HP Regroups Partner Programs Under One Umbrella

Unveiled Tuesday, the new initiative pulls together the administration, management and communication adjuncts of dozens of partner programs under one umbrella. All told, the effort will impact more than 20,000 organizations across HP's vast commercial products channel landscape.

No matter a partner's business model or technology leaning, all engagements, associations and commitments with HP will soon begin with the unified partnerONE program. That goes for partners who enjoy a one-on-one relationship with the company as well as thouse who primarily engage the company through its online partner portal. Moreover, the change effects virtually all of HP's commercial products and the partners who touch them in some fashion.

"We want a single, integrated structure across HP's product portfolio and down the market segments," says Kevin Gilroy, vice president and general manager of North America channels.

With partnerONE, the company, in essence, is building a bridge that will allow it to move from a monolithic, cost-plus model to a more complex compensation model that Gilroy believes will drive the behaviors necessary to make HP a success while rewarding partners for the work they do. In addition, the effort will help HP classify its partners by something other than their contracts. That should come as welcome news to partners who have multiple, contractual commitments to HP. Under the old way of doing business, these partners could get pigeon-holed since it was difficult for HP to accurately gage all of the work they did representing HP in the marketplace. With partnerONE, HP should, theoretically, know a partner's total contribution around sales, service and product development, no matter the product or market served.

Explains Gilroy: "The way complex partners go to market is very different from a few years ago. They may act as a traditional two-tier reseller at 9 a.m., a regional systems integrator at 11 a.m. and an agent at 2 p.m. in the afternoon. By 3 p.m., they may again become a traditional reseller and take title to a product."

In the past, depending on who was looking in on a partner and when, HP might not get a true read on a partner's value. No more, says Gilroy, who points out that HP has been refining its programs for some time.

More than a year ago, work began with making HP a more predictable and frank company, he says. That work lead to the creation of its Hard Deck initiative, which provided clarity as to the direct accounts HP would target. Later, a Web Associates program was launched. But after talking with HP's partners, the company learned its existing partner programs were overly complex and too rigidly focused around individual products. Furthermore, they were not geared toward business development, but instead toward relationship management.

"They had to evolve," says Gilroy.

With partnerONE, partners can look forward to a unified messaging structure across HP's entire channel portfolio, a single business development contract, a personalized of Web-enabled business development relationship, and one integrated set of business development tools.

While simpler for partners, Gilroy concedes the new partnerONE program has one possible downside: by joining one unified program, partners could have a tougher time distinguishing themselves from their rivals. That won't be a problem, he says, so long as partners continue to achieve competencies and certifications around HP solutions. HP has not completed its legal review of what nomenclature certain partners will adopt to go to market, but expects to do so soon.

While officially rolled out Tuesday, additional details on partnerONE will be rolled out in stages with quarterly deliverables. Fifty partners are expected to begin making the transition this spring; the rest are slated to begin by late summer.