As the saying goes, it’s who you know. In business, partnerships can be an effective way to bring skills and capability to a company without having to build up from scratch. In the tech world, this is doubly true, and so companies are reaching out to find the right partners for their business needs.

To gain some insight into these partner relationships, Dave Vellante (@dvellante), cohost of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, took a trip to the HPE Discover 2016 conference event in Las Vegas. There, he met with Kyle Green, director of Enterprise Storage Solutions, Americas, at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE), and Jim Thomas, director of IT Operations at Pella Windows.

The benefits of partnerships

The conversation opened as Thomas described how Pella Windows leverages its partnerships. The company goes to market and attacks IT through its strategic partnerships, with HPE being one of those partners. “The value is in the long-term approach,” Thomas said.

He explained how Pella Windows makes long-term investments and how investments in a good partnership pay back beyond the sticker price. They get back far more than they put in. He mentioned how, when he’s in a bind, he can call on partners in the organization to help him out.

Partnering for the future

Green then offered HPE’s perspective. He pointed out the value of today’s idea economy. There’s a need for storage and a need for services, but what’s next? He spoke about how HPE can bring new services to the table while looking out for a company’s brand. Green stressed how HPE works to protect its partner’s brand and grow their business.

Security was also a concern. Thomas described his company’s security needs as a risk portfolio and said how he’s creating a risk management platform. He explained that his company is picking and choosing partners to help them do the right things and invest in the right solutions for its risk portfolio.

“We have a responsibility that the business has to run,” he said.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of HPE Discover 2016.

Photo by SiliconANGLE