HP's Whitman embraces the channel

Vendor chief appears to empathise with partners in a chat with CRN's sister title CRN US

HP's chief executive Meg Whitman has pledged her alliegance to the channel, according to CRN's sister site CRN US.

Whitman (pictured) was made chief executive of HP last September after predecessor Leo Apotheker was ousted following the 'will they, won't they' sale drama over HP's PSG business.

She had cut her indirect teeth during her tenure as chief executive of eBay, which gave her experience of dealing with resellers.

"eBay would not have been successful without our seller community," Whitman told CRN US.

And she quickly moved to reassure partners.

"What they [channel partners] want from HP is a steady, reliable, predictable partner," she told CRN US. "They have bet their businesses and livelihoods on us, so its not great when we make sudden and unanticipated changes - it is hard for them to run their businesses."