HP Rebuilds Partner Program to Be Data-Driven, CX-Focused

HP built Amplify, its new partner program, introduced Wednesday, from the ground up. The company calls Amplify a single, simplified and consistent global program. A year in the making, the design puts customer experience (CX) at the core.

What redefines HP Amplify from HP Partner First is the changing relationship HP has with partners. Previously, the HP partner program was defined by two pillars — performance and capability. There’s a third pillar going forward: collaboration and data.

HP’s Christoph Schell

“In more digital engagement with customers, those two [pillars] are really important, but there’s one thing missing; that is the ability to collaborate. The ability to bring a segment of one, single customer value propositions to life,” Christoph Schell, chief commercial officer at HP said. “What’s at the heart of collaboration is data. Data becomes an additional currency that defines the relationship that HP has with its partners.”

Data will be used to deliver a one value proposition to customers. That’s because it’s data that informs the end-to-end journey customer journey.

“The data our partners have is very important to define how we engage with customers, how we think about products and services that we want to bring to market, and how we manage outcomes once we’re in the infrastructure of our customers,” Schell explained.

The new refreshed and modernized HP partner program, with a new name, still draws on much of what stood out in the HP Partner First, with much input from partners.

A Closer Look

Amplify has two tracks for partners — “synergy” and “power.” The new tier structure replaces the multi-tier one, and multiple partner programs go away. HP expects the lion’s share of partners to fall into the synergy, or foundational, track.

Amplify Synergy is built for the majority of partners. It has minimum entry requirements and offers standard benefits and resources, minimum commitment, specialization incentives and increased opportunity.

HP’s Luciana Broggi

“Partners in this track are valuable to HP and represent an important part of our business. We want to work with them and continue to drive the relationship,” said Luciana Broggi, HP’s global head of HP route-to-market.

Amplify Power is for, well, power partners. Partners in the Power and Power Services track demonstrate deeper collaboration with HP. Increased ROI means increased reward. That ROI comes in the form of higher rewards, data insights, sale and technical resources, and marketing support to drive new sales and renewals.

Power partners will see greater collaboration with HP in developing joint business plans and developing a strong business proposition for customers. Those partners who focus more on a services proposition will have access to HP’s services portfolio and delivery capabilities.

“The partners will decide where they want to play,” said Broggi.  “It’s up to the partner to decide on the number of steps they want to take, or certain capabilities they need to invest in to be part of one track or the other.”

The 3 Pillars

The HP partner relationship builds on the three pillars — performance, capabilities and collaboration.

Performance: Amplify, the new HP partner program, will reward partners for a variety of performance indicators. Rewards go beyond sales revenue, such as investing in and improving digital skills, data sharing, e-commerce, omni-experience solutions and services capabilities.

Capabilities: By integrating data capture and analysis, HP Amplify allows partners to stand out in a crowded market. Partners who invest in improving their capabilities can become more competitive, more relevant and more profitable.

HP is increasing the number of capabilities it will work at with partners. This will depend on the partner.

“For partners who want to be the best in the more traditional transactional business, who want to grow faster, be very efficient and provide the best customer experience, this will require …

… a very strong online capability,” said Broggi.

“If a partner is willing to invest and become the best services and solutions partner for the customer, selling more complex solutions, HP is ready to invest together with the partner in delivering the services and solutions we will make available to them our solutions and services portfolio.

Collaboration: HP will collaborate closely with partners to hone their digital skills to provide a more consistent customer experience across multiple channels. Working together, HP and partners will harness data to produce valuable new insights and enhance the customer journey.

HP Amplify Impact

HP also said Wednesday that it’s inviting partners to join the company in its pledge to address planet, people and community. It calls this HP Amplify Impact.

For partners who choose to join this opt-in pledge, HP will provide training and support. One type of support is guidance around partner goals and how to achieve goals. More details will be available closer to the launch of HP Amplify on Nov. 1.

In April, HP finally escaped Xerox’s whiplash back-and-forth attempted takeover bid that dragged on for about six months.