E-Business Plan Lifts HP's Sales, Trims Costs; Linking Up Its Partners; Electronic procurement helped save $1.5 billion since Compaq merger.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)

Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s $19 billion purchase of Compaq Computer is barely a year old. Already, though, HP has finished most of the heavy lifting involved in combining the two companies.

So says Marius Haas, an HP vice president. The merger took a lot of work, he says, but the computer maker is starting to see the fruits of its labor.

Haas is in charge of e-business for HP. He works with resellers and other business partners to sell HP products online. With more than 65,000 resellers around the world, HP's e-business is already a major source of revenue.

But in addition to boosting sales, e-business has cut costs at HP, Haas says. By handling procurement via the Internet, HP is now much more efficient

The company says it's trimmed $3 billion in annual costs since the merger, with some $1.5 billion of that coming from streamlining its procurement systems.

Haas recently spoke with IBD about e-business efforts inside and outside HP.