HP Increases Revenue Opportunities for Channel Partners in Networking

Streamlined partner program, resources and promotions improve competitiveness and profitability

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 27, 2012 – HP today announced improvements to the HP PartnerONE and HP ExpertONE programs, enabling networking channel partners to increase market competitiveness and revenue opportunities.

To succeed, partners want to penetrate new markets and deliver solutions that optimize their customers’ business models. The expanded HP PartnerONE and HP ExpertONE programs are designed to drive growth and key market opportunities in the high-growth networking sector.The HP PartnerONE program now enables networking partners to substantially increase margin potential through growth accelerators and rebates. HP meets the needs of partners of all sizes through three refreshed specializations for networking:

— Registered Networking Specialization: These Partners focus primarily on selling solutions to the SMB market and offer customers a choice of secure, affordable and scalable network solutions.
— Professional Networking Specialization: HP Professional Networking Partners sell, deliver, manage and support secure, wired and wireless networking infrastructure solutions.
— Advanced Networking Specialization: These Partners sell, deliver, manage and support complex, end-to-end secure networking and data centre solutions and have the expertise and skills in designing, deploying solutions and services spanning the networking lifecycle. They typically have a deep knowledge of corporate networks and requirements.

The refreshed specializations for networking are compatible with the previous UNS-Professional, UNS-Expert and UNS-Master specializations, however sales and technical certification requirements for these new specializations have been tweaked to drive a minimum competency standard required by partners to effectively represent HP in the market place.

HP PartnerONE and HP ExpertONE programs enable channel partners to use the HP FlexNetwork architecture to strengthen consultative, long-term customer relationships and create new revenue opportunities. By offering open and scalable networking solutions, partners can address customer requirements without locking them in to vendors and technology.

“Channel partners operate in a complex and competitive environment, and they need to focus on growing their businesses,” said Raymond Ooi, Country Manager, HP Networking (Malaysia). “With our simplified program, broad portfolio and unique competency approach, HP is empowering our partners to better serve their customers.”

Increasing IT knowledge through HP ExpertONE Program

The HP ExpertONE program offers partners the training and education needed to transform their customers’ proprietary environments into open, agile networks based on an HP Converged Infrastructure.

Professionals gain the skills needed to architect, implement and manage technology across the enterprise. The HP ExpertONE “Fast Track” program accounts for existing certifications – even those gained through a competitor – to speed the HP networking certification process.
An IDC Marketscape leader(1) for IT education, the global HP ExpertONE program also now provides partners with:

— A competitive edge via hands-on technical and certification training delivered through newly announced HP ExpertONE Learning Solution Partners. Offerings include customized courses, access to remote labs and web-based learning applications, with initial courses focusing on HP Networking.

— Access to easy-reference training materials and study guides through HP Press, in the form of traditional books, e-books and mobile applications. The first five technical certification exam study guides focus on networking certifications.

— Certifications through the HP Institute, a global academic program to be available in several thousand institutions by 2014. Students can earn architect-level HP certifications through integrated hands-on experience with remote labs in a classroom environment.

General information about HP PartnerONE for networking and HP ExpertONE is available at www.hp.com/networking/partnerone and www.hp.com/go/expertone. Details of the programs will differ between regions.