Fiorina To HP World Attendees: Adaptive Enterprise Worked For Us

"It's not slideware, pixie dust or magic binoculars," Fiorina said, in reference to recent IBM advertisements about how enterprises are changing.

For instance, she said HP had to integrate 160,000 employees in 167 different countries with 260,000 e-mail addresses, and couldn't have done it successfully without applying many of the techniques that are a part of HP's Adaptive Enterprise vision. "This is a huge reason that we pulled this off a year-and-a-half ahead of schedule, and with savings of $3.5 billion instead of the planned $2.5 billion. ... By then, we had had time to kick the tires," she said.

Fiorina said that a company's cost structure can either be a competitive weapon or a vulnerability. "We intend on making cost structure a competitive weapon," she said.

Fiorina criticized the models of two of her company's key competitors and contrasted them to HP's high-tech, low-cost business model.

Dell is a great company, and offers low cost with a good total customer experience, but low technology, said Fiorina. "But when Dell announced it will distribute televisions, it is obvious why they changed their name from Dell Computer to Dell," she said. "Dell is becoming a distributor."

IBM, on the other hand, has high technology, but with high cost, Fiorina said. "According to many customers, IBM is not as good a customer experience," she said.

Channel executives gave a positive assessment of Fiorina's leadership in the past year.

Don McDowell, vice president for server solutions at Forsythe Solutions Group, a Skokie, Ill.-based solution provider, said he gives Fiorina credit for bringing the two companies together.

"If Carly were sitting here [with me] today, I'd give her kudos," McDowell said. "Cost management under her is going extremely well, and HP's technology road map is on target."

McDowell said Fiorina values partnerships. "She values partners, and it's not just lip service," he said. "She has challenged her team to leverage partners as part of the cost management structure."

Patrick O'Connor, vice president of marketing for HP worldwide for the Computer Systems Division of Pioneer-Standard Electronics, Cleveland, said that under Fiorina, HP has turned the corner and really embraced the channel as a strategy to grow market share. "Carly really understands the channel and what it can do," he said.