Hewlett-Packard is starting to pitch cloud computing more aggressively to VARs. But so far, the HP cloud pitch still needs a bit more polish. Here are the details, based on The VAR Guy’s first-hand observations.

HP’s latest pitch occurred at the Ingram Micro Cloud Summit in Dallas, where roughly 250 VARs and managed services providers (MSPs) gathered June 7 for cloud education.

During a main-session presentation, Lee Kedrie, a chief technologist involved with Hewlett-Packard’s cloud initiatives, said he’s working to trigger an “attitude adjustment” among VARs and MSPs that aren’t very familiar with HP’s cloud efforts. “I want you to leave here with a slightly different attitude and perspective regarding HP and cloud computing,” said Kedrie.

Kedrie walked attendees through HP’s vendor-neutral private and public cloud strategy. And no doubt, plenty of attendees plan to leverage HP servers within broader cloud efforts.

But ultimately, HP missed an opportunity to really connect VARs and MSPs with the hardware giant’s cloud. Plus, there was no mention of HP’s managed services strategy. When asked where attendees can find more cloud information from HP, Kedrie directed attendees to their local channel account managers.

Hmm… No central web site? No specific products or services to get VARs started? Kedrie’s a sharp guy. But HP has to seize the cloud moment… and offer channel partners clear, concise first steps for cashing in on the cloud. Even a pointer to this HP cloud video would have helped VARs a bit.

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