Cisco Ends HP Channel Relationship

So much for competing and cooperating. Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard are officially full-time competitors. According to a blog entry and video post from Cisco Channel Chief Keith Goodwin, Cisco “recently notified HP that we will not renew its System Integrator contract when it expires on April 30, 2010, resulting in HP no longer being a Cisco Certified Channel or Global Service Alliance partner.” Here’s the scoop.

According to a Feb. 18 blog post on Cisco’s Web site, Goodwin states:

“Over the last few years our relationship with HP has evolved from a partner to companies with different and conflicting visions of how to deliver value to customers.  Despite this shift in industry dynamics, HP had remained a Cisco Certified Channel Partner.  Being a Cisco Certified Channel Partner has numerous benefits including access to proprietary information (such as product roadmaps) and partner profitability initiatives. Given the evolution of our relationship it simply no longer makes sense to provide these benefits to HP.”

Goodwin made the statement as part of the following video posted on the Cisco web site:

The battle doesn’t end online. Cisco Partner Summit 2010 and the Hewlett-Packard Americas Partner Conference are set for the same week in April 2010.

In case you haven’t been keeping score, Cisco declared war on HP in June 2009. By July 2009, Cisco clarified an alleged price war with HP. By September 2009, HP was showing love to partners that successfully sold against Cisco. And HP’s recent 3Com buyout was largely viewed as a counter move to Cisco.

Still, Cisco’s Goodwin is quick to note that Cisco will continue to work with HP on mutual customer matters. In the video, Goodwin states:

“As such we have already reached out to HP to begin the discussion around a new agreement that ensures business continuity for existing customers and better reflects the current state of our relationship.  We will also honor Cisco customer service contracts with HP for their duration.

Our commitment is clear: we will continue to work with HP wherever our customers expect it and where it makes sense for our business.”

The VAR Guy has reached out to Hewlett-Packard for comment.