Another in a series of notes I carried back from HP Discover in Vienna.

In this keynote speech at HP Discover,

new CEO Meg Whitman observed "Excitement at HP is nothing new, unfortunately," adding that her objective is to "get back to being the reliable, trusted, steady partner that you can count on day in and day out."

From a channel perspective, this is certainly a worthy goal. Research that I've done through the years has shown that channel satisfaction declines whenever a vendor changes its programs; even if the changes are needed and positive, successful partners will have found ways of navigating through current programs, and any change will likely close off pathways that benefit these firms.

Of course, HP's recent turbulence - the announced and then recanted intention to withdraw from the PC industry, and the concurrent change in CEOs - has impact of a very different sort from program changes. I think the basic point holds true, though: business partners connect best with vendors in when their suppliers are stable and predictable. Whitman's words weren't specifically targeted at the channel, but they are likely to resonate in a partner community that has a high degree of dependence on HP, and which, for the most part, would very much like to see HP again be "trusted, steady...day in and day out."