New Head Of HP Services Marketing Details Key Partnerships

Hewlett-Packard

HP has singled out nine companies it labeled its global alliance partners, said Rottler, who previously ran HP's North American services business and oversaw the development of the company's OpenView network management products.

Systems integrators in the select klatch include Accenture, Deloitte Consulting and PwC Consulting, soon to change its name to Monday.

It's to these three integration partners that HP--in light of commitments the integrators have made to the vendor and by the business HP and they have won and intend to win together--will make "over-and-above contributions," Rottler said.

While he didn't divulge specifics of the resources HP intends to provide or the results the integrators will be pressed to deliver, Rottler said HP Services' dedicated sales force would receive compensation for selling in tandem with these companies.

"We have a very pointed dialogue" with top systems integrator partners, Rottler said. "If you want to compete [with HP Services on IT infrastructure, we are going to take you to the mat," he said. "However, on the flip side, we are willing to let you take the lead and own the areas above the infrastructure stack."

Rottler pointed to HP Services' typical work with Accenture, in which the solution provider "owns the design-and-build [portions of creation of a solution and we own the run-and-operate [portions." A recent deal with Deloitte, built around the development of CRM applications, follows that same model, he added.

The remaining alliance partners--all vendors--include BEA Systems, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Siebel Systems.

But if a company isn't among the nine identified, it does not mean it is no longer a partner of HP, Rottler said.

"We do a lot of work with Cap Gemini Ernst and Young and KPMG Consulting" and PeopleSoft, to name a few, he said, adding that partners of all types "are critical to how you run the business."

The current list is not exclusive and could grow as the HP Services organization expands and capitalizes on the people and intellectual property gained in the merger with Compaq, Rottler said.

HP Services also will continue to work with xSPs, as well as hundreds of channel partners ranging from "agents to a small mom-and-pop shop to a large company," Rottler said.

"We want to drive incremental margins on both sides of the equation," he said.

Following the merger with Compaq, completed earlier this year, HP's services organization employs about 66,000 people.