HP's Integration Of Compaq Is Finally Complete; Now Comes The Fun Part

The announcement that Jim McDonnell will run worldwide channels with Kevin Gilroy heading up the Americas channel organization was a critical step in getting beyond the organizational politics that come with the integration of any two companies, let alone those the size of HP and Compaq.

It was evident to me at last week's HP Americas Partner Conference that executives throughout the organization have finally reached a comfort level that can only be achieved when it is clear who is responsible for what.

For the first time since the day HP said it would swallow Compaq, there is a single sense of direction and purpose emanating from all of HP.

As a close observer of both of the former companies for years, I'm convinced that none of the critical-level executives are working for their old company any longer. The old HP is gone in everything but name. Compaq's name may remain on a few consumer products but it, too, is gone. In their place is a new company culture born out of the painful process of merging the two organizations. That's a good thing.

Any advantage HP's competitors may have had while the company was focusing its energies on internal issues is gone now.

Mike Larson, Peter Blackmore, Jim Milton and others from Compaq have clear roles going forward that are important to partners, as do Duane Zitzner, McDonnell and Gilroy. We are finally going to see what Carly Fiorina's team can do.

It certainly has its work cut out for it. Fiorina continues to open up more beachheads in her quest to make HP the biggest technology company in the game.

HP is no different from any other company in that it has strengths, weaknesses and serious challenges that must be met.

There is no question the company has a very deep and strong senior management team, but its main competitor, IBM, does as well. I have the luxury of knowing dozens of executives in both companies and, in the end, neither company is going to have an advantage in senior-level talent.

A strong sales driver like Larson at HP, for example, has a tough competitor in Don Atkins at IBM. HP's McDonnell has equally strong competition in Mike Borman at IBM. I could go on, but you get the picture.

The outcome of the battle, however, will be determined by what happens at layers far below these individuals.

Both of these companies' greatest strength and weakness is their size. Size brings leverage and resources, but it can also make it difficult to know what is happening at the street level. It's what happens in execution of marketing programs or at a sales call center that can kill a company. A sales rep who is working with a partner but then takes the business direct can destroy the great work being done elsewhere. HP and IBM both face those challenges in carrying out their channel strategies.

But the challenge is in executing with the larger channel. Those battles are not won in strategy sessions in Palo Alto. They are won by delivering programs at the field level. In short, the real battle will be won where the blocking and tackling takes place, outside the watchful eye of senior management.

The real game is only beginning. Fiorina has successfully pulled off the biggest purchase in the industry's history and created a stronger company. The channel lived through the pains of that integration, and now both solution providers and HP have an opportunity to benefit,if the worker bees can execute.

Make something happen. I can be reached at (516) 562-7812 or via e-mail at [email protected].