Cisco vs. HP: Three Words of War
At the Cisco Partner Summit in Boston, Cisco continues to rally partners against Hewlett-Packard. The three latest words of war allegedly come from Cisco’s Chuck Robbins (pictured), senior VP, U.S. Commercial Market. Here’s the scoop.
During a private meeting with channel partners, Robbins allegedly told VARs they must “Refuse To Lose” when competing with HP, according to three of The VAR Guy’s trusted sources. And Robbins allegedly tossed in this gem: “I am your personal deals desk.”
In other words, if Cisco partners need a better deal to beat HP on price, the partners should call Robbins directly. The Cisco partners said they wouldn’t take Robbins up on the offer because they don’t want to alienate their existing Cisco account representatives. But the message is clear: The war is on with HP.
Boston: The New Spin City
To the outside observer, Cisco Partner Summit 2009 is all about the company’s unified computing system plus the move to collaborative video. But those blogging from the Boston trenches — surely, The VAR Guy can’t be alone — have seen Cisco lob four grenades in HP’s direction:
- May 29, 2009: Cisco Channel Chief Keith Goodwin fired the first shot with a blog alleging the HP-Microsoft unified communications partnership was a direct sales play. But in a comment posted on TheVARguy.com, HP VP and GM Adrian Jones dismissed Cisco’s claims. And frankly, The VAR Guy thinks the HP-Microsoft deal will remain channel friendly — despite a poorly worded press release from the duo that failed to mention channel partners.
- June 3, 2009: In a morning keynote at Cisco Partner Summit, Cisco Senior VP Don Proctor alleged that HP and Microsoft planned to “build, sell and service” unified networks without partner help. And Proctor dismissed HP’s networking effort, stating: “When it comes to collaboration, dumb networks lose 10 times out of 10.” HP declined comment to The VAR Guy.
- June 3, 2009: During a late afternoon, hour-long media briefing, Cisco CEO John Chambers utters only four words about Hewlett-Packard: “We compete with HP.” Chambers talks fast. But it was impossible to miss that golden quote.
- Sometime recently: The VAR Guy must admit, he isn’t sure when Robbins allegedly told VARs they must “Refuse To Lose” to HP. But The VAR Guy’s trusted advisors say the words were uttered sometime June 3.
Frankly, The VAR Guy has spent a lot of virtual ink covering the alleged war between Cisco and HP. But so far, Cisco is the one firing all the shots. Other than posting a reply on TheVARguy.com and offering a comment to Everything Channel, HP has mostly taken the high road in this one-way war of words.
Parting Shot
Plus, The VAR Guy wonders: Is Cisco playing the media? Are these HP-focused attacks part of an orchestrated Cisco media plan to ensure Wall Street understands just how aggressively Cisco wants to compete against HP — even if much of that competition doesn’t exist yet? Hmmm….
Follow The VAR Guy via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter; and via his Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center.
Our team couldn’t make it to Boston for the conference but we’re enjoying the play by play commentary. I used to speak with Robbins directly when he was Cisco’s US channel chief and the quotes in your blog sound a lot like the Chuck I know.
Update: Cisco Executive VP tells Partner Summit attendees that Cisco will punch back against HP ProCurve and other competitive claims, but Cisco will try to do show why showing a bit of class.
Hi VAR GUY,
Quick correction, the executive you mention speaking at the keynote on June 3rd was Don Proctor, rather than Scott.
Thanks,
Johanna
Cisco PR
Johanna: Sorry. All fixed. The VAR Guy must have had baseball on his mind…
1. Scott Proctor is a pitcher for the Florida Marlins
2. Don Proctor pitches software for Cisco.
Kidding aside, The VAR Guy apologizes for the error.
-TVG
Thanks Joe : )
Now I know something about the Florida Marlins!
Well what all of this means is that Cisco is very afraid of competing head to head with HP. The new products added with the 3COM acquisition will suverely impact the sales of similar Cisco products especially with almost twice the performance, and 2/3 power usage and a lot less power consumed. Maybe this is why Cisco is starting to throw the FUD out hard and fast.
Fred@6: The original blog entry comes from mid-2009. But the HP-Cisco feud continues fast and furious. Are you an HP partner? Customer? Tell The VAR Guy more…
-TVG