Lores Explains Why He’s Optimistic About HP’s Future With Partners

It’s been more than three years since 33-year company veteran Enrique Lores ascended to become HP Inc.’s president and CEO. After fending off a failed takeover bid from Xerox in 2020, Lores is now focused on his original mandate as HP’s new leader: building and executing a growth plan for the company.

But while Lores had to make some difficult decisions last fall with a restructuring plan in the face of declining demand, he remains resolved in HP’s “long-term commitment” to channel partners, which drive most of the company’s revenue, and creating new opportunities for them.

“Different from other companies, we have stayed the course. Since I joined the company more than 30 years ago, we have been a channel company. We haven’t moved from that,” he said.

[Related: HP To Roll Poly, Teradici And HyperX Into Amplify Partner Program This Fall]

This is why HP is investing in growth areas like hybrid work solutions and peripherals, where the vendor’s recent acquisitions like videoconferencing hardware provider Poly will play a big role, as Lores outlined in CRN’s April cover story about his plan to turn HP into a hybrid work powerhouse. The company is also expanding its Amplify partner program and finding new ways to serve partners faster.

“We design our products, our services to be sold by the channel. We design our business model for the channel to make money with us. We design our processes for us to be efficient and to help our partners be efficient, so it’s really at the core of how we think about the company,” Lores said.

What follows are edited excerpts from a recent CRN interview with Lores, who talked about why the channel remains a top priority for HP, why he wants partners to sell more from HP’s wider portfolio of products and services, why he wants more partners to join the sustainability-focused Amplify Impact program and why he’s optimistic about HP’s future with partners.