Yesterday at the HP Global Partner Conference (GPC), HP Inc. announced a range of news, product innovations, services and programs aimed at delivering value to its global network of more than 250,000 partners.
At the event, HP was looking to share its vision and strategy to drive profitable growth and expand its channel business to 87 percent, up from 80 percent. Top speakers were HP CEO Dion Weisler, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and key board members including TaskRabbit CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot.
“The needs and expectations of our customers are changing rapidly, and change creates opportunities for HP and our partners,” said Dion Weisler, president and CEO, HP. “Backed by the channel who are critical to our go-to-market strategy, HP’s innovations are powering business and industry transformations. Together, we can seize these new opportunities and drive profitable growth today and in the future.”
Yesterday HP announced the following:
- HP announced a definitive agreement to acquire Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.’s printer business in a deal valued at $1.05 billion. The proposed acquisition positions HP to disrupt the $55 billion copier industry, a segment that hasn’t innovated in decades.
- HP also introduced an extensive line of A3 multifunction printers (MFPs) and services, representing a strategic initiative for the company and supporting its effort to reinvent business printing. For partners, HP has launched a new services-led channel business model, enabling its channel to sell and service more efficiently, while delivering customers affordable color, reliable performance, and industry-leading security through HP PageWide Enterprise, PageWide Pro and LaserJet Managed MFP platforms.
Building on its strongest product portfolio ever, HP is pioneering entirely new categories that benefit customers, and transforming business models together with its partners. Additional announcements include:
- Updates to HP Partner First program, Co-Marketing Zone and Social Media Center designed to offer more value to partners and enable them to grow their businesses by tapping into industry trends.
- Partner First Specialist designation now available for HP Device as a Service (DaaS), giving qualified partners access to exclusive benefits.
Also, HP and Microsoft have entered a multi-year agreement to deploy Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to thousands of HP employees in order to enhance collaboration across marketing, sales and service operations.
For decades, the copier category has lacked the disruptive innovation needed to drive service efficiency, protect against security breaches and deliver cost-effective color. Today, HP is changing this with a next-generation portfolio of A3 MFP printing solutions that deliver the simplicity, reliability, serviceability, and security to transform business printing.
With yesterday’s launch and new channel programs, HP can now deliver the industry’s most advanced lineup of A3 MFP and A4 laser print solutions for the office that reflects the ongoing industry transition to everything as a service and contractual versus transactional sales.
“The complexity of traditional copiers makes repair and maintenance too inefficient for our partners and customers,” said Enrique Lores, president, Imaging & Printing, HP Inc. “By leveraging our superior printing technology, we can change the status quo with next-generation A3 multifunction printers that improve the overall customer and partner experience while also serving as a springboard for growth in managed print and document services. This is what we mean by reinventing printing.”
“The new HP A3 portfolio and channel program will empower HP’s partners in a region where we are aggressively pursuing growth through innovation and contractual services,” added Richard Bailey, President, Asia Pacific & Japan, HP.
Next generation A3 multifunction printers
HP’s full portfolio of A3 MFPs – including three PageWide platforms and 13 LaserJet platforms – will be available as 54 different SKUs with a range of finishing options, such as in-cave stapler stacker, hole punch, high capacity staple / stack and booklet makers, to provide the strongest customer experience. By providing a broad range of device options, HP is providing channel partners robust possibilities and pricing flexibility to meet the needs of their customers.
The HP PageWide Enterprise and Pro platforms will make color affordable, along with best-in-class print speeds and lower energy consumption than in-class laser devices.The simple architecture of HP PageWide – with only three components that may need replacing – will help lower servicing costs for channel partners. The single and multifunction devices will have print speeds ranging from 40 ppm to 60 ppm (up to 80 ppm in General Office mode). The HP PageWide Pro devices will be available beginning in spring 2017 while the HP PageWide Enterprise devices will be available in fall 2017.
The HP LaserJet Managed MFPs will be available as multifunction devices, with color or monochrome printing and speeds ranging from 22 ppm to 60 ppm. The new LaserJets will have long-life components, fast repair times, and will be available beginning in spring 2017.
HP Smart Device Services
The company is also introducing HP Smart Device Services, a set of cloud tools and device-based sensing capabilities, designed to dramatically enhance the service experience. It monitors and diagnoses many service needs to minimize downtime and cut costs. For example, the service can anticipate parts servicing before the part fails and avoids premature ink and toner replacement.
Smart Device Services is compatible on HP printers and MFPs with FutureSmart, introduced in 2012, including the new A3 PageWide and LaserJet devices. As such, Smart Device Services will enhance service efficiency on partners’ fleets and improve uptime on customers’ devices. It will be available to qualified channel partners at no additional cost for all contractual devices using HP Original supplies.
World class printer security
Print security is a key consideration in the engineering of the new HP A3 MFPs. Customers want to protect their intellectual property and their customers’ confidential information. The HP PageWide and LaserJet Enterprise devices feature industry-leading embedded security features including Sure Start, run-time intrusion detection, and whitelisting, making them the world’s most secure printers. The HP PageWide Pro devices will feature best-in-class security with features such as secure boot and firmware integrity checking.
All of the new HP PageWide and LaserJet devices can be used with HP’s security services and JetAdvantage portfolio of management and security software, including the recently announced JetAdvantage on Demand cloud platform, reducing the burden on partners to secure and manage these devices.
Channel programs and financing
As part of the broader strategy outlined at its Global Partner Conference, HP has introduced a services-led channel business program to support partner success with its A3 portfolio and managed services-designated printers. Qualified partners will receive guaranteed pricing, sales tools and service support. HP Financial Services (HPFS) will provide a variety of flexible IT investment options to help partners and their customers acquire, pay for and consume innovative A3 print technology.
