HP Canada has a deal for you!
Starting May 1st resellers will be able to offer a HP ProLiant ML110 G3 server with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 Standard Edition and five client access licenses for $699. That is more that $480 off of official list price from your distributor.
Called the Microsoft Windows Server Reseller Option Kit (ROK), it teams HP with Microsoft and Intel to penetrate the small business market across Canada more than they are now.
Geoff Kereluik, vice-president of SMB at HP Canada of Mississauga, Ont., said the subsidiary’s previous skus were limited from a configuration standpoint. ROK offers two ProLiant-based skus. One sku features SBS, while the other is with Windows Server.
“We recognized that we needed to extend the program to a broader base of partners,” Kereluik said.
The program has the potential of reaching more than 2,200 resellers across the country, which include HP-authorized VARs, Registered Partners and even those who do not have the capacity to become fully certified.
Naomi Carmichael, vice president of operations for Courtenay, B.C.-based HP VAR OnDeck Systems Inc., said this program will help HP and Microsoft penetrate firms who have never looked at a server environment.
“They will now have an option because the price point has dropped. That is what HP is looking at. It is a starting point for sub-five person customers. It makes sense,” she said.
Carmichael added that this type of program would help HP compete with Dell on the entry level.
For resellers, even those that sell entry-level servers, this program is a great starting point. “It will help them get their foot in the door,” she said.
She cautioned, however, that customers require more than entry-level servers especially if they are migrating from a paper-based office to a paperless or all digital environment.
“If an office goes paperless they will have to rely 100 per cent on that server and I would need to know if it will do its job,” Carmichael said.
Microsoft’s point of view
Dave Willis, vice-president, SMB solutions and partners for Microsoft Canada, also of Mississauga, said from a Microsoft point of view, it wanted to make it easier for partners to attach the software to the hardware. He added that in the past, HP focused on a smaller base of partners and the ROK program enables the three vendors to reach out to the small business segment with the local reseller.
