Babelmachine

HP hits sweet spot for SMBs

Oct 18, 2006 16:03

NEW DELHI, India--The Candy Man, the Candy Man can/The Candy Man can because he uses HP...

OK, that ditty's been stuck in my head since yesterday when HP kicked off its HP Smart Office '06 "Takin' Care of Business" regional launch. Nope, HP isn't doing yet another remake of the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but it is using the motif of a chocolate factory owned by the flamboyant Henry Penny (HP, get it?) a.k.a. the Candy Man to sweeten its message for the Asia-Pacific tech journalists that have descended upon the Indian capital.

Glowing in the dark as HP unveils its SMB Total Care portal.

In the Philippines, we call this LSS, an acronym for Last Song Syndrome, but you're probably more familiar with the term earworm or stuck tune syndrome.

So how is HP sweetening the deal for SMEs?

Of course, I'm sure you know that HP's thrust is to "make computing personal again". During the group interview held with Adrian Koch, senior vice president of Personal Systems Group for Asia Pacific and Japan of Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific, I asked him how HP was applying this mantra to its strategy for small and medium businesses.

Adrian Koch stressing a point during the group interview.

"As more and more SMBs realize that they want more than just white boxes and instead look for end-to-end solutions, HP is in a good position to address these needs... I'm firmly convinced the SMB market is really changing," Koch said.

During his keynote speech on October 17, Koch stressed that SMBs have "significantly stepped up their IT IQ". While price points remain a sensitive issue for this sector, SMBs don't want to compromise on quality, and want to look for strong partners with end-to-end solutions rather than the old mentality of buying boxes from vendors. In other words, it wants a partner who can address its needs as it grows its business.

Continuing the motif of the Sweets 'N Treats chocolate factory, one of the tracks after the keynote speech featured a tour of the different departments by the fictional company's CEO, portrayed by Philip Lee, SMB program manager of Marketing-Personal Systems Group and SMB Business Segment for Asia Pacific and Japan of Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific.

Philip Lee looks on with a smile as his "uncle" Henry Penny welcomes us to the chocolate factory tour.

Lee stressed that it's wrong to think that a one-size-fits all solution would address the needs of different SMEs, pointing out that even within an SME, different departments have different IT requirements. The trick is to have an end-to-end solution that ties together these disparate needs.

He also stressed that SMEs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and taking a more long-term view on IT investments.

"Before, companies usually didn't think too much about backup," Lee said to illustrate this new awareness. "Backup is like going to the dentist. You won't think of it until you have a toothache," he said.

For his part, Joergen Jakobsen, VP for Commercial Systems Unit of HP Asia Pacific and Japan, stressed during a separate group interview session that HP is tailoring its solutions to the needs of the SMB sector here by designing products and services in Asia for Asia.

Bebi Reyes-Guzman, Small and Medium Business Segment head of the Personal Systems Group of HP Philippines, shows off the candy wrapper printed out using the HP Color LaserJet CM1015/CM1017 Multifunction Printer Series.

Two examples of these solutions tailored to the Asian SMB market are the HP Compaq dx2700 Business PC, which was designed in China, and the HP Color LaserJet CM1015/CM1017 Multifunction Printer Series, the first product in this category to break the price barrier of US$599.

Like Koch, Jakobsen stressed that SMBs are moving away from white boxes, and that this is the growing trend even in less mature PC markets like the Philippines where white boxes or generic PCs still have a strong presence.

One thing helping the cause of HP and other branded PC vendors is that they have been aggressive in bringing down the cost of their desktops.

Me (right) having breakfast with Lawrence Casiraya (left) of ComputerWorld Philippines and Tham Yuen-C of The Straits Times' Digital Life.

In the end, Jakobsen said SMBs are realizing that the price for non-quality solutions is too steep if the future of their business depends on the reliability of these PCs.

For more on the HP launch and my Indian odyssey, check out "HP unveils latest solutions tailored to SMB needs" and "Taj Mahal tales and KOTRA dreams."

So, will all these sweet nothings help HP woo more SMBs? We'll see.

In the meantime, pass me another bar of chocolate, will you?

The Candy Man, oh, the Candy Man can...

Recent Comments

 

Most Discussed

 

Browse Archive