SMBs: check SLAs with HP given reorg
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 9/1/2005 6:00:00 AM
Hewlett-Packard's (HP) breakup of its Customer Solutions Group means its customers—especially small and medium businesses (SMBs)—need to reexamine their service-level agreements (SLAs), says Carmi Levy, an analyst with Ontario-based Info-Tech. The HP restructuring, expected to be completed by November, will result in three distinct business units—Technology Solutions, Imaging and Printing, and Personal Systems—each with its own customer support group. Levy argues this will rob HP customers of the single point of contact for all issues they had under the company's old structure.
HP spokesperson Kellie Harris says the change won't affect customers, but Levy isn't so sure. He says customers are operating under agreements signed when HP "was a much different company. Managers must reevaluate their relationship to account for HP's new reality."
Levy recommends some patience with HP during the transition, but ultimately, customers need to be comfortable that the company can still provide the agreed-to levels of service.
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