HP’s Preferred Partner Programme (PPP) takes much of the stress out of buying technology.
HP Preferred Partners are certified experts with inside access to HP resources. The PPP logo with its annual date stamp certifies that the partner has met HP's demanding quality standards and understands HP products and leading-edge technology.
"Partners play a vital role in how customers perceive HP, and we want to make sure that that customer experience is consistently excellent, and that requires a strong commitment from both HP and from our partners," explained HP CEO Mark Hurd in his keynote address at the Global Partner Summit that launched PPP.
PPP is an important milestone in an ongoing strategy to give HP customers the highest level of expertise and IT support. Working with an HP Preferred Partner, HP customers have the peace of mind and assurance that comes from dealing with a partner that is close to HP, and therefore much more responsive to their IT needs.
The Preferred Partner Programme is designed to help customers find Preferred Partners with a high level of expertise in specific areas where they require a solution. The Programme features nine new specialisations, which span HP’s business to provide increased flexibility and market competitiveness.
Each specialisation comes with its own specific qualification criteria and benefits.
Preferred Partners can choose to qualify in the following competency areas:
• Computing Systems
• DataCenter Solutions
• e-Preferred
• High-Performance Computing
• Imaging and Printing
• Mobility: Smart Devices
• Networking and Security
• Services
• StorageWorks Solutions
Preferred Partner training is delivered through the HP Certified Professional Programme, which allows partners to gain recognition and value from the investments they make in HP knowledge acquisition. It reinforces their capability to deliver added value and customer service.
“Our unique customer value proposition is the best the industry has to offer – great products and fast turnaround time without compromising local partner support,” said Eric Cador, senior vice president, HP Personal Systems Group (PSG), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
As the world's leading technology provider to the small and mid-size business market(1), HP is uniquely qualified to help customers across a wide range of industries realise increased growth and productivity, and reduced costs.
PPP offers small and medium businesses:
• reliable, high-quality products and solutions
• local and specialized expertise
• a simplified experience with technology
“HP has great products and services for SMB customers, but only through our partners does our SMB offering take off," said Luciana Broggi, HP's vice president of group marketing for PSG in Europe, Middle East and Africa. "We know we’ve done our job when end customers understand all the benefits that they can obtain through our Preferred Partners.”
A key component of the Preferred Partner Programme is HP's Smart Choice Customizer, an enhanced online configuration tool that allows you to configure your own HP PC or server -- or to take advantage of a similar, pre-existing configuration that the partner already has in stock. Partners and customers in the UK, France, Norway, Spain and Sweden are the first to benefit from the Customizer. It will be rolled out across the EMEA region in the next few months.
“HP’s Smart Choice Customizer is all about customer choice,” says Kate Hembury, vendor sales director of Wstore, a leading French reseller. “Our automated ordering approach leverages the strength of the web experience, enabling customers to decide on their preferred purchase procedure, product design, price and speed of delivery.”
WStore has had more than 75,000 visits since the beginning of 2005, increasing visits by 50 percent year on year. The company’s total HP sales increased by 45 percent in the first seven months of 2005 compared to same period in 2004. WStore in the UK has approximately 1,300 customers per month browsing 1,600 configurations.
“HP is devoted to channel innovation, constantly exploring and developing a value-driven architecture from which both our partners and our end customers benefit,” said Jos Brenkel, vice president, HP Solution Partners Organisation, EMEA. “With our Preferred Partners’ expertise and customer service capabilities, it should be no surprise that together we offer something much better than direct.”
(1)According to IDC third quarter 2004 data.
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