HP launches new service for channel partners and SMB's

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Editor's Note: Yesterday, HP launched HP SMB Central, an online portal designed to help HP channel partners better serve the $57 billion small and medium business market.

Targeted at resellers who serve small businesses with 10 – 500 employees, HP SMB Central provides a direct connection to sales and marketing support, real-time answers to questions, and information on products and solutions across the entire HP portfolio.

(This was cross-posted from 367 Addison Avenue Blog and was authored by Melissa Zieger)

As members of HP’s SMB Council, both Mary Stazi and Arlin Sorensen were involved with the creation of HP SMB Central.  Sorensen is CEO of Heartland Technology Solutions, which serves small and medium-sized businesses in the government, education and agriculture sectors. Headquartered in Harlan, Iowa, Heartland has 85 employees across seven regional offices that serve five Midwestern states. Stazi is president of The Computing Center, which is based in Ithaca, NY, employs 19 and does approximately $4.3 million in sales per year. Financial services and insurance are the company’s niche markets, but it’s expanding into public sector education as well.

In celebration of the launch of HP SMB Central, I sat down with both to learn more about the importance of the SMB market, the value of which is estimated at $57 billion in the U.S., and how HP is helping partners better serve it.

Melissa Zieger: What does the SMB market represent to your company?

Mary Stazi: It’s almost the entirety of what The Computing Center does. We have close to 2,500 current customers, with up to 800 of them active at any one time. Some of our customers have 1,000 employees or less, but 80 percent of them are much smaller.

Arlin Sorensen:  It’s who we are. We serve the SMB market exclusively. Since the majority of our offices are in tertiary markets, SMB is in our roots and the key to our success. We have served this base of clients since the inception of our company in 1985. Our acquisitions have also been focused on companies that serve SMBs.

Melissa Zieger: How will HP SMB Central help you engage with HP?

Mary Stazi: It opens up many opportunities for working with HP in different ways. With HP SMB Central, HP is offering resources and support to resellers that have, up until now, focused on the smaller end of the midmarket segment to help us pursue clients at the higher end of the segment. I believe HP recognizes that resources are needed to serve clients throughout the midmarket spectrum. By being able to take advantage of resources and programs, we’ll be able to go into that market with the backing of HP. There will also be numerous opportunities to take advantage of resources on the back end, like rebates.

Arlin Sorensen: It will simplify doing business with HP. We have long been standardized on HP as our go-to-market strategy, but now it will be simpler for SMB partners to do business with HP. It will help us serve clients more efficiently and it will allow us to scale our business.

Melissa Zieger: How will an increased level of engagement with HP benefit your customers?

Mary Stazi: It will allow us to bring a wider breadth of solutions to our customers.

Arlin Sorensen:  It will enable us to find all applicable information that could impact our clients in one centralized portal. That will make us more effective as a provider. It will also help us ensure that we’re applying every program and offer that is in the market to their situation. I believe it will lead to better customer service.

Melissa Zieger: What’s your favorite feature on SMB Central?

Mary Stazi: I like the fact that everything is in one place. It’s easy to deal with and it’s easy to use. It’s all right there.

Arlin Sorensen:  The solution building tool, which will help us easily create a parts list and quotes for our clients. There are so many options in the HP line card that we need a tool to help us make sure we prepare quotes completely and correctly. This is a welcome addition.

Melissa Zieger:  Over the long term, what benefits do you expect to realize as a result of HP SMB Central?

Mary Stazi: I think HP SMB Central is a great way to cement the relationship between smaller vendors and HP. HP is really proving that this market is important, and I believe that HP SMB Central will definitely help us grow our business as well as other businesses focused on the SMB market.

Arlin Sorensen: HP SMB Central is a very good thing. It will help us grow our business. We will grow and scale our business by using the tools being made available and by leveraging the power of HP to further extend our organization into our markets. 

As members of HP’s SMB Council, both Mary Stazi and Arlin Sorensen were involved with the creation of HP SMB Central.  Sorensen is CEO of Heartland Technology Solutions, which serves small and medium-sized businesses in the government, education and agriculture sectors. Headquartered in Harlan, Iowa, Heartland has 85 employees across seven regional offices that serve five Midwestern states. Stazi is president of The Computing Center, which is based in Ithaca, NY, employs 19 and does approximately $4.3 million in sales per year. Financial services and insurance are the company’s niche markets, but it’s expanding into public sector education as well.

In celebration of the launch of HP SMB Central, I sat down with both to learn more about the importance of the SMB market, the value of which is estimated at $57 billion in the U.S., and how HP is helping partners better serve it.

Melissa Zieger: What does the SMB market represent to your company?

Mary Stazi: It’s almost the entirety of what The Computing Center does. We have close to 2,500 current customers, with up to 800 of them active at any one time. Some of our customers have 1,000 employees or less, but 80 percent of them are much smaller.

Arlin Sorensen:  It’s who we are. We serve the SMB market exclusively. Since the majority of our offices are in tertiary markets, SMB is in our roots and the key to our success. We have served this base of clients since the inception of our company in 1985. Our acquisitions have also been focused on companies that serve SMBs.

Melissa Zieger: How will HP SMB Central help you engage with HP?

Mary Stazi: It opens up many opportunities for working with HP in different ways. With HP SMB Central, HP is offering resources and support to resellers that have, up until now, focused on the smaller end of the midmarket segment to help us pursue clients at the higher end of the segment. I believe HP recognizes that resources are needed to serve clients throughout the midmarket spectrum. By being able to take advantage of resources and programs, we’ll be able to go into that market with the backing of HP. There will also be numerous opportunities to take advantage of resources on the back end, like rebates.

Arlin Sorensen: It will simplify doing business with HP. We have long been standardized on HP as our go-to-market strategy, but now it will be simpler for SMB partners to do business with HP. It will help us serve clients more efficiently and it will allow us to scale our business.

Melissa Zieger: How will an increased level of engagement with HP benefit your customers?

Mary Stazi: It will allow us to bring a wider breadth of solutions to our customers.

Arlin Sorensen:  It will enable us to find all applicable information that could impact our clients in one centralized portal. That will make us more effective as a provider. It will also help us ensure that we’re applying every program and offer that is in the market to their situation. I believe it will lead to better customer service.

Melissa Zieger: What’s your favorite feature on SMB Central?

Mary Stazi: I like the fact that everything is in one place. It’s easy to deal with and it’s easy to use. It’s all right there.

Arlin Sorensen:  The solution building tool, which will help us easily create a parts list and quotes for our clients. There are so many options in the HP line card that we need a tool to help us make sure we prepare quotes completely and correctly. This is a welcome addition.

Melissa Zieger:  Over the long term, what benefits do you expect to realize as a result of HP SMB Central?

Mary Stazi: I think HP SMB Central is a great way to cement the relationship between smaller vendors and HP. HP is really proving that this market is important, and I believe that HP SMB Central will definitely help us grow our business as well as other businesses focused on the SMB market.

Arlin Sorensen: HP SMB Central is a very good thing. It will help us grow our business. We will grow and scale our business by using the tools being made available and by leveraging the power of HP to further extend our organization into our markets.