Computer History Museum

Thorpe, Harper oral history

Harper Thorpe has had an impact on the development of innovative marketing channels. During his 22 year career with Hewlett Packard from 1977 to 1999, he spearheaded the use of independent software vendors (ISVs) and Value-Added Resellers (VARs). He helped to move HP from a predominantly instrument-focused company with a direct sales force to becoming a major competitor in the minicomputer and desktop computer businesses by offering customers solutions to business problems instead of just hardware. Harper’s model of sales distribution has been copied by many of HP’s original competitors. At the time of this interview, Harper was President and CEO of Sonic Eagle, Inc., a real estate technology company, which was later sold to First American Title Company.

Item Details

Date
2008-06-04 (Made)
Type
Document
Catalogue number
102639052
Organization
Computer History Museum
People
Stu Miller (Editor)
Harper Thorpe (Interviewee)
Michael Mahoney (Interviewer)
Category
Transcript
Credit line
Software History Center
Extent
37 p.
Place of publication
USA/CA/Mountain View
Language
English
Acquisition number
X4702.2008
Subject
Value Added Reseller (VAR), ComputerLand, HP Way, HP 3000, Dell
Archive collection
Oral history collection
Archive hierarchy
CHM Oral History Collection