HP distribution mystery
Final look of PartnerONE programme still unclear as countdown to launch begins
With little more than two months to go before Hewlett-Packard (HP) launches its PartnerONE channel programme, fog still shrouds its distribution strategy.
Earlier this year, the vendor announced that it would be re-evaluating its distribution partners as part of a global channel review following its acquisition of Compaq (CRN, 17 February).
At the time, HP channel SMB director Andy Vickers said the vendor was in discussions with its 17 distribution partners to reduce the number of warehouses supplying HP kit.
He said that some distributors had expressed interest in becoming Channel Development Partners (CDPs) rather than Logistics Service Providers (LSPs).
Last week Vickers said: "We are not cutting the number of distributors. It is about reducing the number of stocking points. All distributors will remain HP partners under the new model."
It is believed that the final shape of PartnerONE will be revealed in about two weeks.
But one source told CRN that HP has 50 different product lines and each distributor could be a CDP or LSP for different lines.
Mark Walker, director of Ideal Enterprise Solutions, said that the changes to HP's distribution would not affect resellers.
"It has been long understood what the shape of distribution will be in Europe and [nobody] will be surprised about any of this. Most distributors already know which level they are going to be and resellers won't even notice a difference," he said.
Bhavesh Patel, commercial director at Ingram Micro UK, said: "There is not a great deal we can say at the moment but we have been having long discussions with HP regarding its PartnerONE strategy."
One distributor, who asked to remain anonymous, said that confusion was rife. "[HP wants] to drive the mid-market, but it also wants to squeeze margin from the channel," he said.
"From week to week things can be good and bad. Last week it looked like we were going to do a good deal, this week it looks worse. I won't know for a couple of weeks what's going to happen."