Love it or hate it, HP is no longer the company that was founded in a one-car garage in Palo Alto back in 1939. While the organization has seen many changes over the years, including the acquisition of Compaq and a host of other vendors, they pale in comparison to the transformation that’s been taking place over the past few months.
Last week’s news marked a significant milestone in the more than year-long process, not its conclusion. It signaled the formal separation of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard’s legacy into two separate entities: Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (business-focused hardware and solutions) and Hewlett-Packard Inc. (consumer PCs and printers). But the work for each new company is far from complete.
As with any business transformation, the executive team will have to monitor a variety of ongoing activities and track metrics each step of the way as the two organizations continue the detachment process. Think of it as if you were splitting a house in two and then adapting each side to create distinct new homes. You would need to rebuild the exterior walls and develop separate electricity, water, sewer, heating, air conditioning systems.
As of last week, the HP house is formally divided. But how much of the 'shoring up' work do they have yet to complete? On the new Hewlett Packard Enterprise side, that job falls to President and Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman, with Dion Weisler having similar (if not identical) responsibilities for the new Hewlett-Packard organization. With their strategies and employee marching orders firmly in place, what will those next steps be? Will further layoffs be in order? Or will skills gaps force them into expansion or acquisition mode? Each seems to believe they’ll be more agile and competitive after the dust settles.
Company executives, stockholders and the industry as a whole will be monitoring their team’s progress very closely during the next few months, and adapting their plans to take advantage of new opportunities or to counter unforeseen challenges. That process is crucial for any company undergoing a significant transformation—though there’s one step that is perhaps even more important for channel vendors to follow: stakeholder communications.
Proactive and Collaborative Communications
Fear of the unknown is a real stressor for businesses and their employees. A sure way to increase your partners’ or customers’ anxiety levels is to make sudden product or program changes without notifying them ahead of time. If you share details and provide timelines, the transformation is more likely to gain their acceptance. A little explanation and positive reinforcement goes a long way; alleviating fears and encouraging engagement.
The former HP team appears to have adopted that philosophy. Since the first announcement more than a year ago, they have shared details with key alliance members, discussing what it meant for each particular partner and walking them through each step of the transition. HP’s stated goal (at the beginning of the process) was not to lose any of its channel capabilities as the company separated—surely a lofty goal, with so many moving parts. But the programs they put into place gave their partners much greater insight into the process. These plans increased their partner touch points and enabled greater communications, which allowed them to lessen anxiety around the changes.
- Introduced the HP Partner Navigator Program to help its partners and distributors maintain business continuity through HP's separation.
- Rolled out the Partner One Alliance to encourage providers to continue developing solutions that include both companies’ offerings after the separation
The executive teams of both new companies still have a lot of work ahead, and it may be years before Whitman and the other former HP executives can claim success. For now, the support programs are in place and key details have been communicated with partners and other stakeholders. HP followed a number of industry best practices in their business transformation plan, now their teams just need time (and partner support) to execute the remaining steps.
Ready to make significant changes in your organization? Download the free CompTIA Quick Start Guide to Business Agility for best practices designed specifically for channel companies like yours. It’s got great tips and easy-to-follow steps that can make your business transformation prospects much brighter. You really don’t have to have HP’s resources to make a positive change—simply tap into the CompTIA portfolio of training tools and materials.
