HP Tweaks PartnerONE Channel Program

January 28, 2009

In keeping with its broad goals of creating more growth opportunities for its channel partners and streamlining interactions with them, HP (NYSE: HPQ) has enhanced its PartnerONE channel program with a new offering that will reward partners for selling services and hardware.

The new Business Class Consultant (BCC) designation will compensate HP preferred and elite channel partners with back-end rebates when they provide consultative and value-added activities while reselling qualified business-class solutions. BCC is based on a similar program used by resellers of HP enterprise products. It will be available starting Feb. 1.

The hardware deals eligible for BCC compensation are: industry standard server, business-class storage, and ProCurve networking solutions, and they will be available across all account segments, said Tom LaRocca, vice president, marketing and strategy, HP’s Solution Partners Organization, Americas.

“In these challenging economic times, we are always looking for ways to better align our channel programs to help our partners succeed,” said LaRocca. “Resellers will receive their rebates as soon as the deals close.”

Increasing Partner Competitiveness

He said BCC aims to give partners the edge they need to plan more effectively, invest with HP, and deliver more value to their customers.

BCC will enable partners to determine their rebates at the beginning of the sales cycle, which will help them be more competitive and close more deals, said LaRocca.

To take advantage of the BCC offer, HP partners simply register eligible volume hardware sales, detailing their commitment to providing specific value-added services through the HP deal-registration tool.

Full details and guidelines for leveraging the BCC offer can be found on the HP Partner Portal. Each registered BCC deal must be validated by HP and can be held by only one partner on the solution sale.

Partners can register up to 10 qualifying BCC opportunities per deal type per month and must submit a statement of work created for the end-user for the specific opportunity to qualify for the offer.

In related news, HP also announced the HP partner toolbar, an easy-to-access tool that gives partners one-click access to the HP partner portal. The toolbar includes customizable buttons and a real-time news ticker. Partners can download the toolbar from the HP partner portal.