EDS buy 'will not affect channel'

By Candice Jones for HP
Johannesburg, 16 Sep 2008

Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) new local MD will strengthen the company's go-to-market strategy by fostering partner relationships.

HP's purchase of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) had many channel businesses concerned the acquisition would start to exclude the partners from HP business. However, new MD Oliver Fortuin says the year ahead will see the company strengthen ties with its local channel partners.

"We would not want to do everything ourselves. Our partners can do certain things more efficiently than we can. As a business, we will be focusing on going to market with our key business partners."

Fortuin says EDS has been and will always be technology-agnostic. The acquisition will not push out any other brands, and will not affect HP's market strategy.

Public push

The company will also move into a stronger public sector focus under the new leadership, he adds.

Fortuin explains that governments are creating more points of citizen access to public information, using technology. "It is no secret that government constitutes a large portion of the country's ICT spend and we are focusing our attention on becoming relevant to the public sector."

The company is also pitching to be a partner in Telkom's capability management strategy. "The competition for the Telkom deal will be extremely tough. Telkom is also proposing particularly tight implementation timeframes for the winner, which may make the contract a difficult one."

Even so, HP is confident it has a fighting chance to win the contract. "The task will need extreme focus, but we are confident we will stand up well against the competition. It is still early days though."

Service the future

Following a trend across the country, HP also hopes to push its software and services business to equal its hardware market share. "The South African ICT marketplace is by-and-large a mature one. The finance industry, government and even retail are relying on technology to run their day-to-day business."

Fortuin says businesses are now more likely to search for a solution rather than the hardware. "People are not talking about the box anymore. They are now looking at packages that will make their customers happy. That is what is driving the software and services business."

Fortuin succeeds Thoko Mokgosi-Mwantembe as MD of HP, as of 1 November. Mokgosi-Mwantembe, who has held the post since 2004, will start her own investment group in the new year.