Will HP’s Top 11 Prove Leo a Lion or a Lamb?
An apothecary was a medical professional who formulated and dispensed medical compounds and advice – the predecessor to the modern day pharmacist. Perhaps, HP’s new CEO, Leo Apotheker, is prescribing just the right medicine to capitalize upon a tarnished legacy. However, this grocery list of goals cuts across a culture hurdling in more than one direction; can Leo be the lion HP needs or will this lion lay down with lambs?
Almost 2 months ago, I asked if Apotheker would be HP’s second wind. While a lot remains to be seen, CRN’s published list of Apotheker’s Top 11 Priorities for the New Year offers me the glimmer I had hoped to see. While it’s not exactly a manifesto (and a long way from a plan), these top agenda items speak strongly to how HP could dominate this new world:
- Increased software sales adds differentiation to products and services.
- Increased R&D sews seeds for tomorrow’s continued success.
- Leverage services to bust-up product-centric silos.
- Strengthen direct sales force.
- Help limping employee morale.
- Offer customers best-of-breed technology stack, not proprietary lock-in.
- Refocus on networking business.
- Make it easier for customers to do business with HP.
- Speed sales growth in emerging markets, like India and China.
- Increase customer choices for cloud and mobility.
- Connect and leverage consumer technology breakthroughs in the enterprise.
Just one of these could take most organizations years, but it is clear that in the world HP hopes to live, and dominate, many convergent strategies must be executed with speed and precision (while others just need a little room to grow). Looking at a list of observations like these is easily dismissed by many, and is certainly not a strong plan in and of itself.
All of these make a lot of sense individually – true. However, if Apotheker can lead the charge on even a handful of these successfully, he stands to steer HP into a windfall for today and tomorrow.
Ken Stewart offers observations from the field of managed print services in his weekly column on MPS Insights every Tuesday. As a senior consultant with the Photizo Group, he comes from and works directly with channel providers in the managed services space, developing educational tools and resources to promote lasting business transformation.
Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge,focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Get the latest industry news, and follow ChangeForge on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
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