HP to expand linear rebate scheme
Vendor to build on revamped ESSN rebate scheme as distribution review looms
HP is eyeing an expansion to its recently introduced linear rebates. The vendor is also set to trim its EMEA distribution stable, but stressed that the UK and Ireland is not a "priority" region for rationalising its line-up.
Klaus Rumsauer (pictured) was installed as HP's EMEA ESSN channel boss in February, about the same time as changes were implemented to the rebate scheme for Gold partners under the Pay for Results programme.
During the vendor's second fiscal quarter, which ran until the end of last month, ESSN resellers were paid both target-based and linear rebates. This allowed partners to earn payments from their first dollar of sales, and Rumsauer told CRN that the scheme had been a success. The vendor is moving to continue the programme and expand it outside the Gold channel, he claimed.
"Ongoing change is the next step," he said. "In some areas where [partners] make huge investments, we will have a mix of linear and [target-based]."
The reward structure for distributors will be similarly mixed, said Michael Bernhardt, HP's EMEA director of ESSN distribution sales.
"Some distributors are very focused on pure volume, and some we compensate on quality," he explained.
Martin Hellawell, managing director of HP Gold partner Softcat, said that the introduction of linear rebates has been positive for the channel.
"You get that end-of-quarter stuff where people try to hit their targets, and that brings competitive pressure," added Hellawell. "Most of the channel would welcome having [linear rebates] in place."
HP's recent spate of block-busting acquisitions has brought a number of new distributors to the fold, and Bernhardt claimed that "in some regions, we might be over-distributed".
"We will right-size some of the regions," he added. "We will look into the UK and Ireland, of course - like all the other regions. But that is not necessarily one of the regions where we will become active."