We can be channel M&A matchmaker, says HP EMEA chief

HP Enterprise Group's EMEA partner boss claims the vendor can be 'facilitator' for VARs looking to buy software and services skills

HP's EMEA channel chief has pledged that the vendor can play the matchmaker for resellers with M&A ambitions.

At its ExpertOne Technology and Solutions Summit (ETSS) in Barcelona this week, the vendor has dedicated a lot of time to the issue of how partners should best prepare for "the new style of IT", encompassing technologies such as cloud, big data and social media. To that end, HP has worked to simplify the burden of employee certifications, with some technical badges made narrower and more role-specific, and sales qualifications designed to have a much clearer competitive value.

But for those partners that decide that developing new skills is too time-consuming, costly, or otherwise undesirable or unfeasible, the vendor has vowed that it will help them either partner with companies with the appropriate skills, or identify suitable acquisition targets. Alessandra Brambilla, EMEA channel vice president of the HP's Enterprise Group, told CRN that obtaining high-end consulting and services skills is not always easy for VARs.

"Those skills are not easy to find. In some cases technical people, or salespeople that have sold in the same way for 30 years, do not evolve. When it is not possible to build internally, [partners] are looking at [other] companies, starting with partnering with them, then very soon we start to talk about M&A – often in services and software," she explained.

Brambilla added that HP can lean on its vast catalogue of partner organisations – encompassing everything from ISVs to systems integrators, and transactional hardware resellers to IT consultancies – to help the channel find suitable go-to-market partners, or even acquisition targets.

"What happens is, when we work together on a joint business plan, we discuss with [partners] during this conversation whether we can create some kind of linkage [between them and potential acquisition targets]," she said. "We create an ecosystem and create an environment where, essentially, HP can play the role of a facilitator."