HP Channel Plans Unfold Slowly

"All told, we have named 20 to 25 partner business managers for our largest partners, and that's fairly consistent with what we've done on the customer side," said Jim Milton, general manager of the Americas for HP's Enterprise Systems Group. "We will name many hundreds more during the next 90 days."

Some partners criticized HP for not having channel account managers in place when the merged company launched May 7, just days after the Compaq Computer deal closed. But Milton said merger-related issues delayed channel planning for the new HP until February. "We had to maintain a thick, concrete firewall between [HP and Compaq sales and marketing," he said.

Last week, HP sent voluntary retirement packages to 9,000 U.S. employees as part of a post-merger plan to reduce head count by up to 15,000. As a result, some partner business manager assignments won't be filled until results come in from the retirement initiative, Milton said.

Meanwhile, HP has revealed some details about new certification programs. Enterprise channel partners will be subject to stricter training and knowledge requirements than those in the commercial channel, said Mark Lewis, head of worldwide marketing and solutions for HP's Network Storage Solutions Group. Enterprise partners will receive ample time to become skilled in those areas, he added.

"We will obviously set expectations around those partners getting current with the new technology and wanting to sell [our enterprise line," Lewis said.

Some solution providers, however, remain concerned about aspects of HP's channel strategy, including its intention to ship more products directly to solution providers.

"Today, I rely on distributors for inventory. They give me the capability to get products to customers quickly without stocking a lot of hardware," said Kush Hathi, president of SoftNet Solutions, Sunnyvale, Calif. "If HP can do a good job of shipping direct to us, that's OK. But our distributors are very efficient."