HP: Tablets should be more than just corporate jewellery

HP channel boss Neil Sawyer discusses what the perfect corporate tablet should look like and how resellers can break into the market in this Westcoast-commissioned Q&A video

Tablets may be a common sight in the boardroom, but many lack the functionality, serviceability and security requirements to be considered for company-wide roll outs.

Hoping to change all this is HP, which is aiming to help its resellers break into new commercial tablet opportunities with its new Elite x2 and x3 devices.

In this video Q&A, which is in association with Westcoast, HP's largest UK distributor, HP UK & Ireland channel sales director Neil Sawyer sets out how HP is "going beyond the world of corporate jewellery" to arm its partners with secure, serviceable and functional tablet solutions.

According to IDC, shipments of commercial tablets in western Europe will more than double between 2014 and 2019 to reach 11 million.

But Sawyer said resellers looking to crack this space have often been left high and dry by a lack of services and support from vendors.

"The tip I would have for any reseller partner [looking to enter the tablet market] is to leverage the serviceability angle of our products," he said.

"We have the best distribution partners available, which allows us to make alterations to inventory management in hours and days, rather than weeks, and that's real a competitive advantage HP will retain. We work on small and large projects and our ability to get pricing back to our resellers within 30 minutes of requesting it, from April 1, is absolutely critical."

Sawyer also emphasised the work HP had carried out with Microsoft and Bang & Olufsen to create the "perfect" corporate tablet from a design and collaboration perspective.

"HP's tablet strategy has been in the making for a long time and we have certainly spent the last few years really honing what we offer," he said.