Meg Whitman's channel charm offensive

HP's new boss made all the right noises at HP GPC - but are words enough, asks CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn

Doug Woodburn

After the walking disaster that was Léo Apotheker, it was vital that Meg Whitman put in a star performance at HP's Global Partner Conference to win over resellers still spooked by the events of last year.

HP's decision to save Whitman's keynote for day three of the event was a controversial one, but it was worth the wait.

Whitman's 20-minute address contained three or four obvious crowd-pleasers that elicited rapturous applause from the 2,000 attendees - including UK partners such as Logicalis, Kelway, Vohkus and Softcat.

Firstly and most importantly, Whitman went to great lengths to reassure partners that she "gets" the channel, something her predecessor failed to do.

Secondly, Whitman put to bed any lingering doubts over HP's commitment to its PC and broader hardware business. Yes, HP's fastest-growing unit - HP Software - is important to the firm, but is there merely to complement the core printing, PC and infrastructure solutions that still generate 70 per cent of its sales.

Thirdly - and just as crucially for partners - Whitman signalled that HP would re-rev the R&D engines that have been left to idle over the last few years.

This may spark concern among investors, but if HP is to thrive for another 70 years (it turns 70 next year), a recommitment such as this to invest in HP Labs is essential.

HP had arguably become the Chelsea of the IT market, shelling out fortunes to acquire star technologies rather than developing homegrown talent itself, perhaps for a fraction of the cost (at one point, Whitman even joshed with Autonomy founder Mike Lynch about the price HP had paid for his firm).

Resellers want to know that their vendor has the ability to sniff out and develop its own IP and Whitman's soundbites on this topic perhaps earned the most vigorous round of applause of the morning.

Whitman ran for office in 2010 and clearly knows how to whip up her audience into a frenzy, insisting HP had "got its swagger back". Although she herself admitted it will be deeds and not words that will ultimately convince partners that HP is a vendor worth sticking with, making the right noises is half the battle won.

Being picky, HP's (seemingly) carefully stage-managed Q&A session stuck in the throat slightly, and Whitman's silence on HP's smartphone strategy (or lack thereof) was deafening.

But this was not enough to dampen the mood and Whitman clearly had delegates eating out of her hand. HP dearly needs a new darling of the channel and they may just have found one in Whitman.