Ingram Anxious Over Lack Of HP Information

"My biggest frustration [with PartnerOne is that [HP can't seem to get it pulled together," said Mike Grainger, president and COO of Ingram Micro. "And by not getting it pulled together, they can't sit down and say, 'This is what we are dealing with.'

"Every day that passes [without concrete terms and conditions frustrates the resellers and the end users. There's too much at risk to have that frustration level sitting there that long," Grainger said.

Kevin Gilroy, HP's vice president and general manager, North America commercial channels, said the vendor's North American PC distribution partners,Synnex Information Technologies, Ingram Micro and Tech Data,would play a significant role in the PartnerOne strategy.

Gilroy said HP and distributors are participating in a supply chain study by PricewaterhouseCoopers to help determine the economics of distribution and how HP will work with its distributors. The study is expected to be completed by Sept. 15, he said.

Grainger said HP has already received the input that it asked for from distributors, and now the vendor needs to present something of substance.

Other distributors are not as vocal, but they also are waiting for more information.

"We expected all along that HP post-merger would be very internally focused. After all, they're trying to put together two cultures, disparate systems. It's a Herculean undertaking," said Steve Raymund, chairman and CEO of Tech Data. "That being said, we have been working with their channel folks, Kevin Gilroy in particular, productively. . . . On that basis, we feel quite encouraged they're likely to make more informed choices, as opposed to making choices based solely on dogma," he said.

Dave Dennis, vice president of HP product marketing at Synnex, said, "I wouldn't say I'm frustrated by it, but I agree all the details haven't been fleshed out as well some would like yet."

Gilroy said HP plans to evolve its relationship with its distributors, using a "non-linear," fee-for-services model rather than a strictly "linear" one. HP would not move to a complete fee-for-services model as it has with its Unix distributors, Gilroy said, adding that more than 50 percent of HP Wintel products and printers sold in North America will continue to move through distribution partners.

"We understand what distributors do well from a customer satisfaction perspective as well as from pure PC channel economics," Gilroy said. "We are going to continue to work with them."