Changing Tide At HP

Consider some of the comments made by Hewlett-Packard's top executives about its channel strategy before and after the company's acquisition of Compaq Computer. It certainly sounds like HP is changing its strategy,and not for the better. The changes center on the Hard Deck program, which HP put in place 17 months ago. That program mandated that HP's sales force would target about 1,000 named accounts on a direct basis, leaving everything below that line to solution providers.

In an interview in the Feb. 11 issue of CRN, HP Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina pledged to continue supporting Hard Deck. "We've fixed our channel problems, and we don't want to go backwards," she said. "We are going to keep Hard Deck. That program works."

Later, in a June 4 story on CRN Online, Fiorina had this to say about the strategy: "Hard Deck is not a product-specific program. . . . Hard Deck is a program that is focused on accounts. It is a customer-segment focus. The short answer is yes, [Hard Deck will continue, and it will continue to be a customer-segment, market-segment focus."

But now HP has confirmed that as of Aug. 1, desktops, notebooks and Intel servers won't be covered under Hard Deck. Instead, those products will be part of what HP calls a "customer choice" model, under which accounts can choose to buy either direct from HP or from solution providers.

HP is still finalizing the terms and conditions of its post-merger channel program. In the June 10 CRN, Kevin Gilroy, HP's vice president and general manager of North America commercial channel sales, said the new sales model will contain both direct and indirect elements. "We are going to have compelling, profound channel programs, and to be quite candid, we are going to have pretty compelling direct machinery," he said.

How HP's new strategy will line up for solution providers remains to be seen. While change is to be expected, HP should keep this in mind: Solution providers can always choose to react to change by changing their vendor preferences.

How do you feel about the Hard Deck changes? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].