HPE Bringing Aruba Networking Channel Into the Fold

HPE says the time is right to integrate Aruba Networking’s channel team into its global sales organization.

HPE acquired Aruba Networks in 2015, which has since operated as a subsidiary of the company. The plan to bring in Aruba’s channel team follows HPE’s refresh of its sales model last November, it said. This included the relaunch of the HPE Partner Ready Vantage program. The tech giant said the move resulted in greater investment in the channel and in “tighter integrations that benefit our customers and partners.”

HPE and HPE Aruba Networking partners will be able to access one product portfolio through “a single interface and a simplified engagement model.”

The changes were outlined in a joint blog Tuesday by Simon Ewington, SVP, worldwide channel and partner ecosystem, and Alain Carpentier, SVP, worldwide sales, HPE Aruba Networking.

HPE Aruba's Alain Carpentier

They said from Nov. 1, the unification “will strengthen our partner strategy as we leverage our similarities." This would “enable HPE to deliver a seamless experience to all its channel partners, and simplify the engagement experience across our broad edge-to-cloud portfolio without losing the specialized focus on networking.”

The execs said the integration takes into consideration HPE’s broader go-to-market strategy. This “includes retaining our specialist sellers while maintaining multi-BU solution-focused conversations with partners and customers. We need both specialization and solution-selling skills to win in the market.”

Related:HPE Rolls Out Private Cloud AI, New Solution Accelerators

HPE Doubling Down On Networking with Juniper Acquisition

The move also follows HPE’s announcement to acquire networking vendor Juniper Networks for approximately $14 billion. HPE CEO Antonio Neri said networking will be at the core of the combined company.

Juniper’s global VP of campus and branch networking, Tom Wilburn, described the deal as “a reverse acquisition.” He said that Juniper CEO Rami Rahim will take over what is today HPE Networking, “fold that into Juniper and operate that new networking business.”

“We are doubling down on networking through our continued investment in this area and our planned acquisition of Juniper Networks,” said Ewington and Carpentier.

HPE's Simon Ewington

“Ultimately, we will be better positioned to deliver new industry-leading solutions, win against competitors, and attract new flagship customers — which will create greater opportunities for all our stakeholders.”

HPE Partners Requested Simpler Processes

Ewington and Carpentier contended that since the program refresh last year, HPE has continued to grow its channel business across all routes to market, helping to drive more success in its networking business.

But partners have requested a simplified engagement process to create more efficiency when working with customers.

“The time is right to leverage the skills and capabilities of our extensive channel and partner ecosystem to ensure that customers around the world know that their technology partners are delivering the best edge-to-cloud solutions,” they wrote.

HPE contended that the integration “provides a great opportunity for our channel partners to have an improved experience working with HPE.

“Customers today expect to be connected anywhere and everywhere — our partners demand the same when working with HPE. As we bring together these teams and provide a single interface for partner engagement, partners will benefit from access to our broad portfolio of solutions. However, partners who focus on networking only will continue to have the same level of engagement as always," Ewington and Carpentier wrote.