Avoiding Devastation with Information &
Communication
HP helps Canadian Red Cross in building safer, more resilient communities
by providing appropriate & cutting edge Information Technology.
“We needed a reliable technology platform that would have powerful
processing abilities to support Geographic Information System software from
ESRI, consistent communication capability, very fast on-screen graphic
displays, as well as a family of printers attuned to high resolution map
printing. HP technology platforms fit the bill perfectly”
Harold Arfin, Head of the Indian Delegation, CRCS.
HP customer case Objectives:
study:
•To deliver reliable and cost-effective IT solutions
Armed with HP's which can ensure a combination of faster,
complete range of power packed processing units, accurate
IT solutions be it graphic display screens and excellent output
workstations or printers, capability of the printers.
plotters or networking
switches, CRC gets ready Approach:
to respond better and •Offer powerful, affordable and consistently
faster in times of disaster. reliable next-generation processing technology
of HP workstation xw4550 based on AMD
Optron quad-pro processors
•Deliver the benefits of fast and color efficient
printing through HP Design Jet 500 plus and
Business Inkjet 2800 printers
•Provide crisp, clear and high resolution views of
graphics with HP 22” Flat Panel Monitors
Business benefits:
Accelerated growth of information network Calamities test integrity - Move to build resilience
•Faster processing translates into enhanced and capacity
capacity to store and disseminate information.
No society is immune to threats from natural
•High resolution graphic display ensures disasters. 22 states of India are said to be multi-
accurate interpretation of information. disaster-prone regions. Devastating natural
disasters like the 1998 Super Cyclone in Orissa,
Lower costs: the 2000 floods in Assam, the massive
•Savings through low Total Cost of Ownership earthquake in Gujarat in 2001, Tsunami in 2004,
•Optimal power requirement Floods and earthquake in 2005 have adversely
affected millions of people. Experiences of these
disasters have proved that the best way to lessen
their impact is to plan and prepare. To this effect,
Canadian Red Cross offers disaster preparedness
programmes. A part of the International Red Cross
Movement, the Canadian Red Cross operates
largely in two states of India. A major part of its
activity is in 29 villages of 6 districts of Tamilnadu
where it reaches around 60,000 people. CRC is
also active in 2 districts of Karnataka.

Harnessing Information Technology for disaster Fully understanding the needs of CRC, HP
suggested a complete set of IT solutions which
management
were reliable yet inexpensive. As a first measure,
Though natural disasters cannot be completely HP xw4550 Workstations were provided which
avoided, the resultant sufferings can be minimised combines desktop affordability with the
by creating proper awareness of likely disasters by performance, expandability, graphics and
developing a suitable warning and disaster certified to run GIS application from ESRI.
preparedness system. Information technology has Uniquely designed and engineered, the xw4550
the potential to play a critical role in planning and supports AMD's latest quad-core Opteron
implementation of disaster management. It was processors and professional graphics card with
this realization that led to the setting up of a fully the new error correcting memory capability. HP
equipped Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) by xw4550 includes an 80 PLUS power supply, which
the Indian delegation of the CRC in partnership reduces both overall energy usage and the amount
with the Indian Red Cross Society. of waste heat released into the environment.
Geographic Information System plays a vital role
“We have built this Emergency Operation Centre in disaster preparedness by mapping the whole
so that we can co-ordinate communication and area. In times of emergency, it is important that
response structure to the disaster response teams exact locations be marked for relief to reach the
at various levels. Emergency Operation Centre will right places. This requires crisp, clear, high
provide the intelligence, information, resources resolution views of the maps and other graphics.
and co-ordination capabilities as a centralized To meet this demand of CRC, HP 22” Flat Panel
resource at the national level” Monitors were provided. This monitor offers high
Harold Arfin, Head of the Indian Delegation, CRCS. quality graphic display, adjustable viewing angles
and vertical tilt for user comfort during long hours
of working in an emergency situation.
Disaster response teams working in the field need
hard copies of the high quality color accurate
maps, brochures and newsletters. To cater to this
requirement, CRC was armed with HP DesignJet
500 plus plotter and HP Business Inkjet 2800. HP
500 plus plotter delivers ultimate photo-quality
with continuous tones, smooth transitions, greater
colour consistency and improved color accuracy.
Synergising/Powering Disaster Preparedness
with HP solutions
The Emergency Operation Centre has been
designed to harness recent Information
technological advances in managing natural
disasters.
“We needed a reliable technology platform that
would have powerful processing abilities to
support Geographic Information System software
from ESRI, consistent communication capability,
very fast on-screen graphic displays, as well as a
family of printers attuned to high resolution map
printing. HP technology platforms fit the bill
perfectly”
Harold Arfin, Head of the Indian Delegation, CRCS.

Moving forward to building a safer future
Through this Emergency Operation Centre, CRC in
alliance with the Indian Red Cross plans to provide
viable, robust and reliable solutions in disaster
preparedness to other states as well. With its full
array of equipments and next generation
technology that provides adaptability and
scalability, HP will continue to partner CRC in
incorporating long term disaster risk reduction
strategies to build safer, more resilient
communities
“HP provided us with end-to-end solutions that met
our need. As was expected, it was a seamless and
effective installation right from the consultancy on
the equipments to the actual provision and
installation. In fact HP helped us meet our
deadline and the whole process was over within
30 days” .
Harold Arfin, Head of the Indian Delegation, CRCS.

Fact Sheet
• Company:
Canadian Red Cross
• Head of the Indian Delegation:
Harold Arfin
• Number of Employees:
200
• Clients:
Text Text Tex Text Tex Text Text Text Text
Key Projects:
• - Floods in Assam - 2000
• - Earthquake in Gujarat - 2001
• - Tsunami - 2004
• HP Product Details:
- HP xw4600 workstations
- HP xw6600 workstations
- HP xw8600 workstations
- HP xw9400 workstations
- HP Proliant BL460c G5 blade servers
- HP Dreamcolor monitors
• HP CRCS Account Team:
- Name- Account Manager
- Name- Business Manager - Workstations
- Name - Business Manager
To learn more, visit www.hp.com
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