Channel cheers HP split

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc born today

HP channel partners have welcomed today's arrival of the two new HP companies, claiming the strategy is a "much better way of preserving the heritage of HP".

As of today, HP is no more, with HP Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) taking its place. The former focuses in printing and personal systems while the latter focuses on storage, servers and infrastructure.

Former HP CEO Meg Whitman, who is now chief executive of HPE and chairman of the HP Inc board, is set to open trading on the New York Stock Exchange today to mark the latter's arrival.

HPE's UK boss, Andy Isherwood, told CRN that the split will make HP more agile and able to respond to things quicker.

He said he was very pleased with the smooth separation process, and it appears partners agree.

Softcat's managing director, Colin Brown, said the split was "no bother at all" and added the new HP companies better reflect the company's objectives.

"I think to some degree there was a while when partners and customers got confused, but they have been operating separately for quite some time," he told CRN. "I think having separate cost bases and knowing where the profitability sits [is good]. Obviously the cost base of a manufacturer for PCs and printers is very different to the cost base of a big enterprise organisation. I think it is good.

"If you look at the previous idea of [former HP CEO] Leo Apotheker - just flogging it off - I think this is a much better way of preserving the heritage of HP... by acknowledging they are two completely separate companies these days. So it's good."

Howard Hall, managing director of HP partner DTP agreed and said the future of the separated companies looks promising.

"It's business as usual really. It's been so smooth in its execution it has sort of just happened basically," he said. "I think things will start ramping up in the next few weeks. Obviously HP has had a financial year to close by the end of last Friday so it was all hands to the pump. But I think they will now start thinking about the new businesses moving forward. There are certainly things in the diary - launch days and activities and so on."

HP partner Vohkus' commercial director, Loay Lawrence, said the HP split is "absolutely" good news for the channel and its customers.

"I think for the two organisations, they are going to focus on their core competencies," he said. "It is going to make them stronger in each of their areas. There won't be any - not conflict - but there won't be any distractions.

"I think it's going to be good for the end users, too. Although they still have the same name, they will complement each other as two separate vendors now."