HPE Launches Pointnext Services Unit, New Chief Pinczuk Pledges Partner Commitment
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is launching what it is calling a "newly redefined" technology services organization called Pointnext aimed at accelerating digital transformation around hybrid IT and intelligent edge computing.
"We see ourselves as a trusted advisor to our customers helping them with a point of view of where to go next," said Ana Pinczuk, the new head of the $7.16 billion, 25,000-employee technology services organization. "We want to be directional. We want to be bold. We want to be helping them with their digital transformation journey. Our strategy is very future oriented. It is bold. It is really capturing the imagination around helping customers with the whole digital journey."
Pinczuk, who joined HPE two weeks ago as senior vice president and general manager of the technology services business, said she plans an increased focus on teaming with partners as Pointnext stakes out the high ground in hybrid IT and intelligent edge market.
"With 15 years at Cisco, I am used to being very channel friendly," she said in an interview with CRN. "My commitment as I look at the value proposition from advisory and transform through professional through operational services is to increase the importance of the channel, to scale through the channel and to provide capabilities for the channel to upsell through the Pointnext capabilities."
Pinczuk, in fact, pledged to share the Pointnext consulting and services intellectual property and methodology with HPE partners. "The opportunity is unbounded," she said. "And I think that is why the partner opportunity is so great. The question for us is: how do we work and partner with the channel to execute that opportunity that exists."
The Pointnext launch comes with the new unit – HPE's highest operating margin business - taking a more prominent role as HPE gets set to complete the tax-free spin-in merger of its $20 billion enterprise services business with CSC as of April 1. HPE Technology Services sales were up 4 percent in the most recent quarter
Partners said the launch of Pointnext – which includes advisory/transformation consulting, professional services and operational services – sends a clear message that HPE is taking a leadership position in next generation digital transformation services.
"This lets everybody know that this is not your grandfather's technology services," said Al Chien, chief sales officer of Dasher Technologies, a Campbell, Calif.-based HP Platinum partner. "This is all about digital transformation and enabling both customers and the partner community. Enterprise Services was us-versus-them. Pointnext was architected with partners in mind. With Enterprise Services there were a lot of legacy customers and business habits. Pointnext is an HPE asset with a robust program to help us go to market together more efficiently."
Chien sees Pointnext as a critical differentiator for both HPE and its partners. "Our industry is evolving at a pace that we have never seen before," he said. "Services is the fastest growing component of our business whether it is selling HPE services, selling with HPE or selling through HPE. There are lots of different avenues. This is not about me bolting on a TS component or CarePack. Every IT environment is unique, sophisticated and their path to the end state is going to be different. We have to be able to address that, and the Pointnext change should help with that. As much as we rely on them, I need them to rely on us. We are better together."
Dan Molina, CTO of San Diego-based Nth Generation Computing, one of HPE's top enterprise partners, said he also sees the Pointnext launch as part of a stepped up HPE effort to collaborate with partners in digital transformation services. "We are very excited about it," he said. "We are already collaborating closely with the technology services teams helping customers go through their IT transformation journey. We are meeting with HPE consulting group multiple times a month. We continue to add a great balance of our own and TS services to our infrastructure solutions. Now we see an even bigger opportunity to do even more together with Pointnext."
The Pointnext charge comes with the channel accelerating its charge to provide more digital transformation consulting and advisory services."As a solution provider we are going through our own transformation adding more and more services that provide value to our customers," said Molina. "As we continue to increase our offerings it is great to partner with HPE Pointnext to be able to offer the entire services stack."
Pinczuk, for her part, said she is looking forward to meeting with channel partners to make sure that Pointnext is part of each and every sales conversation. "The solutions of the future – these digital transformations – are not things that we do by ourselves," she said. "We do them with technology partners and go to market partners. That is going to be ongoing and an even more important part of our strategy."