Under the contract, HP will provide Ford with networked copiers, printers, and fax machines at Ford facilities worldwide. HP also will provide support services for the automaker's printing infrastructure. The agreement builds on an existing print-services relationship between Ford and HP.
HP's imaging and printing group has experienced robust growth of late as more and more companies look to service providers to help manage complex printing networks. In its most recently completed first quarter, the group posted record revenue of $5.9 billion.
On Monday, market researcher IDC predicted that business spending on outsourced document- and image-management services will experience a 19.7% compound annual growth rate through 2007.