Cisco has dropped HP as a reseller of its gear in a sign that the two have become competitors.

 

Cisco last year moved into the data center business, while HP has acquired 3Com to boost its competitiveness in enterprise networking.

 

Cisco announced Thursdasy that it will not renew HP's contract as a Cisco Certified Channel Partner once it expires on April 30.

 

Cisco senior vice president Keith Goodwin said in a blog that their relationship had “evolved from a partner[ship] to companies with different and conflicting visions of how to deliver value to customer.”

Because Yet HP was still reaping the benefits of its partnership with the vendor, including access to proprietary information and partner profitability initiatives.

 

“Given the evolution of our relationship it simply no longer makes sense to provide these benefits to HP,” he said.

 

Cisco will honor existing customer service contracts with HP for their duration, and hopes to reach a new agreement that ensures that existing customers do not have their services disrupted, he added.