Hewlett-Packard Tuesday extended a lifeline to its more than 210,000 HP commercial partners around the globe in more than 160 countries through the formation of a worldwide partner framework.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer and printer maker announced the rollout of its partnerONE initiative in Asia Pacific and Latin America as well as recent enhancements made in the United States and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Launched in the U.S., Canadian, EMEA markets in late 2002, partnerONE spans HP’s entire product and services portfolio and provides benefits to HP partners, including resellers, system integrators, independent software vendors and service providers.
The goal is to let HP partners tap into the company’s knowledge base and resources to help grow top-line revenue and bottom-line profitability, reward performance and initiative, and make program administration more efficient and flexible.
“Now operational in all regions, partnerONE enables us to collaborate closely with partners to meet the demands our customers, whether they be a small- and medium-sized business or a large enterprise,” said Jim McDonnell, vice president of marketing and sales programs, HP Personal Systems Group.
The rollout of partnerONE in the 10,000-strong commercial and enterprise partner community in Asia Pacific is occurring in two phases.
First, HP said it has instituted a number of progressive programs in the region including member accreditation, the HP Certified Professional and training program, lead generation and distribution, a partner portal and an integrated set of terms and conditions. The company has also set up a Partner Advisory Board in Asia Pacific to let HP management and select wholesalers and corporate resellers come together to discuss strategic channel issues.
For the second phase, to begin next month, HP said it will enhance its existing partner relationship management system. The new program includes a quarterly planning tool, online performance reporting, and online funds-claim processes and reports with which partners can view rebates, marketing funds and incentives payment status.
Additionally, HP said it plans to simplify its incentive program for partners in Asia Pacific with standard criteria across HP’s various business units.
In Latin America, HP said it plans on reaching a community of 20,000 partners in three phases with 7,500 registered resellers participating in phase one. Initial benefits and tools will be expanded in phases two and three. Similar to the United States, the membership framework will be consistent across the region with three levels: Platinum, Gold and Business Partner. The company said membership criteria may vary by market.
Because much of Latin America populated with small- and medium-business, HP said it plans to focus on SMB products first. Rollout is planned to begin in June and is modeled after the recent partnerONE SMB Network implementation in the United States. The SMB Network is planned to expand to Mexico and Brazil later this year.
The changes come as HP continues to streamline the way it does business. The company recently consolidated its Business Critical Systems, Industry Standard Servers and Network Storage Solutions divisions into one global business unit.