HP Distributors Ramp Up Training Programs For 3Par Storage Products

the company acquired 3Par in September.

The 3Par products have been available through HP’s enterprise storage distributors since Dec. 1, all of whom have spent the last few weeks ramping up education and marketing programs around the 3Par products.

"The 3Par product set represents and important extension of HP’s presence in the storage market, when they look at how to deploy versatile, virtualized environments to hit customer needs," said Scott Zahl, general manager and vice president of the Advanced Computing Division at Ingram Micro.

The Santa Ana, Calif.-based distributor trained all its HP sales reps on the 3Par product line and more than 20 technical support staff, said Mark Maisano, senior director of the Advanced Computing Division and HP business unit at Ingram Micro.

"First, we want customers to have an educated conversation about how the opportunity fits into converged infrastructure messaging," Maisano said.

Only a single-digit of Ingram Micro’s HP storage solution providers were also 3Par partners before HP bought 3Par, Maisano said, leaving a significant green field for HP and distributors to recruit.

"Our field associates have been doing customer visits. With the business intelligence we have, there are [a lot of] potential resellers of HP’s current portfolio. We’re conducting some prep sessions for those interested in going into the 3Par envelope," Maisano said.

Meanwhile, Synnex held a six-city tour in December, taking 3Par solutions architects directly to VARs to get more of a hands-on experience with the products, said Bob Stegner, senior vice president of marketing at the Fremont, Calif.-based distributor.

"It's a deep dive with 3Par channel resources beyond HP's training. We had separate trainings for technical and sales resources," Stegner said. “We’ll have more tours in January.”

Avnet, Arrow and Tech Data also have offered training sessions regarding 3Par products for solution providers, according to those companies, and HP also has moved fast to bring the technology to channel partners.

Eric Smith, general manager of ISG Technology, an Oklahoma City-based solution provider, said HP and distributors have done a good job preparing VARs and the products are a great line to bring to customers.

“We purchase most of the products we resell through distribution so purchasing 3Par along with the other HP branded products we sell makes sense for us,” Smith said. “If not for the acquisition, we most likely would have never seriously entertained selling the 3Par products. I’m sure that same sentiment holds true for end user customers as well. Now that the 3Par product has an HP logo attached it will get the attention it deserves in the marketplace.”