Gorodenkoff - stock.adobe.com
HPE working with the channel on SME networking opportunities
Vendor has seen growth in the SME space for its Aruba services and has plans to deliver more customer offerings via the channel
HPE is looking to work with the channel to take advantage of the growth it is experiencing in networking in the SME and mind-market.
Sharing his thoughts about the state of the market with analysts after the vendor's Q3 results HPE's president and CEO Antonio Neri talked up the prospects in the key reseller customer segments.
"We see good momentum in SMB and mid-market, particularly in the transactional business. And that’s why we have a lot of focus both on the product portfolio and the go-to-market," he said.
"We’ll make some announcement with Aruba on Instant On and the low touch no touch, particularly on the e-commerce side with our channel partners," he added.
The Aruba services business was the bright spot in the Q3 results, with a 16% year-on-year improvement, with the take-up of wireless continuing ahead of the expected 5G rollout.
Overall net revenue for the quarter declined by 7% to come in at $7.2bn but Neri was pleased with the progress as the firm continues to navigate towards basing the business on more software and services.
"It is an exciting time at HPE. Over the last two years, we have shifted our portfolio and aligned our investments and execution to that shift. The hard work has paved the way for us to innovate and we are well positioned to capitalize on the significant opportunity in front of us and to continue to deliver strong shareholder value," he said.
The trade war between US and China was blamed for causing some "elongated sales cycles" and knocking customer confidence. But he felt that the pressure remained on users to invest in their IT systems.
"Our customers continue to affirm their need to accelerate their digital transformations to improve business outcomes and customer and employee experiences while reducing cost," he told analysts.
"The exposure of data will continue to fuel underlying demand for solutions to help, protect, store, manage and analyze their vigor. And this is where we are laser focused," he added.
