HP Earns SMB Partner Advisory Council Respect
Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) is truly listening to partner feedback and making progress in the SMB channel. Those thoughts come directly from HP SMB Partner Advisory Council member Arlin Sorensen (pictured), a long-time IT service provider who also is CEO of HTG Peer Groups. The council met with Hewlett-Packard leaders during the HP Global Partner Conference 2013 last week in Las Vegas. And while HP still has plenty of work to do, the company sounds deeply committed to SMB partners, Sorensen asserted.
“The council had nine initiatives from our Nov. [2012] meeting Âand we created a scorecard for them,” said Sorensen. “At this meeting we got reports from the assigned HP sponsor for each [initiative] and updated progress on the scorecard. That is the kind of joint work we are striving to do.”
At the HP conference last week,the council met in sub-teams with HP staff to tackle additional items on the agenda:
- Simplification
- Marketing
- Field Engagement
“They are not only listening  we are jointly working together to drive real change in programs and engagement,” said Sorensen. “It is extremely positive. Mike Parrottino is committed to 100% SMB fulfillment through the channel and is working with the council to make the adjustments that will achieve that objective.”
Parrottino is VP and general manager of U.S. SMB Sales for HP’s Printing and Personal Systems (PPS).  At meetings and on stage last week, a range of HP executives thanked partners for their loyalty while HP worked through a range of product, business and management setbacks in 2011 and 2012. In many cases, those executives shared their personal email addresses on stage, assuring thousands of partners that the company is becoming more responsive to their feedback.
In response to a question from The VAR Guy, HP CEO Meg Whitman assured partners that she was committed to leading the company for the long haul. Plus, Whitman said the next HP CEO should come from within the company — a welcome statement after HP has scrambled multiple times with external CEO searches over the past decade.
Sell More
Of course, HP also took steps to evangelize its latest products and services. “The council is very broad in scope  but the hot items are the tablets and mobile devices, ultrabooks, and G8 servers,” said Sorensen.  “But cloud and services are a big focus as many [partners] are working to grow recurring revenue.”
Partners also discussed new ways to engage HP’s networking and storage businesses, and HP returned the favor by giving each council member an Elitebook  as a thank you for their time and investment in HP’s success — and the broader partner ecosystem’s success.
Sorensen typically doesn’t pull any punches when vendors lose their way. So when he suggests HP is getting is starting to show real progress with the SMB channel, it definitely caught The VAR Guy’s attention.
Kudos to HP for following
Kudos to HP for following through! We enjoy their products and partnership.
-m
I am in agreement. Hewlett
I am in agreement. Hewlett Packard is eager to drive more business through the channel. The new management team is impressive and their commitment to success through the channel is refreshing. The new products and programs that have been recently rolled out will provide a solid platform for Parnters and clients alike.
There was a high level of
There was a high level of excitement and energy from the HP executives at the GPC conference last week in Las Vegas. They seemed genuinely excited about the new technology and the opportunities for their partner community. There was strong committment from HP on driving business through the channel and making it easier and more profitable to partner with HP.
I’ve worked with HP for over
I’ve worked with HP for over 25 years , and I’m more bullish than ever . There’s an enormous opportunity for channel partners , and all the enhancements HP is making make it an enormously profitable opportunity .
What a difference a year
What a difference a year makes…. I am impressed with the broad-based commmitment HP has made to the channel and how things have changed since GPC last year. It’s a refreshing new atmosphere.
Belated thanks from The VAR
Belated thanks from The VAR Guy to each of you for your HP views. It’s good to hear that HP seems much, much more engaged with partners. The challenge now involves margin: Can HP offer partners a path to higher margin solutions? Selling “more” PCs, laptops and printers is not a long-term solution…
-TVG