5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

The Week Ending Dec. 1

Topping this week's roundup of companies that came to win is Amazon Web Services, which demonstrated its commitment to the channel with its rebranded partner program, new technology competency certifications for partners and a number of new cloud services.

Also making the list are Dell, for putting two channel advocates in key executive management positions; Siemens for launching a new channel program to assist partners in the industrial IoT arena; Hewlett Packard Enterprise for an alliance with ABB that strengthens its hand in the industrial IoT space; and APC and Ingram Micro for a partnership that brings data center control technology to solution providers.

Not everyone in the IT industry was making smart moves this week, of course. For a rundown of companies that were unfortunate, unsuccessful or just didn't make good decisions, check out this week's Five Companies That Had A Rough Week roundup.

AWS Deepens Commitment To The Channel, Unveils New Competencies And Services

Amazon Web Services held its AWS re:Invent 2017 conference this week and the cloud giant made some significant strides in providing its channel partners with new resources and opportunities.

At the Global Partner Summit portion of re:Invent Terry Wise, AWS vice president of worldwide alliances, channels and ecosystem, outlined a number of initiatives to incentivize partners, gain access to more support resources, and make it easier to contract with AWS.

AWS, for example, introduced a new tiered-incentive structure within the rebranded AWS Solution Provider Program to target and highlight partners with specific competencies, such as DevOps, networks and cloud migration. New partner competency certifications in blockchain and container technologies and end-user computing are also in the works.

AWS also strutted its technology capabilities at the conference by launching an array of new Internet of Things services, including analytics and device security, and new artificial intelligence, container and database services.

Partners Applaud Dell's Promotion Of Channel Execs Byrne And Mullen

Dell tapped Dell EMC global channels president John Byrne to Dell's top North American sales job this week and named 18-year Dell veteran Joyce Mullen (pictured) the company's new global channel chief running the company's $43 billion global channel business.

Partners were bullish on the moves, calling the dual promotions a "win-win" for the channel. Byrne is a strong channel advocate who now brings his channel advocacy to the company's top North America commercial sales post.

Byrne, who took the global channel post in July 2016, is credited with playing a crucial role in integrating the Dell and EMC partner programs following Dell's $58 billion acquisition of EMC.

And partners said Mullen, as head of the Dell OEM business, has a proven track record in working with partners and understands Michael Dell's channel sales vision.

Siemens Goes On Channel Offensive With New IoT Mindsphere Partner Program

Siemens wins kudos this week for launching the Mindsphere partner program as the company ramps up its channel efforts around the industrial Internet of Things market.

In addition to signaling the company's commitment to compete in the IoT arena, the new program equips partners with the sales, marketing and technical assistance and acumen they need to bring Siemens' Mindsphere cloud-based IoT platform to market.

The new program targets a broad range of partners including systems integrators, application developers, consultants, technology partners, software companies and operational technology hybrid partners.

HPE Targets Industrial IoT With ABB Global Partnership

Hewlett Packard Enterprise established a strategic global alliance with industrial digital company ABB this week in a move that strengthens the company's position – and creates channel partner opportunities – around the Internet of Things in the manufacturing space.

At the HPE Discover Conference in Madrid this week HPE and ABB said their partnership would help industrial customers merge operational systems and IT to better turn industrial data into actionable insights.

ABB has a deep understanding of industrial processes and operational technology. The company develops the ABB Ability performance management solutions, remote monitoring services, and control solutions for buildings – all targeting vertical industries such as manufacturing, utilities and transportation. HPE, of course, brings its IT software, solutions and platform offerings to the mix.

HPE also wins applause for its new HPE GreenLake on-premise workload services, also announced this week, that will help partners compete more effectively with public cloud services.

APC, Ingram Micro Offer Powerful Data Center Analytics For Solution Providers

APC by Schneider Electric teamed up with distributor Ingram Micro this week to offer analytics software that solution providers can use to improve the power and cooling efficiency of their customers' data centers.

The new offering uses Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure management technology, which was introduced earlier this year. That software connects all devices in and around a datacenter, including locks and alarms, cybersecurity systems, and temperature control and power management systems. The software collects data from those systems and devices and analyzes it in real time to provide actionable intelligence.

Solution providers can use the analysis tools to better manage their customers' data centers and help them make decisions about whether to move workloads to the cloud or adopt hyper-converged infrastructure systems to improve IT efficiency.