What the HP-Compaq Merger Has Meant To Partners: Tommy Wald

Since the merger, have HP-Compaq sales increased, decreased or stayed the same?
"Our HP-Compaq sales have definitely decreased. Part of it is due to the continuing sway of customers buying Dell; part of it is due to HP-Compaq's aggressive direct initiatives, and part of it is economically driven. Also, we have become much more vendor-neutral since HP-Compaq has become more direct-driven. We're actually becoming more engaged with Dell and generating the same, or better, margins on their solutions."

Is HP more, or less, competitive in your core businesses?
"HP is still very competitive in the primary technology areas and markets. We still prefer to lead with their solutions since we are much more familiar with their configurations and still receive very good presales and postsales technical support."

How has your company been impacted by the merger?
"I would have to say the merger has had a slightly negative impact...We used to have a channel rep that worked with us closely to ensure we got the support we needed to continue to promote HP-Compaq products. This local relationship has degraded considerably since the merger."