HPE UK boss: Partners are 'driving momentum' with GreenLake deals

Matt Harris sat down with CRN after taking on his new role earlier this month

Partners are "driving momentum" with Hewlett Packard Enterprise's (HPE) Greenlake platform in the UK as more customers turn to its as-a-service offering amid economic uncertainty.

That is according to the technology giant's new UK managing director Matt Harris, who said customers want to build their digital transformation strategies on the platform as a "differentiated offering".

Harris sat down with CRN after taking on the position earlier this month.

As well as GreenLake, he also spoke about HPE's Q3 results for the three months ending 31 July, supply chain constraints and his vision for his new role.

How is HPE dealing with supply chain issues?

Despite ongoing supply chain constraints and inflation, HPE said it was "pleased" with its gross margins during Q3 with them remaining resilient.

Figures show it achieved a GAAP gross profit margins of 34.5 per cent, flat from the prior-year period and up 210 basis points sequentially.

Non-GAAP gross margins also remained flat at 34.7 per cent and was up 50 basis points sequentially.

"If you look at our margin performance, that's customers seeing value in the HPE direction," Harris said.

He believes the reason the business performed well during economic headwinds is due to "enduring demand", with HPE having "the right strategy".

"We've got a very strong strategy that is resonating in the market and therefore we've seen repeatability," he said.

"We also have an incredible channel ecosystem that continues to position HPE, can articulate the value proposition, and it's clearly resonating with customers, which means that we're seeing continued enduring demand in the market."

Despite this though, Harris claims global supply "is the hot topic", with HPE continuing to assess the shortages in the market.

He added: "We are continuing to build contingency plans when needed and take proactive measures to enhance the resilience of our supply chain. I think everyone is keeping an eye on it."

Why is GreenLake getting a stronger response from customers?

HPE's Q3 results saw the company increase its revenue by one per cent year on year to $7bn.

It also secured an annualised revenue run rate of $858m - up 22 per cent - while total as-a-service orders were up 39 per cent from the prior-year period.

Antonio Neri, CEO of HPE, said its growth in recurring revenue indicates customers are showing a "strong response" to its GreenLake platform.

"Customers want to build their digital transformation strategies on the HPE GreenLake platform as a differentiated offering," Harris said.

"With that, there are opportunities for our partners to build services capability as opportunities within that because of the value that we bring to our customers."

HPE recently introduced a number of updates and new cloud services for its GreenLake as-a-service platform, including a new HPE GreenLake for Private Cloud Enterprise offering.

Launched in June, the vendor says Private Cloud Enterprise will provide an "automated, flexible and scalable" pay-as-you-go private cloud offering for both traditional and cloud-native workloads.

Harris said partners have sold "multiple GreenLake deals" and are "driving the momentum and market" with HPE.

He added: "Customers are turning to the GreenLake platform, they want predictable external costs in economic uncertainty, they want a better return on their capital and they want a better return by only paying for what they use.

"They want to ease the operational burden associated with managing either both classic data centres or multi-cloud worlds."

What trend is HPE seeing with customers?

Harris said one trend HPE has noticed is that customers are demanding a new consumption approach for their digital transformations.

He says "major movements" are taking place across different sectors, enabled by new technologies and commercial solutions "that are inclusive and accessible".

"Customers are demanding a new consumption approach for their digital transformations and having partners at the heart of that movement and the future that we're creating is important," Harris added.

He also said HPE will continue to invest in "ease of doing business".

"We will continue to invest in the partner experience with enhancements to programmes and processes. We'll continue to reward partners for aligning to that strategy."

What are Harris' plans in his new MD role?

Harris' new role as MD will see him lead an organisation with more than 2,000 staff across sites in London, Reading, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow.

He is responsible for the end-to-end management of HPE's UK business, people and operations.

Harris emphasised that he will have a "partner first mentality", with them being the "heart of our edge to cloud vision".

"Our strategy has been built with the same partner-first mentality that we've always had," he said.

"We're here to help our partners make that critical shift as a service. Underneath me, we have an experienced leadership team complemented by bringing new people into our organisation who complement the growth mindset and partner first mentality that we have.

"Every single person within the organisation continues to have the partner at its core in terms of how we think about operating."