By now, most of you have heard the news that HP intends to split its company into two operative divisions; HP, Inc. will contain the PC and printer business, and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will focus on servers, software, storage, and other higher end services. The news, while not necessarily news, since this idea was floated years ago but never implemented, is still worth discussing because it comes at a time when the channel could be greatly impacted by such a move.
HP Split Not a Radical Move
The first item to address is that this split should not be viewed as a radical or tectonic shift for HP. Yes, the company had considered making this change several years ago but decided against it. Leaving the stock market analysis to others, as a purely tactical move, what HP is doing makes a lot of sense, even if they are doing it later than their peers.
IBM has already completed its diversification by selling off first its PC business and more recently its server business to Lenovo. IBM is now left with SoftLayer and its more lucrative higher end server line as a market strategy most observers favor. Dell, while it hasn't sold off any of its major divisions, did decide to go private in an effort to become more nimble and responsive to its customers. All these movements are merely means to an end; the end of becoming more responsive to market changes.
How will HP's Decision Impact MSPs?
HP's decision most closely resembles IBM's course, in my opinion. IBM decided that its lower end, more commodity vulnerable products had to be sold in order to remain competitive. I see HP's decision today as largely a similar response to commodity pressures. What will remain to be see is how does HP handle its new found streamlined focus with regards to the IT channel, more specifically, MSPs.
The fact that these larger corporations are all reshuffling the deck in order to become more agile is no surprise. The unanswered question is how will they implement their refined strategy.
My guess is you will begin to see channel strategies which place more attention on private and hybrid cloud solutions, leaving the more commodity driven IaaS plays to smaller parties who can be more responsive to market demands. For the near future, I know quite a few MSPs who will be watching HP closely.
