HP unveils Superdome on tap

Hewlett Packard (HP) has unveiled pay-per-use utility licensing models based on automated metering technology that measures the use of each central processing unit on its Superdome enterprise servers.

The company claimed that the model gives customers, particularly those businesses with seasonal activity or unexpected new business opportunities, a charging model reflecting actual usage on a monthly basis.

HP said that this flexible licensing offers advantages to customers during slow business periods as they will not pay for processing they do not actually use.

In addition, customers will not have to pay for the capital hardware cost incurred by having standby processors instantly available during periods of high activity.

"This gives customers the financial flexibility they need to respond promptly and effectively to cyclical changes in demand, and directly align IT costs with the revenue the technology helps to generate," said Irv Rothman, president and chief executive at HP Financial Services.

The company's metering technology reads the actual utilisation of each processor and charges only for the processing power used. The data is automatically collected, encrypted and transmitted to HP.