Hurd's Challenge

“It is very difficult to get someone at HP that is passionate about getting an order done,” said Healey, president of TenCorp, a $10 million Needham, Mass.-based solution provider that supports and sells a wide range of products including HP, IBM, Dell, Acer and Gateway to build multivendor solutions for his clients. “It is a big organization that is plodding along. It has improved significantly over the last eight months, but it still needs to significantly improve.”

Healey&s comments came last week in response to HP CEO Mark Hurd&s call for partner loyalty. Hurd, who is determined to drive a new level of accountability in the organization, said one of the things that has surprised him is the “fire in the belly” of HP employees.

Healey said Hurd&s mandate requires a radical rethinking of how HP goes to market with partners. Aside from HP&s ProCurve networking team, there is no other part of the company that “strategizes” with TenCorp on selling HP, Healey said. In addition, HP&s current structure makes it difficult for a solution provider that wants to sell a complete HP solution, he said. “We must have eight, nine or 10 different HP reps. That is not efficient. That is not helping me win business.”

In contrast, Healey said, IBM every year has raised the bar in assisting the channel in delivering full solutions. “What IBM recognizes is there needs to be a different approach when you are selling a complete solution to the midmarket and below,” he said. “Just that recognition is far beyond what HP has brought to the table.”

Healey&s comments bring to light the challenge Hurd faces in driving a cultural change in how HP deals with the channel. Partners say that as Hurd drives accountability in the organization, he needs to make sure it permeates HP&s channel relationships. Partners say the current HP channel sales model is marred by a lack of trust between HP and its partners, fueled by conflicts regarding compensation and services with HP&s direct-sales and services organizations.

“The heart of it is trust,” one channel executive said. “If they earn that trust, there will be a lot of resellers that support HP.”

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