HPE Revs Up Its Networking Sales Charge, Names Aruba Veteran Phil Mottram To Lead Global Sales
‘I am very excited by the changes,’ says PKA Technologies CEO Felise Katz. ‘I am looking forward to the increased growth and where we are going with HPE. The best is yet to come.’
HPE is stepping up its global AI networking sales offensive with the appointment of the former head of its Aruba business, Phil Mottram, to oversee the global sales force and channel teams.
The move comes with HPE in the midst of pulling together its AI networking sales plan for its combined Aruba-Juniper Networks portfolio for its new fiscal year in the wake of its $13.4 billion blockbuster acquisition of Juniper Networks, which closed July 2.
Mottram (pictured above), who helped drive robust 38 percent sales growth in the Aruba intelligent edge business from $3.28 billion in Fiscal Year 2021 to $4.53 billion in Fiscal Year 2024, takes the helm effective Nov. 1 as the new executive vice president and chief sales officer for HPE. He replaces HPE sales icon Heiko Meyer, who has headed the global sales force for the last six years and is retiring effective March 2026 after 38 years at HP/HPE.
Mottram, a 30-year-plus telecom and networking sales veteran, joined HPE in 2019 to lead the communications and media solutions business. He took the helm of the Aruba Networking business in 2021 after Aruba co-founder Keerti Melkote retired from HPE.
Mottram was not available for an interview.
The move puts the U.K. native in charge of all of HPE’s sales, including networking, server, storage and hybrid cloud solutions such as HPE GreenLake as well as its channel and partner ecosystem.
In the release announcing his appointment, HPE singled out the active triathlete for delivering “record revenue growth and profitability [for Aruba] through smart innovation, operational discipline and a motivated sales team.”
Furthermore, HPE cited Mottram’s extensive technology experience around the globe in sales leadership roles. That experience includes head of sales for telecom provider Telstra International, which has a huge Asia-Pacific and Australia presence, and CEO of CSL, Telstra’s Hong Kong-based provider.
The changing of the guard comes with HPE mounting a no-holds- barred sales offensive to grab networking market share with more than 50 percent of its profits and more than 30 percent of its sales now coming from the networking business.
HPE President and CEO Antonio Neri has called the HPE acquisition of Juniper Networks a “new chapter” in the company’s history with the ability to offer a “true alternative” to longtime networking market leader Cisco Systems.
Neri has said the acquisition opens the door to higher-margin networking and data center services opportunities for HPE partners. It also brings Juniper into markets across the globe where the AI data center networking powerhouse did not have a big presence.
In a prepared statement, Neri said that Mottram’s “experience” leading HPE Aruba Networking will “facilitate strong connections across the entirety” of HPE’s portfolio.
“HPE’s global sales function connects our customers and partners with the technology and solutions that power their ambitions,” said Neri in the prepared statement. “Phil is an exceptional fit for this role with his deep understanding of and focus on customer needs, collaborative leadership style, global perspective and track record of driving growth.”
Neri said Meyer, who spent literally his entire career with HP/HPE after joining the company as a student in Germany, led the “largest sales transformation in HPE’s history, spearheading shifts in the go-to-market model that more seamlessly connected customers with relevant HPE solutions, while contributing to targeted market-share gains.”
In a prepared statement, Meyer said leading the HPE global sales organization was the “highlight” of his career. “I retire from HPE feeling proud of the team and fortunate to have spent my career in service of our customers and partners,” he said. “I look forward to spending more time with my family here in the U.S. and back in Germany.”
HPE partners said they see Mottram’s appointment as a changing of the sales guard that has the potential to power a new era of networking sales growth in the wake of the Juniper acquisition.
Felise Katz, founder and CEO of PKA Technologies, Montvale, N.J., one of HPE’s most respected enterprise partners, praised Meyer as an outstanding sales leader who piloted HPE to great success. At the same time, she called Mottram the right executive for the right time as HPE steps up its networking sales charge.
“The company has changed,” said Katz. “The outlook has changed. HPE is now going to market leading with networking and with AI. It is a very different place than years ago. You have to give Heiko his props. He did a phenomenal job. He was a great sales leader, but the business has changed. With HPE now leading with networking, it needs someone that really understands networking.”
Katz called Mottram’s new job, along with the recent appointment of Jeff Dolce, a 16-year HPE Aruba sales veteran, as senior vice president of sales at HPE Networking in the Americas, and the return of HPE channel veteran Jeremiah Jenson as North America channel chief, a “huge change” and a move in the right direction.
PKA is leading with Aruba networking, which is its fastest-growing business, said Katz. “With the Juniper acquisition, HPE has a tremendous [AI and networking] asset to bring to the business community,” she said. “With this type of leadership, there is no way they can fail.”
Katz said she sees HPE moving fast to bring a team of “world- class sales leaders” to the table to lead the networking sales charge for partners and the HPE sales team.
“I am very excited by the changes,” she said. “I am looking forward to the increased growth and where we are going with HPE. The best is yet to come.”