ISS Gives HP/Compaq a Shot In the Arm

Despite a strong campaign by Walter Hewlett, son of HP's co-founder, to oppose the plan, ISS says it believes management offers a reasonable prediction about what the future may hold. But solution providers are uncertain.

"I'm disappointed," says Charlie Tragesser, CEO of Polar Systems, a Compaq integrator in Portland, Ore. "We've been through the good and bad with Compaq, and things have been good lately. For us, it's a big investment I don't want to see go down the drain."

But Geoffrey Lilien, president of HP VAR Lilien Systems, Mill Valley, Calif., thinks the merger would allow the companies to pursue technical innovation more competitively. "The difference between HP/Compaq and Dell is that HP/Compaq invents," he says. "Dell competes on price, so to compete against Dell, you need to sell the customer on better technology and better service."