HPE has announced an expansion of its 'as a service' and SMB offerings, in a move the tech firm says will help its channel partners drive growth and evolve their business.
The company revealed the enhancements at its virtually-held HPE Distribution Partner Conference, which this year boasted more than 1,000 attendees from 300 distribution partners from around the world.
HPE explained during the event that an average of 80% of its indirect business goes through these partners – with the figure even rising to 100% in certain markets.
Available through these distributors, the firm's new enhancements aim to help businesses drive growth with as a service, expand their expertise to differentiate themselves, as well as better serve key SMB and midmarket customers.
"The initiatives we're announcing today stem from key partner feedback and aim to better enable distributors and all of our channel partners to monetise their as-a-service strategy," commented George Hope, HPE global head of Partner Sales.
The new enhancements include a smaller starting capacity for HPE GreenLake, meaning packages now start from as low as $70,000 to help partners engage on deals with smaller customers adopting an IT as a service model.
HPE is also offering increased support through HPE GreenLake specialists to help partners with their as-a-service journey, alongside access to the firm's "Storage Rangers" with their high-levels of technical know-how.
The company is also debuting "SMB FlexOffers", which allows distributors and solution provider partners to customise their built-to-order (BTO) products to match unique customer needs. HPE has also improved its Partner Ready onboarding process, making distributors the key point of contact for newly onboarded partners.
Elsewhere, the HPE Tech Pro, HPE Sales Pro and HPE Marketing Pro virtual learning offerings have also been given a boost. From FY21, partners can earn sales certifications via the HPE Sales Pro Learning Center.
"We see our distribution partners not as an extended sales force, but rather as team members," added Hope. "As HPE advances along our journey to becoming an edge-to-cloud platform-as-a-service company, we see an opportunity for our distributors to strengthen relationships with our shared partners and become their trusted advisors, helping them embrace and accelerate HPE's as-a-service business."
