HP's Real Objective

"We're not looking at what's going on in the in-plant, nor do we have any expertise in managing in-plants, nor do we have any intention, through this current initiative, to do anything with the in-plant," says McMahon, putting to rest any lingering fears that HP wants to take over in-plants.

HP, McMahon says, wants to help organizations save money by printing their office documents more efficiently. It will assess the office devices currently in place, determine how many are really needed based on the number of people and the typical volume, and replace the fleet with HP multi-function devices.