Compaq has urged its inherited UK Digital channel to rest assured that in the wake of the acquisition, the vendor needs it more than ever.

An entourage of Compaq directors, including CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer, was dispatched to the London Hilton, Mayfair on 3 July, to allay the fears.

The message to its partners was that the channel is a necessary part of Compaq's plans within the enterprise market.

But channel delegates told PC Dealer the vendor had said nothing new or of any real significance, the only difference being that this time around, it was being said by high-profile Compaq personnel.

According to attendees, the Compaq leaders reiterated the manufacturer's 'total commitment to the channel', open standards and its capabilities and intention to penetrate the enterprise space with high-end Tandem and Digital Alpha offerings.

'It was nice to meet the guys but nothing earth-shattering came out of it,' said one distributor of his encounter with Pfeiffer.

'They gave the impression that more products would be pushed through the channel rather than less. But for many of us the jury will be out for a long time, because Digital is a very different animal,' one observer said.

Also present were Compaq senior vice president of EMEA Andreas Barth, UK managing director Joe McNally and Chris Conway, former Digital UK boss and now vice president services and solutions, EMEA.

Partner representatives who attended included Computacenter CEO Mike Norris; strategic director of CSF Michael Northall James Wickes, managing director of Ideal Hardware; Joe Hemani, managing director of Westcoast; Graeme Watt, managing director of Computer 2000; Phil Garner, joint UK managing director of Elcom.

For more details see page 10.