HP propels 3Par into channel

Technology of acquired data storage vendor now fully orderable within HP's standard systems

HP is launching a concerted channel push around 3Par, two months after outbidding Dell to land the fast-growing data storage vendor.

As of Wednesday, 3Par’s technology has been fully orderable within HP’s standard systems and now features in the vendor's Partners for Growth deal registration programme.

Kevin Matthews, UK and Ireland channel manager for Enterprise Storage, Servers and Networking (pictured), stressed that the channel would be 3Par’s primary growth vehicle.

“HP has given commercial credibility to a fantastic technology which we now want our channel to embrace,” he said.

Matthews said he is confident all 12 UK partners that have qualified for its new top-level Converged Infrastructure specialisation will be fully trained by the end of this month.

“We will look at taking [3Par] business direct [with customers] where we have a low share of business and no channel involvement, consistent with our wider strategy for the last three years,” he said. “But we need market coverage and can’t achieve that without the channel on board.”

Matthews said that 3Par would slot into HP’s storage portfolio as an enterprise/midmarket alternative to its lower midmarket-focused P4000 SAN offering, which is based on its recent LeftHand acquisition.

The rebranding strategy for 3Par is yet to be finalised.

“The 3Par acquisition starts to allow partners and customers to take advantage of some of the things that are happening in the market, most notably cloud computing,” Matthews added.

Simon Aron, joint managing director at Eurodata, said he needed more information on how tightly HP would control 3Par’s distribution.

“I am very interested in getting involved in 3Par but I need to know whether it is something that can add value to my business or is just another commodity product,” he said.

Loay Lawrence, commercial director at Vohkus, said: “I think it is a great acquisition by HP. It will enhance our ability to offer an expanded HP storage solution to the market. I don’t think 3Par will be commoditised as it needs expertise, which we have.”