HP has formed a Business Information Optimisation unit within its HP Software organisation to help companies make better decisions and manage their business-critical information throughout its lifecycle

The new unit will be composed of two groups â" business intelligence and information management and will include software from across the company.

The business intelligence group will oversee HP Neoview, an enterprise-class data warehouse based on industry-standard technology. HP Neoview began shipping to select customers in October 2006 and plays a central role in HP's multibillion-dollar internal IT transformation.

This group will be bolstered by HPs recent acquisition of Knightsbridge Solutions Holdings Corp., completed in January, which advanced HPs ability to deliver business intelligence and data warehouse services. Business intelligence software, including data warehousing, enables companies to make more informed decisions to drive growth.

HP has recruited Ben C. Barnes, an industry veteran with 15 years of direct business intelligence experience, as vice president and general manager of the business intelligence group.

Previously, Barnes served as chief executive officer for ActivIdentity, a global provider of strong authentication and trusted digital identity solutions, and Intraspect Software, a provider of enterprise software solutions for internal and external collaboration and content management. He also was general manager of IBMâTMs Global Business Intelligence Solutions Division. Prior to IBM, Barnes was general manager for marketing at Teradata.

The information management group within the Business Information Optimisation unit will deliver solutions that archive and manage customersâTM corporate data. These solutions can accelerate data archiving and retrieval, increase worker productivity and simplify the protection of customersâTM critical data. HP plans to name a leader for the information management group in the coming weeks.

This newly launched unit in our HP Software organisation is another important step in our commitment to firmly establish HP as the trusted advisor to CIOs, said Thomas E. Hogan, senior vice president, Software, HP. âœWe are extending our strength in optimising the business outcomes tied to applications and technology to now include the equally important need to optimise the value of the information itself. This suite of solutions will help businesses maximise the value and impact of their IT investments spanning systems, applications, networks and information.