HP CEO Lores: Hybrid Work, As-A-Service Model Will Benefit Partners

‘It’s an opportunity for all of us and for all of you to offer a better value proposition for our customers to expand the value that we provide and show them how to use technology in better ways,’ HP CEO Enrique Lores tells partners about the shift to subscriptions and services.

HP Inc. CEO Enrique Lores (Photo by Shane Snider)

HP Inc. CEO Enrique Lores Tuesday touted billions in channel-produced revenue while encouraging partners to stay optimistic during tough economic times at the company’s HP Amplify Executive Forum 2022 event.

Even as the Palo Alto-Calif. company faces extreme headwinds from supply chain issues, geopolitical strife and global inflation, Lores said opportunities remain. The company beat expectations with solid quarterly results in May but warned that macroeconomic forces would have a future impact. The company will release its third-quarter earnings report Tuesday.

“We need to acknowledge that for many of our families and for many of our companies, these have been three difficult years,” Lores said. “But on the other side, from our business perspective, and for many of the companies in the room, these have been good years. In the last year, HP’s revenue grew more than $6 billion. And what is more important is we grew with you. All these gains came from the work we have done together.”

Lores implored partners to find new growth opportunities and touted the company’s latest innovations and new offerings, including new lines of business printers and services.

“Even in this situation, we need to continue to look for opportunities to grow,” Lores said. “And this is true both in the short term, but also in the long term. In the short term, we may hear difficult headlines about what is happening in the world with inflation. Headlines are fine. But there are always opportunities underneath. And we need to go together after these opportunities.”

Lores said the company will continue to focus on hybrid work offerings. While the pandemic pushed workers out of the office, a post-pandemic world must make room for the reality that employees grew to enjoy that flexibility.

“I am totally convinced and we are totally convinced at HP that hybrid work is here to stay,” he said. “I don’t know any company that has decided or convinced their employees that they need to be back in the office five days per week, every week of the month. People are going to continue to work from both the home and from the office. And this is a tremendous opportunity for us.”

HP’s continued push into the as-a-service model will benefit partners, he said. “We see the shift that we have seen in the industry towards subscriptions and services is here to stay,” Lores said. “And it’s an opportunity for all of us and for all of you to offer a better value proposition for our customers to expand the value that we provide and show them how to use technology in better ways.”

Lores and other HP executives also touted the company’s sustainability efforts that include using ocean-bound plastics and getting to net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. “There is a strong expectation from consumers and from our business customers that we will help them to support their sustainability goals and that we will do the right things for the world,” Lores said. “This is another area if we work together, we create business opportunites going forward.”

Harry Zarek, president of Ontario, Canada-based solution provider Compugen, liked what he heard from Lores. “I’m looking forward to getting more detail around how they improve the hybrid work experience,” he said. “As long as they put that at the center of their strategy, I think they’ll continue having a leadership position.”