Hewlett-Packard on Thursday held several events across the nation to give partners a close look into the opportunities that Windows 10 on HP devices bring for customers—over a friendly game of bowling.

The event is part of HP's initiative to promote channel-enablement activities surrounding Windows 10 by holding educational and promotional walk-throughs, said Vincent Brissot, vice president of Hewlett-Packard channel marketing and operations. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company held the "Strike It Rich With HP And Windows 10" event for partners across the nation in Boston, New York City, Anaheim and Chicago.

"We want to help our channel partners have a conversation broader than Windows 10… we want them to talk about how to combine Windows 10 with Hewlett-Packard's features," said Brissot. "We're answering some of the tough questions for Windows 10, such as: What are the sweet spots? And what is the profile of the customer that will be interested in Windows 10 devices?"

Microsoft's new operating system, which launched at the end of July, has created opportunities for partners to incent customers to buy new Windows 10 pre-installed in HP systems, such as the HP Spectre x360, HP Elite x2 1011, and the recently announced HP Pro Tablet 608.

HP hoped to flaunt certain specific aspects of the operating system, including the combination of Microsoft mobile device management with SMB-focused features, as well as security and reliability features. 

The company showed off new Windows 10 features that enhance HP devices, including Windows Hello, which integrates biometric authentication in devices to enable facial or fingerprint log-in capabilities.  HP PCs with Windows 10 also contain technologies like InstantGo, which helps users quickly and seamlessly boot up and resume their devices.

HP also flaunted its new Windows 10 services, such as HP Roadmap Services for Windows 10, a workshop-based advisory service focused on security, manageability, and productivity improvements.

Partners, for their part, said their enterprise and SMB customers are starting to show interest in the security and productivity features on Windows 10 devices.

Paul Shiff, vice president of sales at HUB Tech, a South Easton, Mass.-based HP partner, stressed the importance of the Windows 10 ecosystem on HP products, particularly with the increase of Bring-Your-Own-Device policies in businesses.

HUB Tech offers hardware maintenance solutions for HP desktops, notebooks and printers, as well as cloud computing, network analysis, and security assessment services, for customers in the public sector, including education and government.  "The ecosystem that Windows 10 promotes is important for our customers, particularly those in education," stressed Shiff.

For Michael Radice, chair on the technology advisory board at ChartaCloud Technologies, a Portsmouth, N.H.-based HP partner, security plays an important role for customers in vertical markets. ChartaCloud deploys the HP ElitePad HealthCare tablet, with a certified smart card reader, HP BIOS protection and full disk encryption, as well as a handle on the back

"I like the attention to ... customers in the healthcare space like the handles and scanners" on that tablet, he said.

PUBLISHED SEPT. 25, 2015