Yes, there's a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt regarding the fate of HP's PSG division, but all is not doom and gloom within the halls of HP. I spoke to HP's Jeff Groudan, director of worldwide thin client product marketing for HP's Desktop Solutions Organization, who gave the lowdown on the future of HP's thin clients, the channel and some hints on the future of PSG. In fact, HP partners might actually have something to look forward to amid a spinoff ...
If you didn't know already, HP's thin client group is a "mini business unit" inside of HP's PSG. But no matter what happens, Groudan said the thin client division's strategy will continue as planned, "spinoff or otherwise." And despite all the speculation on the future of PSG and thin clients (and Wyse's jab that HP customers may be 'confused') Groudan said "... the business is performing at a high level and we're not seeing any fallout." Part of HP's plan to mitigate any panic is to simply talk to their partners ...
"Certainly, customers have questions. There's been an enormous amount of communication from HP [to partners] since the announcement. The reality is, the spinoff has been positioned as the most likely scenario [and] potentially the only change is the logo on the box. But the people and the financial access and expertise of the HP business won't go away. We're investing in the business and business is growing. The channel should expect little or no change. We'll [continue to] be more aggressive and there for them."
So if HP's PSG division will carry on as usual, what can we expect for HP channel partners in the way of thin clients? "There's always -- and continues to be -- a need for more performance at the end points," Groudan said, explaining that thin clients will continue to get beefier in the future, but also more flexible. He pointed to HP's latest zero clients, which can be reprogrammed actively to support different virtualization protocols. HP also will continue to invest in solutions that move beyond centralized services and into the cloud with mobile devices. And ensuring "tight" integration between thin clients and overall virtualization infrastructure solutions will be an ongoing priority.
Groudan also noted channel partners would have more to look forward to after a spinoff, because overall the PSG group would become more agile. "We'd be entirely focused on the PC and thin client business. It'd still be a big company, not as big as we've seen, but we'll have more freedom to execute more quickly in the face of trends and ... deliver new products." Groudan also said a new board and management team would be "laser focused" on the future of PCs and thin clients. "If nothing else, you're going to get a larger pool of talented executives laser focused on the PC business," said Groudan.
If you're an HP channel partner, chime in the comments and let us know how you feel about the potential/eventual spinoff. Will selling thin clients with a brand new logo but the same old team be business as usual, or do you foresee new issues? In the meantime, we'll keep track of the PSG optimism and the future of one of the world's biggest PC and thin client makers.
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