A well-trained network of business partners, financial incentives for those partners and peace of mind for customers - these are just some of the benefits proposed to come from the launch of HP`s new African business partner programme (BPP) this week.
HP sells the majority of its solutions through a channel of distribution and reseller partners across the continent. There are already numerous authorised distributors in English-speaking Africa; these in turn sell on to systems integrators, enterprise resellers, other resellers and retailers.
HP has identified approximately 300 partners to become part of the new programme. Of course, managing such a large network is something of a challenge so the BPP, first mooted late last year as part of a worldwide initiative following HP`s merger with Compaq, is aimed at streamlining the process.
"The essence of the new programme is to ensure that all our distributors and resellers are trained and certified to officially work with our solutions," explains Thierry Boulanger, the commercial channel marketing manager for Africa at HP.
"Not only does this mean that we continue to have a professional channel that can represent us when engaging customers, it also means that customers can rest assured they`re dealing with a capable supplier.
"In addition, the certification that is received is something that belongs to the employee rather than the partner. It`s recognised worldwide - rather than being restricted to Africa - so that`s definitely a benefit."
A fair amount of investment from the partners is necessary to take the training and receive the certification - something that has made the whole training issue rather contentious. Boulanger says that minimising this investment and maximising the potential returns has therefore been high on HP`s agenda.
"We do recognise our partners` investment in the training process. Investment made prior to the Compaq merger last year will certainly be taken into account. And we`ll review each partner on an annual basis," he says.
HP has made it even easier for partners to embark on this training now. "There are HP centres in Nigeria, Kenya and SA, and partners can take the training and write the exams while at the centres. They can also write exams at any Prometrics training centre in their country of origin, if necessary," says Boulanger.
Benefits to partners that take the training include a pay-for-results compensation programme - the more the partners train their teams, the greater the level of potential compensation. Authorised partners also receive assistance with marketing and sales activities, including access to HP`s partner portal for the ordering of marketing collateral and a listing on HP`s Web-based partner locator.
There are plenty of benefits for end-users too.
"The main challenge that end-users face is qualifying whether or not they`re buying from a genuine, authorised HP dealer," says Boulanger, talking about the perennial issue of the grey market. A product is considered `grey` if it is purchased from a reseller that did not procure it through the authorised distributor channel.
"Customers tend to look at price [grey marketers often sell their products at lower prices than authorised dealers] and think they`re getting a good deal. What they don`t realise is that, in many cases, HP can`t honour the warranties of products which are not approved for a particular country or region as spares are not catered for. This would not be the case if a product or solution was bought from an authorised partner," says Boulanger.
"Basically, we`ve put a professional channel structure in place and we can`t guarantee the solutions that come from resellers that aren`t part of this structure. In the end, this can be expensive for the customer." The launch of the business partner programme will help make it clear which partners are authorised to sell HP. If customers deal only with these companies, the market for grey products will gradually be eradicated, adds Boulanger.
For more information on HP`s solutions and activities in Africa - and to locate authorised partners across Africa - visit www.hp.com/africa.
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