LAS VEGAS — Tuesday was a busy day at Hewlett-Packard Co.’s (NYSE: HPQ) Global Partner Conference, as the vendor kicked-off the event with a series of networking and partner program-related announcements, as well as keynote addresses from CEO Meg Whitman and COO Bill Veghte.
Scroll down the page to get a sense of how the day looked on Twitter.
Channel program changes, new networking offerings and keynotes from Meg Whitman and Bill Veghte highlight Day One of HP’s Global Partner Conference in Las Vegas.
Storified by · Tue, Feb 19 2013 17:19:17
Kicking off #hpgpc with a converged infrastructure press breakout led by Stephen DeWitt. “Anything goes,” he tells us. Well, it is Vegas…Jeff Jedras
DeWitt: We’re a portfolio company. We invest in IP across the tech spectrum. That’s what we do, that’s our strategy. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
DeWitt:HP invented converged infrastructure; Dell is copying. And it’s “absurd” to think an industry consortium (Cisco/EMC) can match #hpgpcJeff Jedras
DeWitt: There’s been lots of talk about how HP is doing. HP’s doing just fine. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
HP’s Stephen DeWitt kicks off the converged infrastructure press breakout at #hpgpc http://pic.twitter.com/SBxoP49aJeff Jedras
Bethany Mayer, senior vice-president & GM of HP networking, is announcing new converged solutions for BYOD at #hpgoc http://pic.twitter.com/AfSi1D3BJeff Jedras
Notice the careful placement of DeWitt’s laptop so the logo is showing… #hpgpc http://pic.twitter.com/ARRlpIeXJeff Jedras
HP’s enterprise leadership team meets the press at #hpgpc http://pic.twitter.com/15M2Zr3RJeff Jedras
Now’s part of presser where we talk smack about competing vendors. Always fun, although it’s not usually intr’d as agenda item #hpgpcJeff Jedras
Summing up this portion of the enterprise presser: EMC no good, Cisco no good, IBM no good, HP sooo good. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
DeWitt says the numerators and denominators are changing. And just when I was starting to get better at math… #hpgpcJeff Jedras
Buzzword alert: Scott says partners will need to become trusted implementation brokers. Jedras groans. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
HP is now structuring MDF over half year instead of quarters; more run time for planning and implementing marketing plans #hpgpcJeff Jedras
HP investing $1.5B in channel this year, not including rebates & discounting. That’s a lot, but then again they have broad portfolio #hpgpcJeff Jedras
“If data is the new black, then information is the new gold,” says Autonomy exec Steve Reny. Alrighty then. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
HP Autonomy now has its own partner program. One program to sell Autonomy solutions. Part of phased migration to PartnerOne. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
Vertica is now part of HP’s PartnerOne program. Big data isn’t just for big companies; need partners to reach all the market. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
Just had a chat with HP Canada’s new(ish) channel duo, Andrew Eppich & Gary Drysdale, at #hpgpc http://pic.twitter.com/w3ncc4L5Jeff Jedras
Now its for day 1 keynotes at #hpgpc. Today is Meg Whitman & Bill Veghte. Last year she got credit for not being Leo. Bar higher this year.Jeff Jedras
Breaking: Meg Whitman tells channel conference she loves the channel. #hpgpc http://pic.twitter.com/EYDnTygDJeff Jedras
Whitman: Last couple years at HP have not been easy. I know we’ve had some missteps & challenges, but together we’re making progress #hpgpcJeff Jedras
Whitman: We’re on a journey to turn HP around; it’s not going to happen overnight but we know what has to happen and we’re doing it. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
HP’s financials are sound, says Whitman, unlikely what those dastardly reporters may tell you.Hey, I’m sitting right here, Meg! #hpgpcJeff Jedras
Here is @MegWhitman’s roadmap to recovery for HP. And the top of her head. #hpgpc http://pic.twitter.com/lM4syOtRJeff Jedras
Whitman: HP now has clear policy on taking business away from channel and going direct — it will not be tolerated. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
We need to do a better job of productizing and commercializing innovation so it is relevant to the channel. Meg Whitman, CEO HP #HPGPC #ITSYNNEX Corporation
Meg Whitman’s #HPGPC keynote: HP is a force to be reckoned with. In 2012 $120b in revenue, 10th largest money-making business in the world.HP US Channel Team
Whitman says HP has “the A-Team” working for the channel. No word if she pities the fools that don’t partner with HP. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
Meg Whitman – “Very powerful tectonic plate shifts are changing the way technology is consumed, delivered, and paid for” #HPGPC #HPHP Networking
HP execs touting HP leading all Silicon Valley companies in patents granted in last quarter. IBM, of course, is based in NY state. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
Here’s HP’s new channel leadership team. #hpgpc http://pic.twitter.com/nengLrWiJeff Jedras
Now it’s HP COO Bill Veghte’s turn to talk about the “new style” of IT. #hpgpc http://pic.twitter.com/q3KXsfyvJeff Jedras
HP seems to be going back to “integrate it all from data centre to endpoint” philosophy I first heard from Mark Hurd back in the day #hphpcJeff Jedras
HP CMO Marty Homlish: if you’re going to do something, make it matter. Slide on HP v the industry. #HPGPC http://pic.twitter.com/lGMR0nz6Nina Buik
Whitman says Dell go-private creates period of instability and uncertainty that HP plans to take advantage of. #hpgpcJeff Jedras
The next HP CEO will come from inside HP, Whitman says. Somewhere, Ann Livermore and VJ scowl. #hpgpcRobert Dutt
Whitman ain’t leaving any time soon, but says the next CEO should come from within HP. Veghte, Bradley, et al, stay patient… #hpgpcJeff Jedras
HP Partner 360 mentoring program. Sounds like a solid way to align with a channel champ for mutual success. #HPGPC #leadershipSYNNEX Corporation
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A veteran technology and business journalist, Jeff Jedras began his career in technology journalism in the late 1990s, covering the booming (and later busting) Ottawa technology sector for Silicon Valley North and the Ottawa Business Journal, as well as everything from municipal politics to real estate.
He later covered the technology scene in Vancouver before joining IT World Canada in Toronto in 2005, covering enterprise IT for ComputerWorld Canada. He would go on to cover the channel as an assistant editor with CDN.
His writing has appeared in the Vancouver Sun, the Ottawa Citizen and a wide range of industry trade publications.
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