Heng Huey Lih (HPE)
Global distributor Tech Data has expanded its partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in Singapore and Hong Kong in a bid to grow the vendor’s GreenLake cloud services offering in the local market.
The HPE GreenLake platform offers a range of cloud services, including compute, core payment systems, data protection, electronic medical records, hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), networking, risk management, SAP HANA, storage and more.
The edge-to-cloud platform can run on-premises, at the edge or in a colocation facility, and is designed to combine the agility of the cloud with the governance, compliance and visibility that comes with hybrid IT environments.
It was revealed earlier this year that HPE had reached new agreements for its GreenLake as-a-service portfolio with Arrow Electronics, Ingram Micro and Tech Data.
The move saw GreenLake integrated into the respective distributors' marketplaces, giving partners access to the quoting, ordering and invoicing of pre-configured and pre-priced GreenLake services.
Now, Tech Data has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with HPE that works to extend its distribution of the GreenLake offering to the local region, with an initial focus on an “amplified” HPE GreenLake distribution model in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Tech Data, which struck a US$7.2 billion deal in March to merge with Synnex Corporation, claims to have partnered with HPE for over 40 years across multiple countries.
“We are very pleased to be partnering with Tech Data in the APAC [Asia Pacific] region,” said Heng Huey Lih, HPE Asia Pacific head of partner sales. “As a channel-led company, our distributors play a critical role in executing our company strategy. They are the trusted advisor to our shared partners.
“With Tech Data on board as a strategic distribution partner for HPE GreenLake cloud services, we can enable more partners and customers across the region to easily access and deliver a cloud experience everywhere, at their own pace and based on their exact requirements,” she added.
According to Bennett Wong, vice president of modern data centre and analytics at Tech Data Advanced Solutions, the distributor is able to partner with third parties to offer a standardised, consistent HPE GreenLake deployment across all solutions.
“Based on [analyst firm] IDC’s research, the need for a cloud experience has accelerated, with the market collectively demanding greater agility and flexibility to address seasonality and scalability,” he said. “The HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform delivers this with simplified IT operations, and a single view across the entire edge-to-cloud environment.”
GreenLake is an important and fast-growing part of HPE's business, with GreenLake cloud services growing by 116 per cent, year-on-year, in the first quarter of 2021 alone.
The vendor said in March that its GreenLake Cloud Services business claimed more than US$4.5 billion in total contract value, growing its annual revenue run rate by 27 per cent year-on-year.
HPE launched its GreenLake Cloud Services platform in June last year to more than 700 partners globally.
As reported in September, HPE has been placing its as-a-service growth ambitions in the hands of the channel across Southeast Asia, arming partners with GreenLake to meet rising customer consumption demand post-pandemic.
The move mirrors plans to deliver the vendor’s entire portfolio via subscription, managed IT services or pay per-use models, a three-year strategy first revealed in mid-2019 with an expected 2022 completion date.
“GreenLake represents a continuous enhancement for HPE as we prioritise providing our partners with access to as-a-service solutions to support customers from the enterprise to mid-market and SMB,” said Huey Lih at the time. “Partnership is in our DNA and the channel ecosystem remains central to our continued success.”
