Cisco Channel Blog Counters HP Network Switching Claims

hp vs cisco

During a keynote this morning, HP Executive VP Ann Livermore said HP is causing rivals some pain in the networking market — a direct reference to Cisco. Later in the keynote session, HP executives claimed that roughly 25 IBM, Sun and Cisco partners had recently joined HP’s partner program.

So, is Cisco losing market share to HP’s networking initiatives? According to a Cisco blog posted March 28:

Cisco pointed readers to a recent investor relations webcast—led by John McCool, SVP and GM, Data Center, Switching and Services, for more market share background.

Hmmm… What’s the reality? It sure sounds like HP networking sales are growing. But Cisco claims to be holding onto market share. The VAR Guy wonders: Could HP be taking share from tier-two switching providers?

Either way, it’s clear there’s no love lost between HP and Cisco. The feud started around June 2009, when Cisco quietly declared war against HP at Cisco Partner Summit 2009. But Cisco insiders have always maintained that HP fired the first shot by ramping up the ProCurve networking business. By February 2010, Cisco had ended its partner relationship with HP.

Fast forward to March 2011. Overall, Cisco barely mentioned HP during the recent Cisco Partner Summit 2011 in New Orleans. On the flip side, HP has taken multiple shots at Cisco this week here at HP Americas Partner Conference.

Sorry if The VAR Guy is wearing a guilty smile. He rather enjoys cat fights, especially when they involve big vendors feuding against each other in the channel.

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