HP Networking: Our time is now

HP Networking (HPN) is hoping to woo partners tired of being "locked out of opportunities" and claims the time is right to assume the mantle of "a credible alternative" to Cisco.

The last few years have seen HP focus more on the technology formerly known as ProCurve, and 2011 saw the vendor take an aggressive approach to wresting market share from Cisco. John Ansell, who recently joined HPN as UK and Ireland director, told ChannelWeb that "the time is right in the industry for there to be a credible second alternative partner" in the networking sphere.

"We are getting the channel switched on to HPN," he added. "Some partners are embracing HPN fully, others are going through the accreditations because they recognise it is definitely something for the future.

"Many partners will probably find they are working with us anyway - the likelihood is they may be selling our enterprise servers and storage. With HP they can talk to customers and offer a full portfolio – everything from a PC right the way through to full outsourcing."

Kevin Matthews, UK and Ireland channel manager for HP's ESSN business, claimed that infrastructure partners that are not getting into the network world are jeopardising their future. For partners experiencing difficulties working with a competing networking vendor, HP will be an attractive proposition, he added.

"My message is, if partners are not into networking, they absolutely need to be," said Matthews (pictured). "If you're a reseller that cannot talk end-to-end, your time is limited. You are missing out on customer demand if you aren't doing it."

"If a partner working with a vendor finds themselves locked out of a lot of opportunities, I would seriously be thinking there is a differentiation [to be had with HP]."

Last year market watchers reported that the intense competition between Cisco and HP led to average selling prices in the network space being eaten into. But Ansell claimed "there are still healthy margins to make" for VARs.

"We have made investments, and we clearly want to get a return on those investments," he added. "We believe we have a portfolio that is first class.

"Customers need to do more with less. They haven't got as much money, but they still need to [invest in technology]. We give them the ability to do that, wrapped into a full HP proposition. We will look to be disruptive in the market."

DTP Group is one HP Gold partner to have got into networking in a big way in the last year, and managing director Howard Hall claimed his firm is reaping the benefits in terms of support from the vendor. He added that the 3Com acquisition had given the vendor a complete offering in the networking world.

"There is now a total portfolio of hardware and software which allows us to facilitate Cisco takedowns. HPN has been one of our big success stories of the last six to 12 months." added Hall.

"We have invested heavily in training and recruitment and are spending a lot of money on HPN. But HP has helped us with funded staff: we now have six top-level technical staff - HP has paid for two, and we have paid for the other four."