HP Rolls Out Major SMB Initiatives

When Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Carly Fiorina talks, solutions providers listen.

More than 1,000 HP partners converged on Los Angeles earlier this week for an update on the companys go-to-market strategy. Fiorina and other HP executives announced a major small- and midsize-business (SMB) initiative during the show, but the bigger news for partners involved HP channel veteran Kevin Gilroy.

Only days before the conference, HP named Gilroy as vice president and general manager of the companys new Solution Partners Organization, which will begin operating May 1. Gilroy will oversee HPs channel sales force, strategy, marketing, training and operations for distributors and solutions providers in Canada, Latin America and the United States.

Gilroys new post comes at a critical time for HPs partners. Some partners earlier this year alleged that the company wasnt listing to their ideas or concerns. High-level meetings between HP and several solutions providers appeased many of those concerns in February, and many partners say they are eager to hear Gilroys ideas.

“Everything that I have read and heard about Kevin Gilroys plans to date indicates that the potential is huge for him completing a successful merger of all the various divisions,” said Felise Katz, CEO of PKA Technologies Inc., an HP-exclusive enterprise VAR specializing in integration, enterprise servers and storage. Katz shared his thoughts with me Sunday, a few hours before the L.A. partner event kicked off. Ill let you know how Katz and other partners are reacting to Gilroy in the weeks ahead.

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