Hewlett-Packard’s ProCurve Networking unit wants its channel base to differentiate and expand in Canada, with Cisco Systems gold partners among the company’s prime targets.
“If I am a Cisco reseller today in any account I will be bidding against a whole lot of other Cisco resellers, and the margins on the hardware side are not going to be the same as if you walked into a (customer site) with a different solution,” said Mark Thompson, ProCurve’s director of global sales and marketing.
“We make it easier to bring in more compelling and value added solutions that what they are getting today,” he said.
Thompson, who acknowledged prying away competing partners will be tough, doesn’t have a set number of Cisco gold partner converts in mind, saying he is more interested in quality than quantity.
The company believes its Adaptive Network strategy is ProCurve’s unique selling proposition for customers. The Adaptive Network is based on a flexible network infrastructure that can fortify security and reduce complexity while increasing productivity.
It recognizes users’ identity, applications and devices, while providing consistent access and control no matter the location.
With Adaptive Networking, everything does not have to sit at the core of the network. The intelligence can be distributed to the edge of the network. This model tries to address the concerns of both the CIO and IT manager by supporting future business initiatives such as telephony, video, Web-based applications, and other collaboration programs, Thompson said.
“We use adaptive edge architecture to build networks of the future,” he said. This enables resellers to address the needs of the CIO and the IT manager, Thompson said.
The company has separated its channel base into four, Elite, Specialist, Professional and Select. In the Elite and Specialized catagories Procurve built a program that would transition partners into becoming network designers, while enhancing sales skills that can address CIO and network administration concerns.
“VARs on both tracks will get the same training and tools as the end user sales force so that we ensure the same vocabulary and the same benefits for joint sales engagement.”
Other than a few government contracts, ProCurve does not sell direct.
Also part of the channel plan is for ProCurve not to be over-distributed. “We do not want to put ourselves in that position,” said Thompson.
As for margins, they depend on the value added services the partners can provide.
“The (successful) ProCurve partners are those who are tied to the customer. They have become their trusted advisor and are selling at list price instead of street price,” Thompson said. This works out to be between 20 to 30 points of margin.
ProCurve tries to be lower in price to Cisco, but sell up to functionality, Thomson said.
Another factor in ProCurve’s favour Thompson said is that software and firmware upgrade are all part of the purchase price. That is not the case with Cisco equipment, he said.
He added that there will be plenty of service opportunities for channel players under ProCurve.
