Amid the challenging PC and printer markets, HP Inc. wants to assure partners that the company offers a pathway forward to help them grow. Stephanie Dismore, VP and GM of HP's Americas Commercial Channel, shared those thoughts and more during a Nov. 14 interview with ChannelE2E.
It has been roughly one year since HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) split apart into two companies. On the HP Inc. front, the company has focused on a simplified, predictable and profitable model for partners across its PCs, printers and services, Dismore says.
"We've been the Steady Eddie of the channel and that's a good thing," says Dismore, describing how HP has maintained its hardware market share by working with partners. Indeed, HP commands about 29.9 percent of the U.S. PC market as of Q3 2016, up from 28.8 percent share in Q3 2015, according to IDC. (HP and Lenovo essentially are tied for global share, IDC indicates.)
Along the way, HP' Inc.'s partner program transformed from PartnerOne (from the Hewlett-Packard Co. days) to PartnerFirst. The program is customized to empower partners in their areas of specialization -- whether its volume sales, mobility, supplies or services. The partner program also went from four tiers to three, she notes.
In the old wold, HP would launch a product, train partners and give them SKU to go sell. But in the age of omni-channel marketing, HP is giving partners the right digital content, images and other assets to assist with online marketing and more, Dismore asserts.
Core, Innovate, Futures
No doubt, ChannelE2E has openly questioned whether HP Inc. and its partners can grow. Dismore points to multiple priorities that will help partners continue to expand with the company. The include:
The core: These are HP Inc.'s bread and butter products and services. Although the printer and PC markets remain extremely challenging, the total addressable market for HP's core products is $415 billion annually, she says.
Innovate: Here, she points to the best people delivering the best products and services. A key example involves the new A3 multi-function printers -- which also open up managed print services opportunities. There's also the HP Elite x3 -- which blends the worlds of PCs and smartphones. "I'm humbly excited," she says, referring to the product launches.
The hardware innovations also include services innovations -- like the Device as a Service push. It's still the early days of DaaS but HP is committed to helping partners and customers to consume hardware leveraging CapEx or OpEx approaches.
Future Opportunities: Here, partners should keep an eye on opportunities like 3D printing and immersive computing -- including developments like Sprout.
"The health of our channel translates into the health and success of HP," she asserts. We know we have to earn it every day. We know it's a fight. We're here every day to win on product innovation, trust and reliability."
Additional Wildcards
HP Is set to announce its latest quarterly results on Nov. 22. Among the potential updates we'll be tracking: HP's pending buyout of Samsung's printer business, and additional job cuts that will surface from 2017 to 2019.
Of course, rivals aren't resting on their laurels. Lenovo is focused on several priorities to drive client growth; promote premium products; accelerate data center growth; and engage key verticals. And the newly formed Dell Technologies (featuring Dell and EMC) has its own enterprise strategy, as described here by Michael Dell.
Still, it's clear that Dismore doesn't fear her rivals. She's located in Dell's hometown of Austin, Texas...
