HPE Doubles Down on Partner-Focused COVID-19 Support Initiatives

Today HPE doubles down on relief initiatives to help partners weather business disruption resulting from the lengthy pandemic. This latest targeted response from HPE comes just weeks after the vendor announced an initial round of services from HPE Financial Services.

The latest program changes and offers should help partners gain financial footing and reduce financial pressures. HPE made changes to its Partner Ready program, addresses partner liquidity, offers several hybrid IT partner propositions for customers and will offer partner enablement virtually.

HPE’s Paul Hunter

“We’re taking action to relieve financial pressure for all our partners, while helping them focus on expertise and differentiation,” Paul Hunter, worldwide head of partner sales at HPE, said in a blog.

Here’s a closer look at the four new initiatives.

HPE suspends Partner Ready revenue thresholds. These thresholds are required for partners to maintain their status in the HPE Hybrid IT Partner Ready program for 2021 eligibility and for the Aruba Partner Ready for Networking Program. For this year, the program focus will be on enabling partners to meet training and certification goals.

“Partners are worried about the revenue thresholds they have to hit in order to get the higher level of rebate payments,” said Hunter. “Rebate payments are an important part of the partner ecosystem and partner profitability. So, we’re suspending the requirement to hit the revenue threshold for 2020. [Partners] will take their current status into 2021.”

HPE rolled out three initiatives around partner liquidity.

To help partners stay relevant with their customers, the following offers are in place.

In May, HPE will roll out the HPE Sales Pro Learning Center. This is a virtual experience that offers new sales enablement with trainings and micro-learnings. Partners can access the same learning and collaboration opportunities as HPE teams through the HPE Tech Pro Community.

Virtual demos and Proofs of Concept are possible through the self-service Demonstration Portal. The portal also includes short, prerecorded lab demos for partners and customers.

The HPE Discover 2020 and HPE Partner Growth Summit physical events have been cancelled. The HPE Discover 2020 Digital Experience is scheduled for June 22.