Cross Channel: HPE Vision, Dell EMC Channel Programme And Public Sector Spend

Welcome to Cross Channel, a weekly round up of the most pertinent stories from our sister site ChannelBiz, where you can find out all the latest developments, views and strategies from the world of the channel.

HPE: We had to fix things for channel partners

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) EMEA managing director, Andy Isherwood, has credited CEO Meg Whitman for turning the company’s fortunes around after it “lost sight” of its core business and its channel.

Speaking at the HPE Technology and Solutions Summit (TSS) in Cannes, Isherwood said the vendor now had a “clarity of focus” it had lacked before Whitman took the reins in 2011.

“We’d been through a number of CEOs and made a number of acquisitions, some of which we had to do major write-downs”, he admitted. “We went through this period of fixing the things we needed to move the organisation forward.”

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Dell EMC officially launches new partner programme

The new programme tiers are Titanium, Platinum and Gold, as well as a new status level within the Titanium Tier, Titanium Black.

Rebates will be based on “profitable behaviors” such as driving new business, service sales (inclusive of consulting, deployment, support and education services), training participation and selling the full portfolio.

Dell EMC says tier status will be confirmed upon final audit/allocation, which will take place after the end of the financial year: December 31, 2016 for EMC Business Partner Programme participants and after February 3, 2017 for Dell PartnerDirect partners. Partners will receive their final, confirmed Tier status following the completion of both audits later this month.

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Local Authorities Increase Spend on Technology

Local authorities across the UK increased their investments in technology in 2016, with council spend on outsourced IT reaching £463 million – a 75 percent year-on-year increase.

The Arvato UK Outsourcing Index reports that the boost in IT spend contributed to an eight percent year-on-year rise in the overall local government outsourcing market in 2016, with contracts signed worth £814 million.

The Index, compiled by business process outsourcing (BPO) provider Arvato and industry analyst NelsonHall, also recorded a 45 percent increase in the number of deals procured by local authorities (20 to 29) in 2016, compared with the previous 12 months.

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