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Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.
HP to showcase a New Windows 8 BUSINESS class-system tablet, says Todd Bradley.
HP is readying to unveil a NEW own
"expandable" and "serviceable" business tablet that is
being backed up by one of the most aggressive HP channel sales enablement
efforts in years.
Among the new HP
tablet's channel-friendly features that mark it as a business-class system will
be the ability for business partners to expand it with different options for
specific vertical business solutions and to open the tablet to service it, said
Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's $65 billion printing and
personal systems business, in an exclusive interview Thursday with CRN at HP's
Andover, Mass. facility. "This is the only serviceable tablet there
is," boasted Bradley. "It is serviceable, and it is expandable."
Bradley said HP has
put more resources and muscle in terms of getting HP channel partners ready to
sell the new tablet than any product offering since he joined the company in
2005. "It's all in with the channel,” said Bradley. "We were with a
whole group of partners last night for dinner. We talked about seed products
for them to understand the tablet as well as seed products for their
customers."
HP's Printing and Personal
Systems Group (PPS) is planning a 20-city U.S. road show starting next month,
inviting partners and their customers to see first-hand the benefits of the
tablet and HP's full PPS product portfolio, said Bradley.
HP's all out focus
on the channel is a big differentiator against both Apple's iPad and
Microsoft's Surface Tablet product line, Bradley said. "From a competitive
standpoint, we are showing a bigger commitment than any of them," he said.
"The product
that we have developed, the serviceability of it, the ability for partners to
make money with us on this tablet are just significant," said Bradley.
"Compared to any of the other people in the marketplace, no one has a
better focus on the enterprise than HP. The combination of an HP Windows 8
tablet gives enterprises the security that they want for their
behind-the-firewall applications."
When asked what
will be key differentiators vs. Apple, Bradley said serviceability, security,
Windows 8 and easy access to current business applications all offer big
improvements relative to the iPad.
As for the battle
with Microsoft , Surface,
Bradley stressed that the biggest differentiator against Microsoft is HP is
leveraging it strong partner base. "First and foremost, we are focused on
selling our product through the channel," said Bradley. "I think the
message from Microsoft was: 'If you want to sell Surface, come to a store and
buy one.'"
HP's channel focus
puts the company well ahead of both Microsoft and Apple in bringing a tablet to
business customers, said Mont Phelps, CEO of NWN, a national enterprise HP
partner headquartered in Waltham, Mass.
"It is obvious
to anybody that knows anything about the channel that neither Apple nor
Microsoft has the channel that HP has," said Phelps. "That is going
to be a tremendous advantage bringing a product like this to the market.
"I have seen people
trying to force the iPad into business applications and business usage,"
said Phelps. "It just doesn't fit perfectly in business so there are
compromises. What HP has is a business-ready tablet. If that is what they are
saying, bring it on. Now we have something to go out and offer the marketplace.
We have been looking for this for quite a while."
Bradley would not provide
pricing or specific product details for the new HP Tablet which is expected to
be announced sometime in the next several weeks just in time for all the hoopla
around Microsoft's expected Windows 8 launch. HP will spend "minimal time,
if any time, on the consumer side" of the tablet market "right
now," he said.
