Why Is HP Winning?

If all the major vendors partnering with solution providers, no one has made bigger channel gains than Hewlett-Packard in the past 18 to 24 months. So why is HP winning and other big vendors slipping?

Let's take a look at some of the channel basics that have the company at the top of the channel pyramid. No one has been harder on HP in the past several years than I have. If you doubt it, go to www.channelweb.com and check out the coverage. But things have changed. HP is on a channel roll and is picking up momentum. Here are four reasons why HP is winning.

STEVEN BURKE Can be reached at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at sburke@cmp.com.

1. A channel-engaged CEO: HP Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd took the helm two years ago, looked at the channel economics and committed firmly to VARs in every market segment. And he backed it up. Under former CEO Carly Fiorina HP was a channel-hot-and-cold, direct-indirect-conflict-ridden organization. Hurd, by the way, has in my opinion had more face-to-face contact with partners in the past two years than any other major vendor CEO.

2. Clear channel messaging: Hurd and the HP channel team have hammered home the channel strategy in a loud, clear and constant drumbeat. Every solution provider on the planet knows that if they sell a complete HP solution from printers to servers to storage to services, they will make more money. 3. A world-class channel program that casts a wide net: No one has done more partner program fine-tuning to reward partners of all stripes from small-business-focused VARs selling printers, notebooks and desktops to midmarket- and enterprise-focused partners doing server consolidation with products like VMware.

4. HP has brought in outside channel talent: Leading the list of outsiders charged with taking the HP channel to another level is Adrian Jones, a former top sales executive from storage vendor McData who took over the job as vice president and general manager of HP's Solution Partners Organization in March.

HP is by no means perfect. There are still a lot of solution provider complaints, including frequent HP program compliance audits that raise sales costs and take away from time that could be better spent selling. But no major vendor right now is more aggressively attacking problems. And no one has more channel momentum.

Is Hewlett-Packard winning you over?
Let me know at sburke@cmp.com.