HP Takes Aim At Optimizing Partner Council Participation

Hewlett-Packard is in the midst of an initiative to optimize its partner council participation at both the worldwide and regional level.

HP is having ongoing conversations with partners at both levels on how to get the most out of the partner advisory councils with an emphasis on "optimizing" participation, said HP Vice President Thomas Jensen, who oversees the worldwide channel organization for HP's printing and personal systems group.

"Our intention is to make it even better than it is today," Jensen said. "We are looking at how can we optimize it and use the councils in the right way moving forward. The feedback from partners is extremely valuable. We want to make sure we continue it and move in the right direction. We want to keep that momentum going. The partner advisory board and council participation is crucial to HP's success. "

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Jensen was responding to U.S. partner concerns that HP was going to form new partner advisory councils at the worldwide level and let U.S. partner advisory councils languish, particularly the U.S. SMB Advisory Council.

HP is in fact, Jensen said, looking at "refreshing" and "optimizing" participation from the entire partner community.That could include setting term limits on partner advisory board participation so there are new partner voices in the mix.

"Sometimes it's important to get a new view or a refreshed view while keeping the momentum and cadence," he said. "What we are looking at is how do we make sure we retain the continuity, while also refreshing it. Right now we are evaluating all opportunities like taking turns on the councils."

Jensen stressed there will be additional regional partner advisory council meetings in the U.S. going forward.

"I can assure you we will have an update for these partners as soon as we have more clarity," he said.

NEXT:The Role Of The Worldwide Partner Advisory Board Vs. Regional Councils

HP's Worldwide Partner Advisory Board, which was created three years ago, is aimed at setting strategic direction overall for the company's partner initiatives with the regional advisory boards "operationalizing" the worldwide channel policies in areas like sales and marketing, Jensen said.

The SMB Partner Advisory Council and the Enterprise Partner Advisory Council have both been in place for more than a decade in the United States.

The U.S. Enterprise Advisory Council, which includes 15 of the top enterprise partners in the country, met just last month and is "alive and well," said Terry Richardson, vice president and general manager of channel sales for HP's Enterprise Group. What's more, half of the enterprise council members were new last year, Richardson said.

"We need the candid feedback as we make decisions on program updates," Richardson said. "We look forward to keeping it going because it has been so valuable. We will continue to look for opportunities to introduce new members. In fiscal 2015, I hope to be able to continue to introduce a couple of new members."

A CEO for a large national enterprise partner, who is a member of one of HP's partner councils and did not want be identified, said he sees the HP move to optimize the partner advisory councils as a positive step forward.

"Sometimes people on the council need to be replaced," he said. "I wouldn't read too much into this. I think HP is trying to get better partner representation across the entire solution provider community."

The CEO said HP has made great channel strides in the last several years and is firing on all cylinders.

"They are a great partner and we continue to grow the amount of business we are doing with them," he said.

Another CEO for an HP partner, who also did not want to be identified, said it is critical HP continues to get feedback from both small and large partners in the U.S. market.

"The partner advisory councils allow HP to know what is going on with customers in the field so they can come up with programs that work," he said. "The councils help all the partners grow their business."

The CEO said the U.S. HP partner advisory councils are more critical than ever with Lenovo, which holds North America Partner Advisory Council meetings throughout the year and is poised to finalize its $2.3 billion acquisition of IBM's x86 server business.

"This is not a good time to back off in any way from the HP regional councils," the partner said. "The U.S. councils are the crucial catalyst and connection between solution providers and HP. It's a big differentiator for HP. It gives solution providers a voice within the company to upper management. I understand HP is a global company, but this is the U.S. and what works here may not work worldwide. We are a different animal."

Additional reporting by Tom Spring

PUBLISHED SEPT. 24, 2014