sakkmesterke - stock.adobe.com
HPE to go fully as a Service
The firm has set 2022 as the deadline all of its portfolio will be available on an as a Service basis with the channel playing a key role delivering it
There are moments when a major vendor will flex its muscles and make it clear that change is coming and then put its portfolio and channel behind those efforts.
It happened a few years ago with Microsoft deeming that it was time for resellers to get serious about cloud and the vendor's push did a great deal to change the products and services that were being offered by the channel.
HPE might have come up with another one of those watershed moments with its declaration that its entire portfolio will be offered as a Service by 2022.
For those last few resellers wondering when they will need to make the leap to concentrating on services this should be the moment when the direction the market is heading in becomes even clearer.
By 2022 HPE will offer customers a choice of subscription based pay-as-you-go and as a Service offerings on all of its portfolio. Traditional capex and license models will continue to be provided ensuring that there will be a choice for users.
“We are at an inflection point in the market,” said Antonio Neri, President and CEO, HPE. “Everyone recognizes that customers want technology delivered as a Service, but they also want it on their terms."
HPE Greenlake is key to the vision and the vendor has announced that it is now its fastest growing business and 400 channel partners already sell the as a Service option with that indirect business increasing 275% year-on-year.
The firm used its partner event in the US this time last year to roll out pre-defined, pre-approved and price-banded offerings that the channel could take to market; launching packages based around seven of the vendor's most popular technologies, including flash storage, private cloud and software-defined infrastructure.
More are likely to get involved on the back of the launch of five more mid-market offerings with pre-configured as a Service bundles that include compute, database, private cloud, storage and virtualisation.
"We will continue to invest aggressively in this opportunity, to capitalize on our market leadership, leverage our world-class channel and partner ecosystem, and deliver our entire portfolio, from edge to cloud, under the HPE GreenLake portfolio. As a result, we will reshape HPE and transform the market, with a new and better way to deliver as a Service," added Neri.
