This article is more than 1 year old

HP chiefs bet big at Vegas on cloud payday

Resell ours or build your own, says biz

Cloud computing is forecast to balloon to an $143bn industry by 2013, according to HP's internal analysis, and the tech company wants to put a framework in place for resellers to help it swipe a slice of the action. And now HP is taking the show to Vegas, dishing out a bunch of cloud-related channel programmes at the invite-only Global Partner Conference (GPC) in gambling capital.

Following on the heels of the Cloud Agile Service Provider programme and ExpertONE certification tracks, HP has lifted the lid on the PartnerONE CloudBuilder specialisation, with infrastructure, software and services training due in November.

The HP Interchange service was also wheeled out in Vegas this week. Interchange is essentially a social media network intended to build partnerships between resellers to plug skills gaps.

The ServiceONE Partner Support programme will also be extended from March to include storage services – allowing highly accredited HP channel firms to push their own services with support from HP rather than just reselling the vendor's line card.

But on the flip side, HP unveiled new Packaged Consulting Services for pure resellers – cloud, storage and networking services – with standard pricing and discounts to make quotations easier without investing in specialised accreditations for sales staff.

“To capitalise on cloud and services opportunities, channel partners need programmes that align with their business strategies,” said Kirsten McCrabb, HP veep for worldwide channels marketing within enterprise servers, storage and networking.

“Last year, HP invested more than $1bn in programmes across its portfolio to help partners pursue growth markets and win more business.” ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like