7 Questions For HP's 3D Printing Boss Stephen Nigro On The HP-Deloitte Alliance

HP 3D President Nigro On The Deloitte Deal

HP 3D Printing Business President Stephen Nigro - the driving force behind what HP is calling a $12 trillion opportunity to transform global manufacturing with 3D printing - spoke with CRN about the company's blockbuster alliance with Deloitte.

Nigro said the "first of its kind" deal with a global systems integrator represents a turning point of sorts for propelling 3D manufacturing printing into Fortune 500 accounts.

"What this is going to do is allow HP and Deloitte go into large enterprises together and help them transform how they design products and supply chain," said Nigro. "This is the first deal of this kind in 3D printing."

Deloitte will not only provide high level consulting but will also resell the Jet Fusion 3D manufacturing products and materials. In addition, Deloitte and HP will combine to offer managed print, device as a service, commercial mobility and cyber-security offerings.

The alliance represents a major joint investment by HP and Deloitte- No. 15 on the 2017 CRN SP500- to get major corporations to transform how they "think and design" products, said Nigro.

How big an alliance is this for the HP 3D manufacturing print business?

This is significant collaboration. It is a global alliance with Deloitte that allows HP and Deloitte to go into large enterprises together.

3D printing is a transformation and Deloitte does transformation. What we are going to be able to is go into large enterprises together and help them transform how they design products and their supply chain. It has to be a tops down effort by corporations to make this transition. This is a big deal to go in and help customers design and think differently.

Is this the first deal you have done with a global systems integrator?

This is the first of its kind in 3D printing. It is a pretty big deal in terms of the depth of how we are going into this together.

Deloitte is very good at manufacturing and supply chain. This is an initiative for Deloitte. They are leaning in. Just like we are leaning in they are leaning in.They are absolutely investing in this. In fact, this is something we have been talking to Deloitte about for some time. Deloitte sees what a large opportunity it is and they don't want to miss it. They are trying to get ahead and beat others to the punch.

How much muscle is Deloitte putting behind this?

Deloitte has built a dedicated team for this. More significantly than the dedicated team is the fact they engage with many large clients. Every large client they have they are going to bring this transformational opportunity to their clients.

This allows us together with Deloitte together to reach a very large base. They serve 80 percent of the Fortune 500 companies in the world.

Did you approach Deloitte or did they approach you?

It was a combination. When we announced we were going to lead with 3D printing we had people knocking on our door.

What we discovered through the process was that Deloitte was already advanced in their thinking. They were leaning in.

Before we took a leap with Deloitte we looked at the landscape and looked at all the others out there to make sure they were the top partner to work with. They are leaning in, they have a practice and they are world class on this.

What kind of impact could this deal have on the adoption rate of 3D manufacturing in the Fortune 500?

Long term this is substantial. One of the things we have learned inside of HP is for a company to take advantage of these transformational opportunities like 3D you need a top down initiative. If it is not top down it is difficult to get transformational activities going. Once you have a top down commitment then you have to bring in the experts who know how to help the organization work differently, to design differently,to scaling manufacturing differently, and to rethink supply chain.

What I believe is this is exactly the type of engagement necessary to drive transformation. Without it, it will happen much slower. This is going to be a big accelerator for Fortune 100.

Companies are asking what do they need to do to make this (3D manufacturing transformation) happen. One of the options they have is to call HP and Deloitte to help them transform their enterprise. It is exactly what is needed to drive this transformation.

Is this an exclusive deal with Deloitte?

We want to be agnostic. We want to work with anybody in the industry that is going to lean in. Definitely we have a unique partnership with Deloitte, but if others wanted to come and engage with HP we will find a way to engage with others.

We are leaning in with Deloitte and will be doing special activities with Deloitte, but we are willing and able to partner with others.

What is unique about the Deloitte deal?

We are working with a dedicated team at Deloitte and there is a joint business plan between us. We have very specific customer, opportunity and revenue targets. This is a joint engagement.

Our teams are going to be working together side by side bringing the Deloitte and the HP expertise into these engagements. When we engage with customers they are going to see HP and Deloitte employees together providing the transformational engagement.

This is very real and both sides are committed with the resources and the business plan. This is a priority.