Hewlett-Packard Co. is considering cutting as many as 25,000 jobs, or 8 percent of its workforce, to reduce costs and help the company contend with ebbing demand for computers and services, people briefed on the plans said. The number to be cut includes 10,000 to 15,000 from Hewlett-Packard's enterprise services group, which sells a range of information-technology services and has been beset by declining profitability, said these people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren't final and may change. Meg Whitman, chief executive officer since September, is seeking to reverse...


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In about 6 months, President Obama will either remain in office or we will have a new person running this great country of ours. Regardless of the outcome, whoever is in office will have a huge task on their hands with jobs and the economy. So we figured, whoever the president may be, they may appreciate the feedback of some of America’s best job creators: VAR and Solution Provider entrepreneurs. In this first of a series, here’s what Dave Babcock, CEO of Pittsburgh-based Compu-Fix had to say… TheStreetSmartVAR: From your vantage point do you see that the economy is picking up? Dave:...


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A recent article in the Wall Street Journal indicated that "North America could be become the Next Middle East for Energy". And along with it a variety of benefits including 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 million jobs and an increase in real GDP by between 2-3.3%. At TheStreetSmartVAR we believe that the forces coalescing around this "next revolution" are powerful and won't easily be stopped; regardless of who is in the White House. With that said, let's entertain the notion that in the 10-20-30 years we will be experiencing a mini-Industrial Revolution.  What role will you play in all this? The good news...


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If you think that the challenges you face in selling and marketing in this economic recovery are based on money, think again. In recessions and recoveries businesses tend to focus on pricing strategies (i.e. discounting) because they wrongly believe that the problem lies with companies having less money to spend. Make no bones about it, there is money to spend and yes, people are hesitant but if you understand "why" than you can create solutions to overcome those challenges. In this video we cover a critical concept we call the "Recession of Trust" concept". This is extremely important to understand,...


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One of the goals of StreetSmartVAR is to empower solution providers as gatekeepers. As the expert bringing knowledge, advice and offers, you are the ‘owner’ of the relationship with your customers. Don’t underestimate the power in being the gatekeeper! May be it’s because of the recession, I don't know, some solution providers have forgotten how important they are to clients. It’s true that large vendors like IBM or HP have huge sales forces that seem to dominate the enterprise market but for the many small and midsized businesses, solution providers are (more...)


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IT buyers are spending differently now then post recession and, yes it may require better or different sales skills and marketing but the point is people are still buying. So why are so many people worried? I think it has to do with change. We want to believe that if we hold off a little things will go back to the way there were. Some people don’t want to look at their business and see what they can do to change. But that is exactly what you should be doing now. I believe that right now is an opportunity. As our buyer’s behavior has changed so should (more...)


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One of the by products of our recession, is something I don’t see covered too much in the  news but it will affect you either negatively or positively. With the thousands of technical folks who are being laid off, and not enough open positions available to them, many will take the gamble and start their own businesses. Who knows perhaps that’s how you started. So the question is: are you prepared? (more...)


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During good economic times it is important to know what your customer is thinking, however it uncertain economic times it is “crucial”. As the market condition changes  such as the slow down that economist are predicting it is important to understand the following questions below. Survey or simply ask your customers these questions. These will be able to help you understand how you need to change with the current market conditions. (more...)


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