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ProCurve emerged as a strong No. 2 on its own and became a challenger. I guess, why can you not get to the next level without 3Com?
We've been using a slide that shows the portfolio we had before, where our gaps were and how with 3Com, we fill in gaps with everything from the data center and core switching products to a full suite of security products and a consistent, single pane of glass management solution. We didn't have that, from edge to core, before. We had a great edge story and very large enterprise accounts deploying it across the board, but partners said, 'Marius, we want more.' We looked at the full portfolio, and looked at build, partner or buy, and to build it internally was going to take too long. The market demand was now. So we spent a lot of time looking, and we're 110 percent convinced that this was the right choice and the right technology, edge to core, swiching to routing. We looked at everyone.
Across the board?
Maybe except Cisco [laughs]. But everyone else you should assume we looked at.
Your Interop keynote also included mention of a two-horse race, meaning you and Cisco, in this market. Juniper doesn't have the scope and the breadth as HP and Cisco but you don't think they should be in the conversation? They have a loyal channel.
You know, I respect the competition. Juniper is a good organization and a good group of people. I know [Juniper CEO] Kevin Johnson personally. They've done a good job in the service provider space, I will give them that. The enterprise space is still to be proven, and I think they're predominantly riding the coattails of IBM into the enterprise space. As the 3Com people found out, it's hard to do the job on a global basis. We just think people in the enterprise space are going to be looking at Cisco and HP, as the true number one and the true alternative. There will be pockets of Juniper, sure, but our products are better. As you said, some of the partners are loyal and they'll still get a good look. They have the service provider space.
So HP did seriously look at Juniper? It's sort of pointless to speculate about who's going to buy who, but there are more than a few partners out there wondering why they didn't seem the right target.
Sure, but go talk to the bankers and they'll give you the financial reasons why this made a lot more sense. But, hey, look, we came at this from the technology stuff. We looked at the Brocade stuff with the Foundry stuff, we looked at 3Com, we looked at Juniper, we looked at everybody, and this [3Com] was much more compelling than any of that. It was a pretty easy decision. If you look at the financials, it was an easy call.
Where does growing HP Networking rank on Mark Hurd's list of priorities right now, you think?
I'll use this example. Of all the things he could have been doing last week, when he was there [at the HP Americas Partner Conference] for a day and a half, he spent six hours with partners just talking about networking. The broader agenda of converged networking is hard, but we believe it's a tremendous market opportunity -- a $40 billion opportunity that we think we can disrupt with better technology. We feel very well positioned to do it, it's a tremendous value proposition for our partners, and they're going to benefit from it. Anywhere you go, when you hear Mark talk, this is going to be in his top three things to focus on.
Will you continue to invest in internal resources, including channel staff, to grow HP Networking in the short-term?
My channel business, my go-to-market, is well over 90 percent indirect. The channel is by far the biggest and most important investment. I've got to cover it, and part of the programs is significant investment in training and certification and getting (partners) what they need, and, to your point, adding the inside sales reps and back office support in order to make them successful.
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