At HP?S recent global partner conference held in Las Vegas, the company?s CEO, Mark Hurd, re-iterated that doing business with its channel would form a major part of HP?s strategy going forward, even though the company has come under fire for its mixed direct/indirect model.

His very clear message was that HP would up the stakes with its partner base, and help those who help HP.

To this extent, HP, at Las Vegas, announced its Preferred Partner Program, which, the company says, is the next step in its partner strategy.

The program, HP says, focuses on the development of a highly skilled, competitive, dynamic partner sales force, aimed at delivering on HP?s vision of a consistent customer experience.

According to Thierry Boulanger, HP SA channel manager, SA?s HP partners, which in HP form part of the International Sales Europe (ISE) region -- comprising the developing economies in EMEA -- will be evaluated according to criteria set by HP SA.

?HP has been carrying out detailed analysis of its local partners to identify their various competencies,? he says. ?Partners will need to have minimum sales and technical qualifications to become a preferred partner.?

Being a preferred partner means that HP partners will have access to a number of premium services from HP, including dedicated account management, rebates on commercial product sold and special pricing on certain products.

According to HP, preferred partners also increase their earning potential and have access to growth investment funds and development funds.

In SA, partners will need additional certifications to access professional products. ?The next step,? he says, ?is specialization in multiple competencies.?

Logic would indicate that programs such as HP?s Preferred Partner program would be able to contribute to BEE obligations as laid out in the ICT Charter.

According to HP SA, the company?s Business Academy was established about a year ago to accelerate partners to become preferred partners, essentially as a BEE initiative.

The Business Academy covers both technical and soft issues, including presentation training, business management etc.

Launched to complement the Preferred Partner Program, HP said that in EMEA, HP partners would have access to Smart Choice, a Web-based application, which plugs into channel partners? Web sites.

It gives customers the choice of customizing machines at a small price premium and longer delivery time, or allowing Smart Choice to select the closest pre-configured HP product, delivered the next business day.

Boulanger could not say when this would be available to partners in SA, but HP SA is already using a similar system, he says. HP PCs are already locally assembled and configured to customer requirements.

Focus

Eric Cador, HP?s vice-president for the PSG group in EMEA, says that HP?s new partner programs are an aggressive move to get the channel more involved in HP?s business.

But some may see programs such as Preferred Partner to be cannibalistic, potentially chasing off partners that do not make the cut.

Jos Brenkel, vice-president of HP?s solution partners organization, says that while this is something HP has to do to strengthen its channel, he compares being a preferred partner to having a gold credit card.

?If you belong to a bank and you have a credit card, you are still doing business with the bank. But, being a preferred partner is like getting a gold card -- more value and better services,? he adds.

He says it is all about creating awareness at customer level.

-- Nicolas Callegari attended the conference in Las Vegas as a paid-for guest of HP.