When they throw a Cisco guy to do something with HP networking gear
…There’s a nice little pdf to get you through
HP is aware that most of networking engineers start their learning process in Cisco Networking Academy. Is is a normal course of events if you want to learn networking. Cisco has the very best study materials and best, carefully developed syllabus that is both high quality and most detailed in the world of networking. Not to mention the high reputation that engineers get with Cisco certificates standing by their names.
On the other hand, when you take an average mid-size business customer today you will probably see that he is mostly concerned about the price and not so much about the feature-set and robustness of IT equipment. And there you have your situation in which customer decides to go with HP rather than Cisco gear in their communication closet.