Scaling HPE GreenLake to serve more partners

Without a doubt, the channel plays a significant role in HPE’s business with an average of 80 percent of indirect business going through our distribution partners. So I’m fully committed to scaling up our HPE GreenLake go-to-market model through our significant investment in our HPE GreenLake channel business.

Today, I’m pleased to be talking with Sergio Farache, SVP at Tech Data, who also leads their Cloud Business, about the trends they’re seeing in the market.

Keith:  While I was with Microsoft it was a lot of fun working with Tech Data to help you guys build the super successful public cloud business you have today. What trends are you seeing in the market at the moment and how can HPE help you going forward?

Sergio:  Yes, it’s great to be in partnership with you again Keith! With our strategies being so closely aligned I know the fun is going to continue. While we’re seeing continued strong growth in our public cloud business, we’re also hearing our partners talk more and more about the need for a hybrid approach. Their customers are looking for a public cloud-like experience, but for their on-prem or hosted applications that can’t move to a public cloud. That’s why we’re excited to be partnering with HPE around your HPE GreenLake offerings.

Keith: That’s great to hear and that resonates well with what we’re hearing, too. Tech Data has such an amazing reach into the market with over 125,000 channel partners across 100-plus countries. How can we work together to address the hybrid cloud needs we’re both seeing?

Sergio: Yes you’re right, we do have great reach and can use that to help create awareness with our partners about HPE GreenLake being an option for helping their customers achieve the cloud experience on-prem. We can also help build up expertise in the channel around your HPE GreenLake portfolio which supports the need for a hybrid cloud solution.

I’m pleased to say we’re also planning to connect HPE GreenLake into our StreamOne platform to make transacting HPE GreenLake services as simple as a public cloud purchase. We have a strong focus on simplifying our partners’ experiences and their customers’ experiences which, in an increasingly complex technology environment, they really appreciate.

Keith: I agree, simplifying the experience for partners and customers is critical. And I’m looking forward to accelerating our partnership so we can provide cloud services to customers in the environment of their choice.

I know there were a lot of Tech Data folks from around the globe who joined us at our virtual Distribution Partner Conference last week, so thanks for your support. I hope they found the conference valuable in accelerating sales growth and expanding as-a-service sales opportunities. I expect 2021 will be a pivotal year for HPE GreenLake in the channel, so it’s the perfect time for our partners to embrace it and the growth opportunity it provides them.

Until next time. We’ll continue to explore more with our customers and partners, Bringing the Cloud to You!