HPE kicked off its annual Discover conference with a treat for the channel; a new "Pro" series to help build skills, understanding and business.
HPE Sales Pro Community unifies the company's regional reward programmes into one single, global programme. This has multiple benefits, according to the firm, including improved sales communication and enablement initiatives, and simplified training assets.
It will also provide "an interactive and collaborative space for HPE and partner sales to communicate" and make it easier to pass on the latest news and product updates to channel partners, the company claimed.
In a press briefing at HPE's Global Partner Summit, which precedes Discover proper, Stephen Hagler, vice president of global sales and partner enablement, said: "We have had a lot of material out there, but it's not always been the easiest for people to understand and ... to get behind a single approach to it [all over the company]."
Sales Pro should help rectify this by giving the salesforce in the channel access to exactly the same materials as HPE internal sales personnel.
Sales Pro Community builds on two other schemes under the "Pro" banner, HPE Tech Pro Community and HPE Marketing Pro Academy, which are both getting updates alongside the launch of Sales Pro.
Tech Pro Community, the solutions architect initiative - that was itself only announced on 12 March - will now feature an ASE Hybrid IT Architect certification and ASE Master certification (available from 1 November), a suite of job-role focused continuous learning paths (available immediately, with digital badges from 1 November), and a new reward a recognition programme (also available from 1 November).
Marketing Pro Academy, which launched this time last year, will soon also feature a Digital Marketing Partner Learning Centre and Accreditation Programme.
"There is a recognition from our partners in general that having expertise in marketing is increasingly important," said global channel chief Paul Hunter.
"It's no longer good enough to have a great sales organisation, you've got to have a marketing function, you've got to have a great digital footprint because customers ... are informing their decisions well before they're talking to our partners in many instances. So if partners aren't influencing that journey with us, then we're losing out on sales."
A pilot phase of the Partner Learning Centre has commenced now and it will be available to all from 1 November. The Accreditation Programme, meanwhile, acknowledges the completion of a digital marketing curriculum of online learning set by HPE. It, too, will be available from 1 November.
