Executive Changes

The changing of the guard was front and center last week at both Ingram Micro and Hewlett-Packard. In our lead news story, CRN Distribution Editor Scott Campbell takes a look at the unexpected resignation of Ingram Micro President and COO Mike Grainger.

And in our cover story, CRN Editor Heather Clancy writes about HP's new unified channel organization, which is now being overseen by Kevin Gilroy, vice president and general manager of HP's Solution Partners Organization (SPO) for the Americas, and Jim McDonnell, who has been named to the new post of vice president and general manager of the SPO worldwide.

Ingram Micro's executive shuffle comes at a time when the world's largest computer products distributor is eyeing new engagement models that give partners more choices and flexibility on the price and service offerings they receive from Ingram Micro.

HP's changes come as the $73 billion company is attempting to tighten its channel ties in both the enterprise and SMB markets as it moves to best rival IBM. HP last week announced $50 million in additional funding that includes an IBM Attack program and aggressive offerings to team with partners on services.

Partnering with the channel on services is an area where IBM has made significant strides in the past several years. Interestingly enough, the new HP channel structure in some ways mirrors the IBM channel structure. Under the steady hand of IBM Vice President of Global Distribution Channels Frank Vitagliano, IBM has received extremely high marks for consistency and partner profitability.

Both Ingram Micro and HP need to more aggressively communicate with partners about the management changes and reassure partners that their commitment is not in question. Of course, the real action takes place in the sales trenches, where the channel-commitment message sometimes get lost in the shuffle. That's something Ingram Micro's restructured executive team and HP's new channel leadership team must make sure does not happen.

What do you think of the Ingram Micro and HP changes? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].