Pioneer-Standard Signs With HP, Future Strategy Still Unclear

Pioneer-Standard recently became authorized to sell HP enterprise products, joining Avnet Hall-Mark and Arrow Electronics' SBM business unit in carrying HP midrange and enterprise servers.

Pioneer-Standard has carried Compaq Computer products for 20 years and was Compaq's largest enterprise distributor, so channel executives expected HP to authorize the distributor to carry HP products following completion of the HP-Compaq merger.

"I didn't think there was any way Compaq's biggest distributor would fall from HP," said Peter Katz, president of PKA Technologies, a Suffern, N.Y.-based solution provider.

What isn't known is exactly how Pioneer-Standard will fit into HP's plans. The manufacturer expects to unveil its new structure for its channels in the next three months.

Pioneer-Standard will be prepared for any scenario, said Patrick O'Connor, vice president of marketing for HP worldwide at Pioneer-Standard, Cleveland.

"We have people trained all the way up to the Superdome level of [HP's products and services. We will offer training, education. We are transferring some of our existing resources, and we also are adding some new people to the organization," he said.

Pioneer-Standard executives said they expect to work closely with Dan Vertrees, HP's vice president and general manager of North America enterprise channels and former Compaq channel chief.

"I've known Dan since the Digital [Equipment days. He's an outstanding person for that position," O'Connor said. "I've not had the chance to meet Kevin [Gilroy, vice president and general manager of North America commercial channels at HP, but I've talked to him on the phone, and he seems like an excellent leader. Between the two of them, they probably have 35 to 40 years of expertise," O'Connor said.

O'Connor dismissed speculation that two HP channel chiefs would cause confusion and would send send conflicting messages to the channel regarding enterprise and volume products.

"HP has recognized that [these units are different businesses and have different vehicles to market. I give them a lot of credit for that," O'Connor said.

Business for both Compaq and HP should improve once the merger is completed and the channel strategies are unveiled, Katz said.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's business as usual, a continuation of our relationship from 1991 [as a Digital and Compaq solution provider. I've seen nothing different and think things will remain the same," Katz said. "We're very relieved to see the merger done and behind us. For a while, we were seeing customers creep away from Compaq, and that hurt. We saw IBM getting more business than they should. That part of the market confusion is gone, and that's a very positive thing for us."

The HP-Compaq merger ran "a thousand times" more smoothly than the Compaq-Digital merger, which is helpful to solution providers, Katz said.

"There was an intense loyalty toward Digital. We were upset about Digital going away and becoming part of Compaq, but we've since gotten to love and live with Compaq," Katz said. "We accepted it and became happy partners. That intense loyalty was not as present [now as it was then, so [the HP-Compaq merger is easier to accept. Digital people were a certain breed, more engineering and technical than salesy. Compaq [was more salesy."