Enterprise Operating Platforms: HP is Leader of the Pack

Despite the distraction of its hotly contested merger with Compaq Computer, dark horse Hewlett-Packard, which only 12 months ago took fourth place in the enterprise operating platforms category, ran away with the top honors in the 2002 VARBusiness Annual Report Card (ARC) survey.

Report Card Score

"We're very proud of this accomplishment. We're certainly using this as a good measure of

our ability to set forth the right strategy for our business. We're not only going through a merger, but a transition to a new architecture," says John Miller, Unix server product manager at the new HP. "This ranking from [our] solution providers is a good testament to, one, HP's got the right strategy%85and also we have the right focus. We're not losing focus of customers' needs in the marketplace. Hopefully, we can continue that momentum, that success, with our partners and customers."

With an overall score of 73, HP took the lead from Novell, which placed second in this year's study, with a score of 70. Microsoft (69) held onto third place, followed by Sun Microsystems (67) and Caldera International (63), now called The SCO Group. "Hats off to [HP for winning] in the midst of the change," says Ed Anderson, director of product management of NetWare and GroupWise at Novell.

HP credits its blend of technical savvy and a holistic approach to enterprise computing with its gallop to the lead, Miller says. "We look at delivering an enterprise solution. We don't look at delivering a technology," he says. "If you look at our operating environment over time, we take great pride and spare no expense in delivering the capabilities necessary to run enterprise, mission-critical data centers and help our solution providers do that."

In addition to focusing on the technology behind HP-UX, the vendor continues to emphasize its support programs, Miller says. "We really do look to partner with our channel or with our end-user customers directly to solve their problems, not necessarily to deliver a technology and say, 'Here, this should do the trick for you. Good luck figuring it out.' We very much look to provide the support that enables them to be successful with the technology in meeting their needs," he says. "With a quality product, there's a perceived element that your support is better because you have such a quality product in the first place. I think there's some of that lighthouse effect that carries forward into the support side of our business." (For more on HP-UX, see "Virtual Best," starting on page 44.)

It appears, though, that developers of enterprise operating platforms could further enhance their partnership programs, such as communication and e-business portals, where scores were as low as 49. "One observation is that the partnering landscape has changed quite a bit in the last couple of years," Novell's Anderson says. "Vendors haven't responded quickly enough to the real needs of these companies' partners."

The poor economy, which finds more solution providers going after the same business, also plays a role, adds Michael Jackson, worldwide channel marketing business development, at Novell. But Novell has taken steps to reduce channel conflict, as evidenced by its winning score of 71 for the criterion, he says.

Despite solution providers' overall approval of HP's technology and channel offerings, Microsoft earned the highest ranking in terms of loyalty. "Overall, I would say we have a pretty strong, loyal customer base," HP's Miller says.

"I would have expected to score higher. We might have some short-term effects due to the merger%85and the customer base wanting to see the execution."

Overall, Miller is very pleased with the survey results. "We have this merger going on, and the economy is hurting us all to a degree, [so the results] are to me a very good sign that, despite these factors, customers still feel like they're being taken care of by the new HP. And that's a good sign,a very, very good sign," he says.

The study may mark an auspicious beginning to the new HP's relationship with the channel. But competitors like Novell, which will release a new version of its enterprise operating platform next year, and The SCO Group, which will have endured a merger of its own, will not be putting themselves out to pasture. Rather, they, along with Microsoft and Sun, will be chomping at the bit, eager to once again match technical skills and partner support programs in the ongoing race to be No. 1.

Alison Diana (adiana@journalist.com) is a freelance writer based in Merritt Island, Fla.