DiFranco Will Look At Both External, Internal Candidates For HP Channel Chief Job

Stephen DiFranco, who is giving up his job as HP channel chief to take a high-level position within HP's personal systems group, said Monday he will look both at external and internal candidates for his replacement.

DiFranco said he decided not to make a decision on a successor in order to get feedback from channel partners on just what they want to see in the new executive, who will oversee the biggest and broadest channel in the information technology business.

"I am taking some time over the next few months to look at the channel team we have and start to make a choice on a successor," said DiFranco, who will name his own replacement. "I have chosen not to do that quickly. I did that mostly because I wanted the channel to have some time to interact with me on what they are looking for from a channel leader."

DiFranco, who was named senior vice president and general manager for the Americas region of the Personal Systems Group in an executive reshuffling announced Monday aimed at boosting HP's WebOS based TouchPad business, will continue in both roles until he names a replacement.

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DiFranco's decision to look at external candidates opens the door for HP to consider seasoned channel executives from competitors, including Chris Frey, North America channel chief for Lenovo, who worked closely with DiFranco during DiFranco's two year tenure at Lenovo; and Cisco channel stalwarts Keith Goodwin and Edison Peres, the networking leader's top two channel executives.

Despite opening the door to external candidates, DiFranco said that is "not at all a reflection of my bench."

"I think I have a great bench," he said. "I just want to make this choice in collaboration with the partners whom it impacts. I am looking forward to hearing their thoughts and what they would like to see in the next channel leaders and we'll go make a good decision."

DiFranco would not put any self imposed deadline on gathering feedback from channel partners or picking a new channel chief. "I will make the choice when it is the right time to make the choice," he said.

Next: Should HP Go Outside Or Inside For New Channel Chief?

As to whether HP could consider changing the structure of the top channel post, which works collaboratively with HP's business unit channel chiefs, DiFranco said he believes the company's channel structure is "logical."

"I think we have done a lot of work this year in structuring it well," he said. "It is now working better than it has been. My objective is to find the right person, not to re-engineer the (channel) structure."

Don Richie, CEO of Sequel Data Systems, an HP partner headquartered in Austin, Texas, said he would like to see someone internally take the job such as Frank Rauch, HP's vice president of Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking (ESSN) channel sales. "Frank has worked with us for years and knows the partners intimately," he said. "What we don't need is a shakeup with a newbie coming in going through a cycle of getting up to speed understanding the business and the intricacies of HP."

"When you bring in people from outside, they have great intentions but it takes a long time for them to make a difference," he said. "Someone like Frank Rauch would be much more effective. The last thing the channel needs as we build momentum with HP is any disruption."

One top solution provider executive, who did not want to be identified, said HP would be wise to look at the recent restructuring at Cisco, which put channel resources directly under the sales teams in different parts of the world.

"Cisco's new structure is more customer and channel centric than the HP model which is product based," said the top executive. "The channel is a sales function. The channel should be collaborating closely as an extension of the sales organization. Too often, the HP Solution Partners Organization is a referee."

The solution provider executive said he believes HP needs to hire a new channel chief from outside the organization.

"The channel job that DiFranco started is undone," he said. "DiFranco was not there long enough to do what needs to be done. HP needs to put someone in that role who can bring some coherence to the channel strategy, blending the assets and resources of HP and making something really good happen."