HPE’s Jeremiah Jenson On ‘Phenomenal’ VM Essentials Opportunity, HPE-Juniper ‘Acceleration’ And Why HPE Channel Investment Is ‘Going Up’

‘We want to help our partners use and leverage the power of the portfolio,’ Jenson said. ‘They are feeling the same pain [as customers]. There is opportunity for them in our investment in their IT to run their IT in a more efficient way by harnessing the power of the portfolio.’

HPE Vice President of North America Channel and Partner Ecosystem Jeremiah Jenson said the company’s investment in partners is “going up,” with a slew of new initiatives including new rewards to drive HPE VM Essentials share growth.

“To be really direct about it, the investment in the channel is going up,” said Jenson in an interview with CRN. “Look at the announcements we just made: VM Essentials for Partner IT, [VM Essentials] migration assistance program, CloudOps software for cloud service providers, expanded channel-only routes to market. Those are just very clear proof points in how we’re continuing to invest and double down with the channel. In today's environment, now is not the time to pull back. We are doubling down with the channel.”

Jenson’s comments came as HPE unleashed a slew of new incentives including a VM Essentials migration assistance program that allows new HPE VM Essentials customers to receive up to one year of complimentary licensing with the purchase of a three-year license to avoid double-paying for another hypervisor.

HPE is also providing one year of HPE Zerto Advanced Resilience Edition for $1, enabling customers to migrate and protect up to 25 VMs at a time with near-online migration and disaster recovery capabilities, helping ensure a nondisruptive transition to HPE Virtual Machines.

In addition, HPE is providing VM Essentials software licenses free of charge to 600 HPE partners that receive the HPE Private Cloud with Virtualization competency by year end.

“Customers are feeling quite a bit of pain in the change that some of the virtualization companies have put in there, specifically Broadcom,” said Jenson. “They want to get off of that and leverage either new technology or technology that helps them accomplish their business goals—VM Essentials being that product. We have now a faster, more efficient and really a great program to help customers get there. We do that through partners.”

The cost savings in the switch-up from VMware is “real,” said Jenson, with the opportunity to drive cost savings of up to 90 percent. But the value of VM Essentials goes well beyond cost savings, he said.

“I think the bigger thing is our solution—the HPE Morpheus VM Essentials Software suite helps customers reduce cost, eliminate vendor lock-in and simplify hybrid IT, while setting the stage for future modernization,” he said.

The CloudOps Software for cloud service providers initiative, meanwhile, aims to help service providers build, operate and monetize HPE private cloud services. It includes “flexible service tiers” with “preferential pricing and services” tied to committed spend.

HPE also unveiled a competitive storage take-out incentive of 15 percent up-front margin effective July 1 aimed at displacing storage competitors in accounts.

“We’ve recognized an opportunity to really pour some gas on the fire that we have with our existing momentum,” said Jenson. “So we recognize that opportunity. Now is the time to strike when customers see the value of our portfolio. We see acceleration with partners who are leaning in with HPE with incremental margin to go win net-new logos and to drive new business with us.”

Among HPE’s other channel investments are expanded channel- only routes to market for HPE Private Cloud PC3000, HPE Zerto and HPE SimpliVity PC1000.

“It’s a huge move for us,” said Jenson. “What that does first and foremost is recognize the value and the capability of our channel. We as HPE recognize the clear value and capability of the channel, both in terms of their ability to solve customer problems, but to solve them at scale, whether that’s a midmarket or whether that’s an enterprise. So this drives very clear alignment between us and our sales force in those very clear, focused and strategic product lines.”

As for the HPE Aruba-Juniper integration and the move to a single unified Partner Ready Vantage program, Jenson said: “We are significantly ahead of our milestones, both in Aruba to Juniper partners and then Juniper to Aruba partners. But there’s another key here: We are hyper-focused on how we bring the data center networking opportunity to HPE partners who have historically sold in the data center. We have set very big goals for ourselves. We have set very, very large goals. We don’t release those numbers, but these are hundreds of millions of dollars of opportunity that partners have right in front of them and we are very focused on that opportunity.”

Jenson said HPE has “industry-leading” compensation for partners, products and channel. “You put those together and it’s unstoppable,” he said. “That’s your answer: industry-leading compensation, industry-leading channel partners and industry- leading products. It’s unstoppable.”

Below is an excerpt of CRN’s discussion with Jensen.

How big an investment is HPE making to help customers and partners migrate to HPE VM Essentials with the new migration program?

That’s just a huge opportunity. I would tell you that there is power in the portfolio. What we have recognized is that the great VM reset is real across the entire spectrum of the channel, whether that’s for our customers or whether that’s for our partners.

There’s an opportunity here, and we want to help our partners use and leverage the power of the portfolio. They are feeling the same pain [as customers]. There is opportunity for them in our investment in their IT to run their IT in a more efficient way by harnessing the power of the portfolio.

Many, many of our partners use our technology to power their own infrastructure. This is just another step, and another proof point in that. As they do that it’s so much easier for them to talk to their customers about not only the power of the portfolio, but specifically this product—VM Essentials.

We anticipate globally somewhere around 600 partners will attain the virtualization competency [with free of charge HPE VM Essentials licensing]. That speaks to the power of the portfolio and how partners can leverage that with their own infrastructure.

What does this mean for customers who are grappling with higher licensing costs from VMware by Broadcom?

From a customer standpoint, this is a phenomenal opportunity for partners to take to their customers to avoid overpaying during migration.

Customers are feeling quite a bit of pain in the change that some of the virtualization companies have put in there, specifically Broadcom. They want to get off of that and leverage either new technology or technology that helps them accomplish their business goals—VM Essentials being that product. We have now a faster, more efficient and really a great program to help customers get there. We do that through partners.

It is enabling partners to help customers reduce that financial risk, avoid double-paying during migrations. Those VM Essentials customers receive quite a bit of value out of that: one year of complimentary licenses, as well as Zerto. That just goes back to the power of the portfolio.

Partners say they are seeing enormous cost savings with HPE VM Essentials. What is the big difference between VMware by Broadcom and HPE VM Essentials?

I think the bigger thing is our solution—the HPE Morpheus VM Essentials Software suite helps customers reduce cost, eliminate vendor lock-in and simplify hybrid IT, while setting the stage for future modernization

So while there is a point-in-time cost savings that we absolutely want to enable and are helping customers take advantage of, it does so much more than that.

While it does reduce cost, it eliminates vendor lock-in and it simplifies the customer’s hybrid IT environment, and that really sets a firm foundation, sets the stage for future modernization.

That cost savings is real. You can cut virtualization costs by up to 90 percent is the number we are seeing as customers adopt not only our VM Essentials solution but the other pieces of the portfolio in a massive way.

That’s because it just sets that stage for a different way to modernize their hybrid IT environment. I think that’s the key. There is cost savings to start, but then it sets the stage that accelerates the rest of their goals.

That opportunity—that message to customers—through partners is so different. It’s not just about just cost savings. While that’s important, it’s not just about another product. It’s about simplification and setting the stage for modernization.

How fast is HPE moving to drive the VM Essentials opportunity?

I’ve worked for a number of companies that are known for moving fast. The speed of execution at HPE is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Our ability to execute, not only to publish the road map and then execute on that road map, make these products enterprise-grade and world-class, and then make them available, is like nothing I have ever seen.

The pace at which we are operating, the pace at which we are executing, is like nothing I’ve ever seen. So the opportunity for partners is you can’t get left behind. The doors are wide open. The opportunity is there, and the pace at which we’re executing provides partners with an opportunity to accelerate their business with us. It’s not just a wait-and-see. The opportunity is right now because the pace at which we’re executing is going so fast.

We’re moving in a big way. So get on board with us. And partners are doing that. Look at the number of partners that are getting competent and certified. Look at the number of partners that have gotten their VME certifications or other certifications. That’s because of how we’re executing. Look at how we brought on the Veeam certification and other ISVs we are qualifying into the products. It’s like nothing I have ever seen.

What is the net economic benefit of combining the HPE-Juniper programs into one unified Partner Ready Vantage offering?

It is about simplification and acceleration. We recognize as we’re bringing Juniper into the HPE portfolio, which, by the way, is not only ahead of plan, but accelerating ahead of plan with some of the actions that we’ve taken. That is very real.

We’ve also listened to our partners very clearly—both the HPE networking partners as well as the hybrid IT partners—in terms of what would make us better to do business with. We hear that feedback all the time. We’ve accelerated our efforts to combine the program and hit key milestones.

[With one Partner Ready Vantage program], we have simplified deal registration and a more efficient way for partners to grow their business. I think that's the big thing.

The big headline is with this simplification, bringing everything under the same umbrella, partners have an opportunity to expand their business to the rest of the [HPE] portfolio. So a hybrid IT partner whose legacy is server, storage and data center now has so much more to sell with networking with the right program underneath it, whether that’s new business opportunity or whether that’s some of the growth rebates.

So not only can partners go to their customers and help them solve more business problems with an expanded portfolio, there’s all the associated incentives, whether that’s new customer incentives or back-end rebates. Then there is the other direction as well. There are a lot of networking customers who I think see a broader opportunity in the data center, so they can go from where they were on the networking side, but also into server storage or some of the software components because they are seeing a lot of the opportunity around not only AI for networks, but networks for AI.

So they have all the opportunity in terms of the other programs we’ve announced, whether that’s storage, new business opportunities, some of the compute programs, and the growth rebates there. Underlying all of this is a consistent programmatic layer that not only rewards partners for who they are and their competency and capability but also incents them to grow their business in a way that makes sense to them. It’s about where can they go to their customers and solve larger problems, bigger problems, and help their customers get to accomplish the goals they have for their businesses.

Any numbers on how many Juniper partners are now selling Aruba or how many Aruba partners are now selling Juniper?

We don’t release those numbers, but I would tell you this: We are significantly ahead of our milestones, both in Aruba to Juniper partners and then Juniper to Aruba partners. But there’s another key here: We are hyper-focused on how we bring the data center networking opportunity to HPE partners who have historically sold in the data center. We have set very big goals for ourselves. We have set very, very large goals. We don’t release those numbers, but these are hundreds of millions of dollars of opportunity that partners have right in front of them and we are very focused on that opportunity.

North America is performing very well when it comes to our plan to bring that data center networking partner to HPE partners. Think about someone who historically sold Alletra storage and ProLiant servers. There’s an opportunity in the other direction for data center networking, and we are way ahead of those plans.

I think that that speaks to their desire to partner with us, our desire to partner with them, and the opportunity that customers see for a true network partner who sees a future.

Is the HPE networking sales force more aggressive than the compute and storage sales force?

I wouldn’t say that one sales force is more aggressive than the other. I’m certainly not saying that. We have doubled the size of our sales force in networking. We were very intentional about that.

On the channel sales side [in North America], I’ve unified that sales team so it’s one sales team responsible for the entire product line. That eliminated all sources of friction.

It is a new day because it is about growth. It’s not so much about taking advantage of the opportunity. It’s about making that opportunity real for our partners, and our partners have seen that message. They’ve seen us show up in new and different ways. The other thing that we’re doing is focusing on the power of the portfolio.

There’s a lot going on in the market, whether that’s AI or component cost increases or things along those lines. Our unified sales force and the opportunity to solve customer problems with that unified sales force, an aggressive sales force that brings the full power of the portfolio to the customer, is where we’re winning.

You saw our financial results. It’s showing up in ways that are beyond our expectations for customers. Customers are voting with their wallet. Partners are voting with their loyalty, and we’re seeing it in the market.

Does it start with networking and then drag the server and storage behind it?

There are three opportunities that are front and center. One is the networking opportunity. There is no question that there is a massive networking opportunity. We see a tremendous amount of excitement. We see that in how partners are executing in being a part of the broader HPE.

Another opportunity that we talked about is the great VM reset. We’re seeing that and taking advantage of it. You see our programs around migration, VME licensing.

The other is the hybrid cloud opportunity. Look at what we’re doing with our storage portfolio and some of the software components of the hybrid cloud portfolio, whether that’s Zerto, Morpheus or our [Alletra] B10000 and X10000 solutions.

I don't know that it starts with one versus the other, but customers have needs and we have the full portfolio to take advantage of that. No one else has the portfolio that we do.

How important is the new storage competitive take-out incentive providing partners an additional 15 percent up-front margin starting July 1?

It’s huge. As I said, there’s a new tone with us on our front feet, looking at how do we acquire more than our fair share of new customers. We believe we have the portfolio that helps them solve their problems.

We’ve recognized an opportunity to really pour some gas on the fire that we have with our existing momentum. So we recognize that opportunity. Now is the time to strike when customers see the value of our portfolio. We see acceleration with partners who are leaning in with HPE with incremental margin to go win net-new logos and to drive new business with us.

We’ve made a number of announcements, not only with new business opportunity, but also channel-only products, whether that’s Zerto, HPE Private Cloud PC3000 or HPE SimpliVity PC1000. That’s a statement and a testament to not only our channel heritage and our channel commitment but also the value that we see in partners. We know that they can help us win new logos. We see that every single day. We have an opportunity to go take share.

When you stack the new storage incentive, how lucrative is the storage opportunity for HPE partners?

The opportunity is huge. We have industry-leading compensation. We have industry-leading products. We've got an industry-leading channel. You put those together, and it’s unstoppable. That’s your answer: industry-leading compensation, industry-leading channel partners and industry-leading products. It’s unstoppable. The numbers behind that will vary based on partner level and things along those lines, but it's very high double digits.

What are the big changes you made in Partner Ready Vantage that remain in effect going into the new fiscal year in November?

We made changes last year when we announced Triple Platinum Plus and the new Partner Ready Vantage program in North America. We made changes to our programs very deliberately and intentionally. So, you look at Platinum partners, Gold partners, whether that’s in the United States or Canada, we increased our rebates by 50 percent. So the rebates went up by as much as 50 percent.

We did the math in terms of what was the earning opportunity for partners and how many partners would come along. We’ve been blown away by the number of partners that have adopted our program and that are exceeding their targets. That opportunity remains. That opportunity is out there for partners who maybe haven’t been working with a vendor who is as partner-friendly or who doesn’t have partnering in their DNA. That opportunity is there for them to lean in with us and make a tremendous amount of money while accelerating their business.

Is Triple Platinum Plus a grand slam?

So Triple Platinum Plus has landed very well. We are getting rave reviews from our partners. They like the [Partner Ready Vantage] program. When we came out with this, we combined 11 programs down into one program. You see us continue to simplify that. It has been met with absolute rave reviews.

We are very intentional in terms of listening to partners, whether that’s Partner Advisory Councils or Distribution Councils. We had a big meeting with a lot of our distribution and national partners in Houston a couple of weeks back. We really take their feedback very seriously and very deliberately. We’re intentional in how we architect solutions for them. That Partner Ready Vantage program has landed very, very well. There are rave reviews on it.

I would also say the number of Triple Platinum Plus partners has exceeded our expectations. I think that as much as the program is fantastic, it’s about how we’ve aligned the program components to the industry trends. There’s nothing as hot as AI. There’s not a customer out there who isn’t undergoing the great VM reset. There isn’t a customer out there who doesn’t need some level of a networking solution and is looking for another option. All the components of the program enable partners to make a tremendous amount of money while also solving their customers’ biggest problems.

Does Triple Platinum Plus include regional partners too?

It’s not just the nationals. There is a groundswell of activity of partners that are moving up the stack, both enabled by our strong distribution network, but also with them seeing a broader opportunity, moving from Gold to Platinum, moving from Silver to Gold, and upward.

How many partners are moving up from Gold to Platinum in storage and compute and networking?

The number of partners we expect to achieve Platinum is double our expectations. The product is so solid. The product is so real. It is all underpinned by the B10000 and the Alletra product line. Our message is simplified. Partnering is in our DNA. We have a great program underneath that. It is more than exceeding our expectations.

Talk about the storage resurgence and the bespoke investments you are making there.

Let me say it this way: We really help our partners understand the points at which we can invest alongside their business. It’s such a broad portfolio that I always like to do three things and do those three things really well. I want to drive a bus through those three things really well with those partners and then expand to the fourth and the fifth. That very focused, very intentional, very deliberate strategy with our partners is paying off. That’s why we see the results we do in storage. That’s why we see the results we do in compute. That’s why we’re able to take those partners and be very intentional around what we’re doing with data center networking. It’s that focus that helps us move from one piece to the other.

How big is the total investment HPE is making in the channel in Fiscal Year 2027 compared with Fiscal Year 2026?

We’re unified, and we’re focused, and we know the pieces of the portfolio that are delivering results, whether that’s hybrid cloud, our software components, our storage components, compute or networking.

To be really direct about it, the investment in the channel is going up. Look at the announcements we just made: VM Essentials for Partner IT, migration assistance program, CloudOps software for cloud service providers, expanded channel-only routes to market. Those are just very clear proof points in how we’re continuing to invest and double down with the channel. In today’s environment, now is not the time to pull back. We are doubling down with the channel.

How important is the channel-only move with HPE Private Cloud PC3000, Zerto and HPE SimpliVity?

It’s a huge move for us. What that does first and foremost is recognize the value and the capability of our channel. We as HPE recognize the clear value and capability of the channel, both in terms of their ability to solve customer problems, but to solve them at scale, whether that’s a midmarket or whether that’s an enterprise. So this drives very clear alignment between us and our sales force in those very clear, focused and strategic product lines.

There were direct sales in those product lines. We’re doubling down with the channel and making it very clear that new business will go through channel-only routes to market. We’re expanding that as an investment in our channel because of the capability and because of the scale and reach that they represent for us.

It’s a massive opportunity for partners. It speaks to a couple of industry trends—not only disaster recovery but the great VM reset and what is going on with VMware and how Zerto helps to enable a different solution for those customers.

Talk about the launch of partner-branded services and the opportunity there for partners.

There’s huge opportunity in partner-branded services. That goes back to our heritage of partnering really well with partners who have the capability to deliver service and service customers. So huge opportunity there. I’m really thrilled with what [HPE Vice President of Worldwide Channel Services] Brian Falvey and his team have done across the channel to help enable partners to deliver faster for our customers.