HP Channel Chief: PartnerOne Will Get Simpler

"A year ago, we had three separate business units that had pieces of PartnerOne. On Nov. 1 last year, we had all three agree to what PartnerOne would look like. We have to help you with that and we will do that. It is a journey," Jones said during a World Premiere at XChange Solution Provider Tuesday.

VARs peppered Jones with questions during a Q&A session about the challenges involved with claiming SPIFs and communicating with HP's different groups.

"On promotions, we've gone from 165 different promotions across all products. Today, we're at 55 to 60 and we're going to reduce even more. We'll come down a lot more," Jones said.

Jones also cited HP's recent announcements of a zero percent financing program and the May 1 launch of an SMB Elite program as ways HP will help solution providers grow their businesses.

"For 2009, we want to make sure partners view us as their No. 1 vendor of choice and also become more profitable than anything you do in the industry," he said.

Jones opened the session by revealing the contents of "the HP box," a cardboard carton that sat unopened in the hallway for the first couple days of the XChange event. Inside were smaller boxes representing growth, profitability and the customer's experience, which represents HP's focus for 2009, Jones said.

"Everyone is having a tough time in this economy. We know it's difficult to get growth, to get customers to buy your products," he said. "We want to do more to help you. When you bring all three together, it's about what's inside of HP that counts. We believe we have what's inside to deliver with you, to your accounts, today."

HP's CEO, Mark Hurd, now spends 50 percent of his time visiting partners and end users each week, and that time is expected to increase this year, Jones said.

"We know if we want to be successful, we need to do more as a leadership team, act differently, listen more to partners and make sure we deliver all things you do. We can only do that if we're out there visiting you. The leadership inside of HP is definitely there," he said.