UPDATED 21:06 EDT / JUNE 08 2017

CLOUD

Cloud wars: How HPE channel partners are evolving to meet new service demands

Channel partners are vital for any major tech business. They’re the resellers and front-line companies that put product into the hands of customers. However, channel partners are seeing their businesses change. Services around the products are becoming more important, and both the big vendors and their channel partners see new opportunities, according to Denzil Samuels (pictured), global chief channel officer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

“In terms of opportunity right now, the cloud wars are still going on, but I think what that’s done is … changed the model,” said Samuels.

Samuels had stopped by theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile live-streaming studio, to talk with co-hosts John Furrier (@furrier) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante) about HPE’s partners and the changes going through the company’s channel business. (* Disclosure below.)

Changing the channel from products to services

The channel concept has been a great success for HPE, according to Samuels. The channel business is a major portion of HPE revenue, with over 80,000 channel partners across the world. Because of this, the company is very channel-centric, with what it claims is the best partner program in the world.

“We were born in the channel,” Samuels said.

Through this strong connection to its channel partners, HPE has seen the business model change. Customers are discovering the benefits of pay as you go, the model used by cloud providers, and the channel has adjusted to embrace that concept. The channel isn’t just a reseller network anymore; they’re also service providers, Samuels added.

HPE has also sent a message that it knows businesses aren’t likely to go pure cloud, but rather make a choice in how and where they store data and run processing. It has backed up this message with one of the simplest hybrid cloud IT strategies on the market, Samuels explained. This support gives the channel partners a wide variety of options to offer their customers.

Channel businesses did not instantly change over to service providers and the pay as you go model. HPE has assisted this shift with leasing and financial programs, along with its HPE Flexible Capacity offerings, so companies could buy into as much, or as little, as they needed, according to Samuels. The channel partners realize this is the new way customers are buying and that they must adapt or become irrelevant.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of HPE Discover US 2017(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for HPE Discover US 2017. Neither Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. nor other sponsors have editorial control on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE

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