Hewlett-Packard Co. announced Monday that seven distributor partners have been added to the company's channel sales program, PartnerOne.
Brought on primarily to serve HP's business-level partners, the distributors that have earned the PartnerOne Distributor designation are Agilysys Inc., Arrow Electronics Inc., Avnet Inc., Bell Microproducts Inc., Ingram Micro Inc., Synnex Corp. and Tech Data Corp.
Over 100 individuals from the distributors participated in Web seminars as part of the PartnerOne program during the past two months, and HP said it anticipates that that number will increase with demand.
"We view this as an enhancement of the program, and one we've been thinking of for a while," said Dave Pansen, HP's vice president of distribution for its solution partners, and the architect of the initiative.
"The main motive was to further extend the reach of PartnerOne and help channel partners maximize the tools that are available."
Click here to read more about HP's PartnerOne program.
Although the distributors will have some contact with HP's other two levels, platinum and gold, Pansen said the company anticipates that the majority of the channel partners and customers served will be SMBs (small and midsize businesses), which have had limited exposure to PartnerOne's resources.
Pansen said HP hopes that even channel partners using the program extensively will see a boost in benefits. Carotek, one of the company's partners, said it already expects to expand its participation in the program.
"We've used PartnerOne since its inception, and it's a major part of our overall program," said Bobby Thomas, Carotek vice president and division manager. "We'll be using it in the same way now, but it will be more effective with the distributors."
The PartnerOne program is complex, with a great number of resources available that smaller companies do not always fully utilize, Thomas said. "By having a trained distributor partner, we'll get better information than we've been getting from HP."
The distributors will complement HP partner business managers, HP's Partner Portal extranet site and the HP Call Center for partners, according to the company.
Some ways that the distributors will support channel partners include helping them learn more about product promotions, guiding the use of sales tools, assisting with benefits eligibility, and advising partners on which certifications and training are necessary to move to the next level within the PartnerOne program.
"We want to be a conduit for our partners' success with HP," said Pete Montana, Agilysys vice president and general manager. "By providing resources to guide our partners through the process, we're adding value and making it easier to do business with Agilysys and HP."
Hewlett-Packard 
