP out-of-band remediation service,^[5] the industry’s most advanced remote remediation technology,^[6] that enables more PC issues to be fixed remotely than ever before – even if the PC won’t boot. HP is the first PC manufacturer to use out-of-band technology to securely connect to remote PCs below the OS, using an encrypted cloud connection. This allows HP support agents full keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) control to diagnose and fix more complex issues like boot failures, imaging and BIOS issues -- with virtually no assistance from the end user.

This industry-first remediation service is expected to be available later this year in North America and the EU as an add-on to an HP Essential, Premium or Premium+ Support package with the purchase of any new Intel vPro enabled PC direct from HP or an authorized reseller. HP plans to expand the service feature availability across other commercial PCs in the coming months.

New AI Advisory Services Help Customers Tap into the Potential of Microsoft Copilot
HP is also announcing a new AI advisory service to help customers tap into the full potential of Microsoft 365 Copilot. This new AI advisory service will evaluate a company’s current setup and readiness for AI, conduct interactive workshops to help companies maximize the benefits of AI, and help companies plan for rolling out new AI tools. This new AI Advisory Service is expected to be available in November 2024 in the US, UK, France, Spain, Ireland, and Germany.

Creating Collaborative Team Experiences

Managed Collaboration Services Now Available to Customers Worldwide
In today’s flexible working world, video collaboration connects more employees than ever before. To help customers modernize and maintain their conference rooms, HP is announcing the global availability of HP Managed Collaboration Services. HP Managed Collaboration Services uses Poly and HP gear to deliver exceptional meeting experiences with flexible, reliable, managed room solutions that ensure every space is video-enabled, and ready to be used. Learn more here.

Driving Societal Impact

HP is committed to accelerating equitable access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunity for those who are systemically excluded so they can participate and thrive in a digital economy. HP’s new services and programs help give technology a second life while delivering hope around the world.

Expanded Portfolio of HP Certified Refurbished Hardware
With growing customer demand for high-quality, reliable second-life devices, HP is announcing expansion of its HP Certified Refurbished hardware portfolio to now include LaserJet Multi-Function Printers, available for Managed Print Solutions customers in the United States.

Each HP Certified Refurbished device undergoes rigorous refurbishment and inspection processes, utilizes approved HP parts, and comes backed by HP Support for added peace of mind. The LaserJet offerings are the latest addition to the HP Certified Refurbished hardware portfolio, which also includes availability of HP EliteBook 800 G6 and G7 series notebooks in the United States and France.

Delivering HOPE Around the World
HP is expanding HOPE Recycling Futures – HP's signature program that helps companies connect and uplift children. HOPE Recycling Futures receives devices from organizations who would otherwise dispose of them, works with its partners to erase existing data and refurbish the devices. HP then coordinates with vetted non-governmental organizations to deliver the devices to schools serving vulnerable and marginalized youth — all at no cost to the company or receiving organization.

HOPE Recycling Futures is already partnering with companies across the EU, UK, Switzerland, India, Singapore, and Brazil, and will now extend this partnership to include Mexico. More than 16,000 children in 22 countries have benefited from the program through 72 donation projects to date.

By giving their PCs a second life for kids in need through HOPE Recycling Futures, businesses can play a crucial role in reducing e-waste and empowering the next generation with the tools they need to thrive in a digital world.

For more information on today’s news at HP Imagine, visit https://www.hp.com/us-en/newsroom/press-kits/2024/hp-imagine.html.

About HP Workforce Solutions
Workforce Solutions is a global business unit of HP Inc. Given HP’s innovative and comprehensive portfolio of PCs, printers, and collaboration gear, HP Workforce Solutions (HPWS) is used by millions worldwide to solve customer problems, often proactively, through AI-enabled software and services. HP can help partners and customers from start to finish of their technology journey.

About HP
HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) is a global technology leader and creator of solutions that enable people to bring their ideas to life and connect to the things that matter most. Operating in more than 170 countries, HP delivers a wide range of innovative and sustainable devices, services and subscriptions for personal computing, printing, 3D printing, hybrid work, gaming, and more. For more information, please visit: http://www.hp.com. 

^[1] The Workforce Experience platform is for commercial customers and requires registration. At launch, some features will require a subscription. To register for access, visit https://admin.hp.com/. Some features and capabilities may require additional purchase of HP services and/or commercial hardware capable of supporting the HP Insights agent for Windows, Mac, & Android. Activation and restrictions may apply.
Select HP Workforce Solutions require an HP Insights agent for Windows, Mac, & Android, available for download at https://admin.hp.com/software. For full system requirements and services that require the agent, please visit https://admin.hp.com/requirements. The agent collects telemetry and analytics around devices and applications that integrate into the Workforce Experience platform and is not sold as a standalone service. Internet access with connection to the Workforce Experience platform is required. HP follows stringent GDPR privacy regulations, and the platform is ISO27001, ISO27701, ISO27017 and SOC2 Type2 certified for Information Security.
^[2] Third party licenses required.
^[3] HP Services Scan is preinstalled and/or provided thru Windows Update and checks for service entitlement on each hardware device and downloads the applicable software agent automatically. To disable this feature, please follow the instructions at http://www.hpdaas.com/requirements. The HP Insights agent is a telemetry and analytics platform that provides critical data around devices and applications and is not sold as a standalone service. HP follows stringent GDPR privacy regulations and is ISO27001, ISO27701, ISO27017 and SOC2 Type2 certified for Information Security. Internet access with connection to the HP Insights agent is required. For full system requirements, please visit http://www.hpdaas.com/requirements. Not available in China.
^[4] Remote Work Statistics & Trends In (2024) – Forbes Advisor, Pew Research
^[5] Out-of-band diagnostics and remediation is available in North America (which includes the US and Canada), and the EU as an HP Care Pack for select HP commercial platforms that are Intel^® vPro^® and Intel^® AMT enabled and are entitled to HP Premium Support or HP Premium+ Support. Service levels and response times for HP Care Packs may vary depending on your geographic location. Service starts on date of hardware purchase. Restrictions and limitations apply. For details, visit www.hp.com/go/cpc. HP Services are governed by the applicable HP terms and conditions of service provided or indicated to Customer at the time of purchase. Customer may have additional statutory rights according to applicable local laws, and such rights are not in any way affected by the HP terms and conditions of service or the HP Limited Warranty provided with your HP Product. Check with your HP authorized sales rep for availability.
^[6] Based on HP’s internal analysis of PC manufacturers with power cycle control, non-OS control, BIOS control and reimaging control as of 9/24/2024.

FAQ

What new features does HP Workforce Experience Platform offer?

HP Workforce Experience Platform now offers new features for printer performance monitoring and management, AI-powered fleet management, and employee sentiment analysis. It also supports integrations with Microsoft Power BI, Power Automate, and Tableau.

What is HP's new out-of-band remediation service for PCs?

HP's new out-of-band remediation service is an industry-first technology that allows HP support agents to remotely diagnose and fix complex PC issues, even if the PC won't boot, using encrypted cloud connections and full KVM control.

How is HP expanding its refurbished hardware offerings?

HP is expanding its Certified Refurbished hardware portfolio to include LaserJet Multi-Function Printers for Managed Print Solutions customers in the United States, in addition to HP EliteBook 800 G6 and G7 series notebooks available in the US and France.

What is the HOPE Recycling Futures program by HP (HPQ)?

HOPE Recycling Futures is HP's program that refurbishes and donates devices to schools serving vulnerable youth. It has benefited over 16,000 children in 22 countries and is now expanding to Mexico, helping reduce e-waste and promote digital equity.