Channel Mulls Impact Of Microsoft-HP .Net Partnership

The $50 million pact represents an expansion of the former Compaq Global Services' close partnership with Microsoft and culminates almost a year's worth of negotiations between Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and then-Compaq CEO Michael Capellas that began in late 2001, said one HP executive.

"We think the deal is pretty big," said Rick Fricchione, vice president of Enterprise Microsoft Services at HP, noting that the company is now Microsoft's only designated prime integrator.

>> 'The large, global, generalist integrators will lose consulting services [contracts, large and small.' > EPRESENCE'S SCOTT SILK

For some, the deal confirms that Microsoft is moving back to a partner-centric model after its own services buildup caused concern in channel. As part of the deal, more than 5,000 HP sales professionals will be trained on .Net and 3,000 HP services professionals will be certified on .Net. The alliance will be heavily touted at Gartner ITExpo this week.

While the deal aims to stimulate enterprise adoption of .Net at Global 500 accounts, and .Net business for all partners, Microsoft's endorsement and $25 million investment in the new HP raises some concern about possible preferential treatment and the extent to which HP's competitors will have equal access to marketing dollars, product groups and Microsoft Consulting Services support.

id
unit-1659132512259
type
Sponsored post

One executive at a systems integrator said it will likely hurt mainstream systems integrators but will give the ecosystem around .Net,including solution providers and specialized systems integrators,a lift. "The large, global, generalist integrators will lose consulting services [contracts to HP, large and small," said Scott Silk, senior vice president of sales and marketing at ePresence, Westborough, Mass.

Peggy Fischer, marketing manager of Microsoft partners, said, "We do not believe that this agreement with HP in any way harms other partners. In fact, we believe that strong endorsements from industry system providers will accelerate demand for .Net solutions worldwide."

"I'm not surprised [Microsoft is pushing that relationship hard with the new HP, but I am surprised about the scale of the commitment," said John Parkinson, a senior vice president at Cap Gemini.