Gurpreet Brar, Head, Channel Sales & Distribution, HP India, explains to CRN India the significance of the ‘Amplify’ program to the Indian partners as HP is retiring its five-year-old ‘Partner First’ program. The new program will be replacing its traditional back to back and sub distribution tiers with Synergy and Power track
Technology giant, HP Inc has recently announced the roll out of its brand-new global partner program- Amplify. The program is slated to be formally launched in November 2020 for its commercial partners, whereas the retail partners will be part of this by mid of 2021. Meanwhile, the company is consolidating its five-year-old existing ‘Partner First’ program for its PC, Printer, Services and Supplies partners until the Amplify program is kicked in. The program will include a new rewards system for partners, incentives for key capabilities such as services and a greater emphasis on partners having a digital presence.
Also Read:https://www.crn.in/news/hp-announces-global-channel-partner-program-amplify-in-india/
The new program is largely based on three key pillars- Capabilities, Collaborations and Performance rather than pure transactional relationship. In India, close to 1,400 direct HP partners will be migrating to this new global program. HP India will initiate the assessment parameters of its existing partners and gradually they will be part of this new program.
In an exclusive interaction with CRN India, Gurpreet Brar, Head, Channel Sales & Distribution, HP India, explains the significance of Amplify program to the Indian partners and how the new program will change the go-to-market strategy of HP and redefine engagements for commercial and retailer partners across PC and printer business.
He says, “Globally, India is one of the largest and focused markets. We are looking to see the same growth trajectory in this year with a strong recovery of PC and printer business. The work- and -learn -from -home has changed the way IT is being consumed. The new partner program will address the changing dynamics of consumers’ buying patterns and empower its partners to build data capabilities and be more digital driven for catering to the digital needs of the customers.”
He adds, “In new HP Amplify, we will be moving away from pure transactional relationships to business outcome engagement. We will design partner experiences in such a way which will eventually lead to the better and stronger customer experience. Partners will be rewarded for their capabilities over and above the performance.”
Today, 85 per cent of HP’s commercial and consumer sales business is driven by indirect channel business. The new program will bring higher efficiency and simplifications for its partners which will remove fragmentation of focus and resources of different GTMs.
Brar explains, “The existing PartnerFirst program has a fragmented approach. Now, under Amplify we will consolidate our different GTMs into two tracks. The base track is ‘Synergy’ and upper track is ‘Power’. Moreover, we will be done away with our commercial and corporate back to back business and tier-3 sub distribution approach. The new program is driven by service revenue, capabilities and collaborations of partners.”
Before the new program kicks in, HP partners team is conducting a series of webinars for its partners regionally and aligning its partners as per the assessment cycles. Going forward, HP believes the large part of its existing partners will be qualified under the ‘Synergy’ track wherein very selected and focused partners will move to the ‘Power’ track which is more services and high revenue oriented.
“We do recognise the way we are moving and adapting to new business environments. Our partners address the entire customer pyramid right from commercial, consumer, Soho and SMB. Today, customers want more focused and personalised solutions. Hence, in Amplify, customer centricity is going to be key,” Brar concludes.
