HPE announced new enhancements to the HPE Partner Ready Program to help partners boost as-a-service sales in the SMB market, according to a statement released by the company.
After the disruption of the 2020 calendar year, HPE said it will help partners maintain business consistency through FY21, which spans from November 1, 2020 to October 31, 2021, by maintaining core partner requirements of the first half FY20 HPE Partner Ready Program. Partners will experience no change to revenue thresholds, sales and technical certifications, continuous learning requirements, or competency requirements, according to the company.
The company said nearly 70 percent of HPE’s annual sales are transacted through the more than 80,000 HPE partners in HPE’s channel ecosystem. HPE’s channel is a significant driver of as-a-service growth, and indirect HPE GreenLake orders have increased 85 percent year-over-year, according to HPE.
HPE Announces Partner Ready Program Updates
The program updates effect HPE partner experience, as-a-service sales opportunities and SMB enablement, according to the statement. Partner experience updates include AI-powered proposals and robotic process automation (RPA) solutions that use the Primary Storage Opportunity Engine (PSOE) to template proposals, quotes, sizing and performance data and intelligence, according to the statement.
HPE FlexOffers allow partners to create customized built-to-order (BTO) product configurations at bundled-discount pricing from distribution inventory. This new capability will be rolled out to distributors worldwide starting in November 2020, and built into HPE iQuote, HPE’s quoting tool which presents pre-approved discounts and promotional prices in real-time, according to the statement.
Partners also will benefit from mobile-friendly sales certifications they can complete entirely within HPE Sales Pro. In addition, partners will have access to a new demo program, which includes interactive demos delivered through the HPE Demo Portal.
HPE Greenlake As-a-Service
In FY21, HPE is offering a new “HPE GreenLake Introduction and Business Planning Workshop” to help partners assess their as-a-service strategy and become proficient in selling HPE GreenLake, according to the statement. In the workshops, HPE GreenLake experts advise partners on opportunities for growth and the integration of HPE GreenLake into their service portfolios.
Partners will continue to receive three to five times higher compensation for sales on strategic HPE business areas such as HPE GreenLake, the HPE Ezmeral software portfolio and the HPE storage portfolio, according to the statement.
SMB Support
Finally, HPE said it will continue to support margin and price protection on “new logo” deals and expand SMB and mid-market opportunities through promotions and geography-specific incentives and bonuses. In addition, HPE will expand co-selling opportunities between solution providers and service providers with new offers through the Cloud28+ platform, according to the statement.
“Each year we design our Partner Ready program using partner feedback, thus providing our channel with an unmatched combination of sales and field enablement, and financial incentives and rewards, to help them drive joint success with HPE,” said George Hope, HPE worldwide head of partner sales. “HPE’s as-a-service strategy is establishing incredible traction through our channel, and so it remains critical to bolster our partners with the strongest program framework and breadth of opportunities to optimize their experience, help them establish differentiation and grow their expertise.”
