Joe Vaught, owner of PCPCDirect, an HP Platinum partner based in Houston, praised Whitman for bringing HP back to a strong and stable company with a best-in-class partner program. "She has turned it around," he said. "They are my No. 1 partner."

Since Whitman took the helm three years ago, Vaught said PCPCDirect's HP business has grown by more than four times -- from $30 million to about $124 million in total business that he participated in with HP. Vaught praised Whitman's decision to split up the company, saying it will result in two more competitive organizations. "Her timing is perfect," he said. "I am happy as a clam at high tide that they are making this move."

Kelly Ireland, founder and CEO of CB Technologies, a Kirkland, Wash., HP Platinum partner that sells HP enterprise and PC offerings, said the profitability of her HP business has increased a whopping 35 percent over the past 18 months as CB Technologies has embraced HP's "new style of IT" product portfolio.

Ireland said she expects to see an additional increase in profitability as Whitman and her management team drive forward with two new companies. "I think HP is capable of making more progress in the next 18 months than they have in the last three years," she said. "Look at what Meg and her team has done over the course of the last three years. She has taken a behemoth and is just shy of doing a 180-degree turn. I expect 2015 to be a banner year for HP and its partners because of what Meg and her team are doing."

PUBLISHED OCT. 15, 2014