PSG firmly focused on innovation after rejoining HP family

UK and Ireland sales director thanks partners for their support and pledges to stretch HP's lead in the market

Trevor Evans, UK and Ireland channel sales director at PSG, said the past few weeks have been a tough time for the division, but the business is firmly back on course as a stable part of HP.

He praised the vendor’s channel partners for their support during a "fraught" time and revealed HP had even managed to grow its market share during its third fiscal quarter.

Earlier this year the technology giant’s former chief Léo Apotheker sent the markets into a spin after announcing that HP was looking to spin off or sell its PC division.

But last month, replacement chief executive Meg Whitman said the division would be staying firmly where it was – as part of HP.

Speaking to CRN, Evans (pictured) said: “The UK and Ireland channel has responded really well to us and we have not lost a single partner during that time. Despite it being a distracting and hectic time, we managed to grow our share year on year for fiscal Q3 and it was always business as usual for us.

“We hit some speedbumps along the way and the communications could have been better. But it was what it was. The uncertainty has now gone and we can concentrate on our partners and customers.”

He admitted the vendor may have some work to do in restoring faith from certain partners and customers, but urged any partner with concerns to get in touch.

He added the vendor would be firmly focused on stretching its lead in the market and is still pumping out new products as part of its innovation drive.

Partners can expect a number of initiatives in the near future, he said, including a revamped compensation model for second-tier partners, and HP is also investing in its partner team to increase its presence in the upper mid-market. Another focus for the vendor will be education, he revealed.

Evans also confirmed the vendor’s commitment to the tablet space and said a Windows 8-based tablet will be appearing in Europe in the near future, but could not reveal any more details at present.

The full interview with Trevor Evans and partner reaction to the PSG decision will appear in the 14 November issue of CRN.