"It is really important that our joint VARs are properly armed with information on how to give their customers the choice around Software Plus Services and make sure they have a seat at the cloud table," said Allen Clark, industry director, hosting, Microsoft Communications Sector. "We are seeing increased interest in cloud services from the SMB and we are finding these companies are going to their VARs, who are trusted advisors, and HP and Microsoft [for] information, programs and services."
Janet Pretti, vice president of Solution Partners Group with HP, added that it was quite natural for HP and Microsoft to come together for this initiative as it expands on both companies' existing strategic Frontline Partnership (30,000 joint VARs globally) and the initiative also helps increase the adoption of HP data center infrastructure and Microsoft technologies by managed service providers.
"It [shows our] commitment to the SMB market and commitment in helping VARs maintain their current trusted advisor relationship with their SMB customer," she said.
Pretti further explained that to help VARs maintain that trusted advisor relationship, the initiative will be providing training, tools, information and guidance so they can guide their customers on how to best take advantage and augment on-premise solutions with a SaaS opportunity.
For example, HP and Microsoft plan to equip VARs with comprehensive tools and guidance that will enable them to "private label" Microsoft's solutions that are hosted by managed service providers. As a result, they can generate new revenue streams by offering their small and midsize business (SMB) customers a greater choice of solution delivery methods.
She added that the current state of the economy has led many companies and VARs to consider SaaS.
"As the whole ecosystem moves to more of an end-to-end IT alternative, this will be a very powerful contribution to the VARs portfolio," Wolfe said.
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