HP Names New Channel Leaders, Searching For Rauch Replacement

Hewlett-Packard Friday unveiled new leaders for its Printing and Personal Systems (PPS) group and said it has begun searching for a new enterprise U.S. channel sales leader to replace the departing Frank Rauch.

HP outlined the changes in a memo sent to channel partners and signed by "The HP Channel Leadership Team," which was obtained by CRN. The most notable change is within PPS, where Scott Dunsire and Mike Parrottino are switching the roles they were assigned less than two months ago.

Dunsire has been named vice president and general manager of PPS U.S. channel sales and will serve as the division's channel chief in the U.S., responsible for distributors, DRCs, major nationals and VARs. HP did not disclose to whom Dunsire will report.

[Related: HP Channel Exodus Continues As Rauch, Kelly Head For Exits ]

Dunsire entered April as vice president of HP's Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) business and sales management, Americas Solution Partners Organization, but was tapped that month to lead U.S. SMB channel sales.

That role will now be handled by Parrottino, who was named in April to head up the PPS Americas channel organization.

This is the third reassignment in the last nine months for Parrottino, who last September was named head of U.S. channel sales for HP's Personal Systems Group, and in April was named head of the PPS Americas channel organization. He'll report to Lynn Pendergrass, senior vice president and general manager of HP's PPS U.S. business.

Matt Smith, director of Americas channel marketing, will continue to lead HP's PartnerONE program, HP said in the memo.

HP did not respond to a request for additional comment on the channel moves.

HP cited the "complexities" of its U.S. channel and SMB businesses in explaining why it saw fit to assign two sales leaders to the PPS group.

NEXT: HP Confirms Departure Of Key ESSN Channel Exec

Meanwhile, in HP's Enterprise group, which includes the Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking division, HP confirmed that Frank Rauch, vice president of U.S. ESSN channels, is leaving "to pursue other opportunities" effective June 29. CRN first reported Rauch's departure earlier this month.

Filling in on an interim basis will be Randy Seidl, senior vice president and general manager of HP's U.S. Enterprise Group business. He'll be supported in this role by James Mundle, director of channel operations, and Stephen DiFranco, who in May was named vice president of Americas Enterprise channels.

John Convery, executive vice president of vendor relations and marketing for Denali Advanced Integration, a Seattle-based partner, sees the changes as positive ones.

"All of these guys have been there a long time," he said. "It's not like they are bringing in new blood that has to go through a learning curve."

One CEO of an enterprise HP partner, who did not want to be identified, praised HP’s decision to beef up its enterprise group in the wake of the departure of Rauch. He said the changes should provide more aggressive and effective advocacy for solution providers trying to resolve channel conflict and other sales issues in the field.

That said, the latest channel restructuring does not address the silos between the different HP business units that are impacting sales and making it difficult for partners to do business with the company, said the source.

"We’ve been telling them for years that they have too many people and we don’t know who to go to. They need to streamline," said the source. "There is no reason why people can’t learn to do more than one thing -- other than the fact that they have money and want to keep people on the payroll."

"While the PPS and EG channel teams will continue to reside in separate businesses, we remain committed to working closely across business groups in order to make it easier for you to do business with us," HP's channel team wrote in the memo.

NEXT: The HP Channel Re-Org Memo To Partners

Following is the HP memo in its entirety:

June 22, 2012

Dear HP Channel Partners:

Last month, HP outlined plans for a multi-year productivity initiative designed to simplify business processes, advance innovation and deliver better results for partners, customers, employees and shareholders. This initiative builds on the recent realignment process - a process that we are continuing to execute.

Today, we are pleased to share with you the new HP Channel organizational structure, as well as the next level of leaders for our HP Americas Channel team, representing both Printing and Personal Systems (PPS) and Enterprise Group (EG) businesses. Collectively, these leaders represent decades of channel experience with a proven track record for helping our partners grow their businesses with HP.

Printing and Personal Systems Given the complexities of the U.S. Channel and SMB business – for which a significant percentage of HP’s business runs through the channel– HP has made the decision to assign two U.S. leaders to drive these critical sales motions for PPS. The goal of this structural change is to enable HP and our partners to more aggressively pursue revenue opportunities and remain competitive in the marketplace.

Effective immediately, Scott Dunsire will serve as vice president and general manager of U.S. Channel Sales, and in doing so will assume the role of Channel Chief for PPS in the U.S. Scott will have responsibility for supporting distributors, DRCs, major nationals and VARs.

Members of his channel leadership team include:

-- Jon Wayne will lead the U.S. Distribution team. Jon has held many strategic roles driving channel strategy and Distribution sales in his 17-year career at HP. He has worked across business groups and across business categories ranging from storage to PCs and printers.

-- Brian Gauley will lead the U.S. DRC/E-tailer team. A three-year HP veteran with 19 years of industry experience, Brian previously led the U.S. DRC Channel Sales team for PSG.

-- Gary Simms will lead the U.S. Major Nationals team. In his 24 years with HP, Gary has held various sales leadership roles within end-user and partner groups.

-- David Hinds will lead the U.S. Regional VARs team. David brings more than 13 years of industry experience, including managing IPG DRC/Major Nationals.

-- Paul Reid will lead the U.S .Specialty Sales Channel team. A 13-year channel veteran, Paul brings experience in solution-based channel sales, product marketing, and management.

-- Javier Lescano will lead the U.S. Public Sector Channel team. Javier joined HP 13 years ago and has worked closely with HP channel partners for the last five years.

U.S. SMB Sales, previously under Scott’s leadership, now moves to Mike Parrottino, who has been named, effective immediately, vice president and general manager of U.S. SMB Sales for PPS, reporting to Lynn Pendergrass. In this role, Mike will lead the SMB Sales team responsible for managing HP’s relationship with tens of thousands of HP SMB end-user customers. By working together with Scott’s team, Mike’s SMB sales team is strategically positioned to drive increased SMB business through our channel community.

In addition to leading SMB sales, Mike’s organization will have responsibility for partner enablement programs, including the HP PartnerONE program, which will continue to be led by Matt Smith. Enterprise Group As many of you are aware, Frank Rauch, vice president and general manager, ESSN Channel Sales, U.S. is leaving HP to pursue other opportunities, effective June 29. Frank’s team remains intact and will continue to drive channel sales with you, our valued channel partners.

A search is underway for a new ESSN U.S. Channel Sales leader. In the interim, the team will report to Randy Seidl, senior vice president and general manager, HP Enterprise Group, U.S., who will oversee the organization with support from James Mundle, director of channel operations, and Stephen DiFranco, vice president, Enterprise Group, Americas.

NEXT: More Of The Memo

The EG U.S. Channel Sales organization is as follows:

-- Jeremiah Jenson will oversee regional and public sector / federal partners. Jeremiah is an 11-year HP veteran with expertise leading teams across ESSN including End User Sales, Channel, ISS Specialist, SMB, National Accounts and National Leader of the regional partner organization.

-- Tom Cahill will manage Distribution & ISS Channel Sales. With more than 17 years of channel IT experience, Tom’s career as a channel reseller partner is instrumental in his ability to maximize the strengths of the channel ecosystem.

-- Kevin Rooney will oversee Major Nationals/DRCs in the U.S. Kevin has spent a great deal of his 17-year career working closely with partners to develop and deliver customer solutions.

-- Walter Leverett will oversee BCS partners. A 20-year channel veteran, Walter brings expertise from previous channel roles at IBM, Lexmark and Xerox.

-- Tom Flaherty will lead HP Financial Services (HPFS) across NA channel sales. Tom brings more than 16 years of experience in IT channel sales, SI and sales management.

-- James Mundle will lead ESSN Business Management and Channel Operations in the U.S. James brings 25+ years of industry experience and expertise with the indirect channel with roles ranging from sales to executive management.

-- Terry Richardson will lead U.S. Channel Sales for the HP Storage Division. A 27-year industry veteran, Terry brings to the team extensive sales and channel sales management expertise.

-- Tracy Hickox will direct U.S. Channel Sales for HP Networking (HPN). Terry brings more than 20 years of senior sales experience in the networking industry.

As you may know, Stephen DiFranco also recently joined the Enterprise Group in a new Americas Channel role developed specifically to bring together Distributors, VARs, SIs, ISVs, OEMs, TS and Cloud Agile teams to create one synchronized channel community. This model also aligns to global programs like HP PartnerONE, HP ServiceONE, and HP ExpertONE. The new EG Americas Channel leadership team is as follows:

-- Ken Archer will continue to lead Technology Services. Ken re-joined HP two years ago and has built HP’s TS Americas Channel.

-- Dave Shore will lead Enterprise Software. Dave’s experience driving share of HP products in Enterprise Services will contribute to his team’s role in growing HP’s Software business.

-- Samad Ali and his team will drive Americas sales planning and reporting. Samad’s experience in channel operations and advancing cloud as a channel practice will be instrumental as he works to develop the next generation of channel go-to-market planning.

-- Michael Galane will return to the Americas leading our Regional Distribution programs. With 15 years of channel experience and 29 years with HP, Mike will manage planning for Americas distribution.

-- Anasuya Morrill will continue to lead HP’s Alliance team, including ISVs, Cloud Agile and go-to-market relationships with our top technology partners.

-- Gary Gammon and his team will continue to run our OEM business and will expand their scope to cover the Americas.

HP will continue to make significant investments in our channel community, including improving our partner coverage model with deeper and more streamlined coverage that aligns partner programs with channel and SMB groups. While the PPS and EG channel teams will continue to reside in separate businesses, we remain committed to working closely across business groups in order to make it easier for you to do business with us. With this new leadership team now in place, we are ready to work with you to continue accelerating long-term, mutual, profitable growth in the marketplace.

Best regards,
HP Channel Leadership Team

This story was originally published on June 22.