Stronger together – HPE expands financial relief for channel partners to 23 additional countries
George Hope looks at how HPE has gone the extra mile for channel partners with expanded liquidity benefits
- HPE goes the extra mile to relieve financial strain on partners
- Distribution partners in 23 additional countries can now take advantage of expanded liquidity benefits
- HPE helps partners stay relevant and differentiate through expertise, offering a wealth of entirely virtual enablement and engagement opportunities
In these uncertain times we find ourselves operating in, I’ve spent days, in fact weeks now, talking with our distribution partners across the world to understand first hand their challenges and discuss how HPE can help. I can’t pretend the conversations have been easy, but no matter how deeply we’ve discussed the biggest partner concerns it quickly became apparent that we needed to lead with a whole new level of investment, support and collaboration for our channel community.
As a company, HPE’s culture is driven through demonstrating bias for action, being innovators at heart, and always putting partnership first. It’s evident in our long history that our channel partners are an integral part of our team at HPE, and while we’ve had to take time to establish the right level of sustainable support in light of our own circumstances, it was without hesitation that we would remain loyal and go the extra mile our partners need from us right now. After all, there is no HPE without our partners.
Without hesitation HPE remained loyal and went the extra mile for our partners
After the extensive initiatives announced last month, including HPE Financial Services’ $2 billion allocation in new and enhanced offerings, we have now added additional support for distributors - and subsequently the partners they look after. Our original initiatives protect distributors with improved factoring terms (extended from 60 to 90 days in North America and most European Countries), and with early pay discount terms for North America partners without access to existing factoring programs. But, as announced to the channel earlier this week, we have now expanded liquidity benefits to enable more distributors in more markets to access extended payment terms and additional discount rates on invoices impacted by COVID-19. Specifically, distributors in 20+ additional countries1 are now included in the access to revised payment terms and extended payment discounts.
All of this is positively impacting the solution provider partners working with our distributors across the globe – and particularly smaller partners. This adds up on the key action we have taken to relieve financial pressure on solution providers.
Our industry leading HPE Partner Ready Program2 has profitability and predictability as its core principles. We removed targets and caps back in November 2018, and continue to offer higher rebates than most of our competitors. With the advent of the global pandemic, redefining business needs, we decided to go the extra mile and announced the suspension of revenue thresholds for HPE fiscal year (FY) 21 program entry – enabling partners to solely focus on developing and enhancing their expertise. HPE is granting partners the same status from HPE FY20 in HPE FY21, provided they meet the required HPE training and certification criteria. That requirement and prerequisite has not gone away, but the ability to plan for the future is there.
HPE will remain committed to our partnerships and supporting our distributors
At these times, and in a foreseeable future, differentiation through superior skills and competencies will be key. All HPE Partners can access entirely virtual training and certifications, forums and events – including the upcoming HPE Discover and HPE Partner Growth Summit virtual experiences – as well as collaboration opportunities through the HPE Tech Pro Community. We are also launching a completely new sales enablement experience, and helping partners easily gain digital marketing proficiency. Furthermore, our partners will continue to access and offer 1st class experience through virtual demonstrations, proofs of concept and even tours of the HPE Innovation Centers.
As we continue to adapt to the increasingly virtual world we operate in right now, and the challenges ahead, I’m confident that HPE will remain committed to our partnerships and supporting our distributors to help us work better with all our partners. We will succeed together, and I look forward to the continued discussions on how HPE and partners can further strengthen our collaboration to manage through this period and then thrive together.
1 Brazil, Mexico, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, UAE, Russia, Turkey, Australia, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam.
2 Source: Canalys Candefero survey - May 15, 2020. HPE #1 for the 8th consecutive month.