HPE Partners Cheer New Global Sales Chief Phil Mottram’s Appointment As Pivotal Move To Drive Networking Growth

‘This is a big strategic move that ties into the HPE strategy to become a networking company,’ says Advizex CEO C.R. Howdyshell. ‘Who better to lead networking sales than somebody who has been there and done that?’

Advizex CEO C.R. Howdyshell has a lot riding on Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s no-holds-barred networking sales charge and could not be more excited about former Aruba networking sales leader Phil Mottram’s appointment to the top global sales job.

“This is exciting,” said Howdyshell of Mottram’s appointment to the new job. “This is a big strategic move that ties into the HPE strategy to become a networking company. Who better to lead networking sales than somebody who has been there and done that? HPE is demonstrating they are going to make the needed changes to compete and take share.”

The change comes with Independence, Ohio-based Advizex, a Fulcrum IT Partners company, aiming to double its networking business over the next two years with HPE as a huge driver of that growth. “This is one of our top sales initiatives,” he said. “We are committed to the strategy, but we need the OEM support from HPE to execute on that plan.”

Howdyshell and other HPE partners said they see the HPE networking sales offensive as a pivotal moment to drive an AI infrastructure renaissance in not just the networking business but also in the compute and storage infrastructure business. “HPE has an opportunity to take the networking lead and then tie the whole infrastructure package together with compute and storage for customers,” said Howdyshell.

HPE Tuesday named Mottram, a 30-year-plus telecom and networking sales veteran who drove 38 percent sales growth in the HPE intelligent edge networking business to $4.53 billion over three fiscal years, as the new executive vice president and chief sales officer effective Nov. 1.

Mottram, who joined HPE six years ago and spent the last four years leading the Aruba business, 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.

Howdyshell said he sees Mottram’s sales leadership as a critical factor in driving an all-out sales offensive to grab networking market share from longtime market leader Cisco Systems.

“If you are going to try to take the No. 1 position in networking, it is going to take considerable effort from a leadership perspective,” said Howdyshell. “I know [HPE President and CEO] Antonio [Neri] and the HPE sales team are committed to winning. But being committed to winning and doing what it takes to win are two different things. This is going to take a concerted effort from sales leadership on all fronts, including technical support. And clearly you have to win the hearts and minds of the channel. We are a fully functional organization ready to take networking share in the market, but HPE as an OEM has to enable us from a compensation perspective—which equals mindshare. This needs to be an executable go-to-market strategy for fully capable channel partners to take the lead to drive more networking opportunities. This isn’t a fulfillment effort. This has to be a collective, concerted go-to-market effort for HPE and partners together to take share and go win in the market.”

Pat O’Dell, managing partner at HPE stalwart CPP Associates, Clinton, N.J., said he sees Mottram’s strong networking and telecom background as a big competitive advantage in the wake of the HPE acquisition of Juniper Networks.

“With more than 50 percent of the company’s profits coming from networking, it makes sense to have someone with strong telecom/networking experience to be leading the sales force,” said O’Dell, the head of HPE’s North America Partner Advisory Board. “I’m excited that HPE is moving in the direction where the puck is going. I’m looking forward to working with Phil as HPE becomes more competitive in the networking space. The fact that HPE is being aggressive and moving down the field one first down at a time is encouraging.”

O’Dell said he is also excited about having the top HPE sales leader based in North America. “If you are a predominantly U.S.-based partner, it is encouraging because we now have an ability to have regular interactions with him,” he said.

O’Dell is betting that he and his sales team can grow CPP’s networking business at least 50 percent over the next 12 to 18 months in the wake of the stepped-up HPE networking sales offensive.

CPP, in fact, is beefing up its networking talent, recently adding a Juniper networking technical specialist to its team in a bid to drive HPE networking sales growth.

“We are excited that we can take on Cisco with network solutions on all fronts with the combined HPE-Juniper data center networking portfolio,” he said. “A lot of times our sales reps would feel they were winning with Aruba and then at the last minute with Cisco owning the data center and firewalls would get packaged out. Cisco can no longer do that. They have to take HPE on on every front, and HPE now has solutions that are competitive.”

Rob Schaeffer, president and CRO of e360, a top HPE partner based in Concord, Calif., No. 138 on the 2025 CRN Solution Provider 500, said he expects Mottram’s appointment to fire up the partner “sales growth” engine.“Phil brings a more aggressive sales culture, which is always appreciated and needed,” he said.

It’s also critical that HPE has someone with Mottram’s networking expertise leading the sales charge, said Schaeffer.

“With the Juniper acquisition it is really important to have somebody like Phil who is a networking expert in that role that can lead the charter of the new HPE as a networking company,” said Schaeffer.

Scott Dunsire, CEO of Melillo Consulting, a longtime HPE partner, No. 240 on the 2025 CRN Solution Provider 500, said he sees the appointment of Mottram as an opportunity to re-establish a “strong sales culture” at HPE.

“I see this as an opportunity for HPE to re-engage with the field channel teams with a more aggressive sales culture that will drive improved sales and profitability,” he said. “It’s a battle in the market every day, especially with the changing marketplace with AI. With a very motivated and aggressive sales culture, HPE is going to participate in many more channel opportunities with partners.”