HP Networking yesterday evening awarded its channel partners of the year, with Datacentrix coming out tops.
The winners for the HP Networking channel partner awards held at Sunset Boma in Midrand are - aside from Datacentrix - Reflex Solutions and First Technology in second and third place respectively.
According to Chantal Davy, HP Networking channel manager, the awards were based on revenue generated by partners, certification criteria and contracts.
Davy said the awards aim to recognise achievements made by HP Networking partners as well as providing a reflection on the past financial year. She added that this year has been a year of change for the company.
Farewell Hardie
She said the evening also served to say farewell to HP Networking's previous country manager Lorna Hardie as well as the end of the 3Com and ProCurve branding following the recent buy-out of 3Com.
Last month, Hardie left the division to take a position on HP's Global Account sales team to manage three strategic accounts.
According to Davy, the process for appointing a suitable replacement has already begun. Through the transition period, Amin Kayal, MEMA HP Networking regional manager will be the acting country manager.
Acquisitions and partnerships
Earlier this year, HP acquired hardware networking vendor 3Com for $2.7 billion. Since then, 3com's network switching, routing and security solutions have been fully integrated into HP Networking.
HP ProCurve, 3Com, TippingPoint and H3C have converged to form a new unified unit branded as HP Networking. The tech giant revealed in a previous statement that it expects the 3Com acquisition to bring HP's worldwide networking share up to around 20%.
Following the acquisition, HP took in four new distributors under its wing, namely: Comztek, Axis, Duxbury Networking and Tarsus Technologies.
“The challenge at the moment is adapting to all of this change,” said Davy. “It's been people changes, system changes, but the opportunity that we have, is knowing that we have the backing of one of the biggest IT companies in the world.”
Davy added: “Looking forward, we are going to broaden our channel partner programme and continue to expand our sales force to support the channel.”
The rest of the top HP Networking partners for 2010 are: Alpine Communications, Bromide, CEOS Technologies, Gijima, Sage Technologies, Sizwe IT Group and TSS Managed Services.
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