HPE Unleashes New Triple Platinum Plus Tier To Drive Sales Growth
‘With the new (unified partner) program and (Triple) Platinum Plus, we get to reward and encourage partners who really sell across the portfolio,’ said HPE Worldwide Channel and Partner Ecosystem Leader Simon Ewington. ‘Because at the moment the structure we have today doesn't recognize those who equally sell our compute solutions, do a great job in hybrid cloud and in networking.’
“With the new [unified partner] program and [Triple] Platinum Plus, we get to reward and encourage partners who really sell across the portfolio,” said HPE Worldwide Channel and Partner Ecosystem leader Simon Ewington. “Because at the moment, the structure we have today doesn’t recognize those who equally sell our compute solutions, do a great job in hybrid cloud and in networking.”
In fact, Ewington said, HPE has a “massive untapped opportunity” to get more partners to sell the full HPE AI stack, including networking partners who may be selling a competitor’s storage or compute offerings.
“We need to do a much better job of leveraging the power of HPE, the power of the GreenLake portfolio, the power of HPE cloud operations to drive more revenue and margin for us and our partners,” said Ewington.
HPE has yet to finalize the terms and conditions partners must meet to participate at the Triple Partner Plus level.
Ewington said the Triple Partner Plus tier allows HPE to reward “transactional partners who are driving great volume in compute, storage and networking products through the medallion structure they know and love.”
The Triple Partner Plus tier comes even as HPE networking rival Cisco Systems moves to Cisco 360, which does away with the traditional Cisco Gold medallion and some of its traditional highly lucrative transactional incentives.
“We’ve seen some of our competitors remove those structures and make major changes to their programs that have not been super popular, I would say,” he said.
Cisco partners have told CRN they are waiting for more details on how they will be compensated and measured within Cisco 360, the fully revamped partner program that will take the place of the company’s existing 30-year-old program next year.
HPE Vice President of Worldwide Partner Programs and Operations Jesse Chavez said when the HPE team presented the Triple Platinum plus offering to HPE’s Worldwide Partner Advisory Board earlier this year the partners were “pretty excited” about being rewarded for being Platinum in all three areas: networking, compute and hybrid cloud.
“So the benefits would be that they would get more margin,” said Chavez. “So they would make more rebates on top of what they make today for the commitment and meeting the requirements. They would also get access to Business Units and provide more input into product development and product road maps.”
HPE partners, for their part, said they are eagerly awaiting the details of the new program.
Dan O’Brien, chief solutions officer for Presidio, No. 24 on the CRN 2025 Solution Provider 500, said he sees the opportunity to extend Presidio’s strength in the HPE networking business into compute and hybrid cloud with the new unified program.
“We’ve got a pretty sizable business with HPE on the networking side, but we haven’t had as much success with their hybrid cloud, storage and their compute,” he said. “I don’t think we are alone in that. I think there are others have been primarily networking partners. By unifying the program, it seems we will be able to move up our status to be able to have access to resources and pricing models across the rest of their portfolio.”
The HPE program comes at a critical time given that many customers are redesigning their data centers for AI workloads, said O’Brien. “The timing is interesting,” he said. “It presents a new opportunity.”
The Triple Platinum Plus tier could be critical in offering partners a compelling advantage to sell a full HPE stack including networking, storage and compute, partners told CRN.
Cisco lacks its own storage offering, while Dell does not have its own networking platform.
C.R. Howdyshell, CEO of Advizex, No. 129 on the CRN 2025 Solution Provider 500, a Fulcrum IT Partners company, said he expects the new unified partner program with Triple Platinum Plus to be a “big upside” for his company.
“I see this program rewarding us for driving specialization in Everything-as-a-Service consumption, networking and AI,” he said. “These are all highly specialized areas for us, and it looks like the new program will reward us accordingly for that. Networking as a Service. Networking as a Service is a great example of an area where we have invested heavily into with HPE where we look forward to driving higher margins under the new program.”
Bob Panos, president of American Digital, Schaumburg, Ill., a top HPE partner, said the new Triple Platinum Plus tier could be a game-changer for a company like his, which is an HPE exclusive partner that sells the full HPE portfolio. “That program is music to our ears,” he said. “We have always sold the full HPE portfolio.”
Dan Molina, co-president and CTO of Nth Generation, San Diego, No. 307 on the CRN 2025 Solution Provider 500, said he is interested in getting more details of the Triple Platinum Plus program.
“We love HPE,” he said. “We’ve been partners forever, but it has to be a win-win proposition. HPE has been really good at providing win-win proposals for the partner community. HPE has always made sure it rewards partners who drive significant joint business. They make it a real team effort. We can’t wait to get all the specifics of the new program.”
Pat O’Dell, managing partner at Clinton, N.J.-based CPP Associates, one of HPE’s top enterprise partners, said he sees the consolidation of the program into a single unified offering as a step forward. “Anything that simplifies how the channel conducts business with HPE is a good thing,” he said. “We are eagerly awaiting the details.”
Rob Schaeffer, president and CRO of e360, a top HPE partner based in Concord, Calif., No. 138 on the 2025 CRN Solution Provider 500, said he is also looking forward to getting more details on the new unified program and the Triple Platinum Plus tier.
“We are looking forward to hearing the benefits of the new program including Triple Platinum Plus,” he said. “The devil is in the details.”
