Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) today committed to make more than $2 billion in financing available to its customers that are strapped for cash amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The move could boost purchases of HPE’s hardware and software in the short term, and thereby lessen the virus’ drag on its 2020 outlook.

The company’s financial arm, HPE Financial Services, is also rolling out a payment-relief program to help customers better absorb the costs of new technology. The initiative effectively follows a variable-interest model wherein required monthly payments will balloon next year.

Customers that take advantage of the financing can pay as little as 1% of the total contract value each month for the first eight months, and defer most of the cost to 2021, according to HPE. Starting in 2021, monthly payments will grow to 3.3% of the total contract. 

While HPE’s customers will likely welcome the move and take advantage of the appealing financing terms, it also creates a safety net of sorts for HPE’s financial performance through 2020. The company earlier this week, like many others, withdrew its previously issued financial guidance and suspended share buybacks. 

“This is a challenging time to lead a business. Today more than ever, IT leaders and CFOs play a central role in ensuring financial health while continuing operations,” Irv Rothman, president and CEO of HPE Financial Services, said in a statement.

HPE is extending a series of other programs to its customers to free up capital amid the pervasive uncertainty that’s roiling businesses around the globe. One such move is an offer to “buy back excess newer generation technology that is no longer needed at the customer’s end.” More than $642 million has been returned to customers through this program during the last two years, according to the company. 

Customers can also take advantage of HPE’s deferred-payment program, which delays payments for 90 days on purchases as low as $5,000. Moreover, HPE customers can now acquire compute and storage resources without paying up front. The vendor is offering customers a phased deployment program that can be scheduled out over a 12-month period, enabling businesses to configure, test, and deploy services before paying HPE. 

Finally, HPE is making pre-owned data center equipment available for purchase and a suite of technology available for short-term rentals. 

Outside of the new financial assistance program, the company is collaborating with peers on the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset to put artificial intelligence to use for scientific questions that are perplexing health care practitioners. 

Meanwhile, HPE isn’t alone in responding to the coronavirus outbreak with financial and technical assistance. Apple released a screening app in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and is sourcing masks, and designing and shipping face shields for medical workers. Cisco committed $225 million to support local and global COVID-19 response efforts.

Tech giants Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook launched a coronavirus response fund. Google is also sourcing face masks and recently pledged an additional $800 million for small to midsized businesses (SMB), health care workers, financial institutions, government agencies, and other organizations. Additionally, in partnership with Microsoft and Rescale, Google donated cloud computing resources to scientists and researchers working on test kits and vaccines for COVID-19.

Intel this week pledged $50 million, in addition to the $10 million it previously committed to support local communities, to deploy more technology at the point of patient care, accelerate scientific research into the coronavirus, and boost access to online learning. Nvidia recently joined the White House and IBM-led COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium to accelerate research into the virus and the resulting pandemic. Many other collaborative efforts among competitors and partners are also underway. 

This allocation of resources from technology companies, including compute, capital, personal protective equipment, and initiatives designed to halt the spread of COVID-19 will likely grow as the United States and other countries face a mounting death toll in the weeks and months ahead.