Hewlett Packard Enterprise annuity management + channel support programme

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise annuity management + channel support programme


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What was needed was a service specialist with 100% focus on annuity management who had the knowledge and track record to effectively support HPE channel partners and help them to successfully renew their service and maintenance agreements. Familiar with the success HPE Switzerland had experienced a few years earlier when partnering with Tesedi, ‘we reached out to HPE Switzerland and subsequently to Tesedi to see if their annuity management solution would also be applicable to the German market’, explained Peter Steensma, TS Channel Sales Manager for HPE Germany.

Customer Background


Hewlett Packard Enterprise is a global technology company offering a wide range of IT hardware and software products, IT services and IT solutions. With over USD 30 billion in annual sales, and active in more than 80 countries, HPE follows a channel distribution strategy to bring its products and services to market.

In Germany, HPE works with over 400 channel partners who sell HPE products to enterprise customers. Within HPE Germany, the Technology Service (TS) organisation is responsible for selling, delivering and renewing IT service, maintenance and warranty agreements for its server, storage, network and software products.

Annuity Challenge


Multichannel distribution, layers of complex IT landscapes with multiple data sources and points of contacts all combined with constantly changing customer hardware configurations – often requiring different service-level agreements, software and licence updates – made effective annuity management challenging and complex. HPE Germany realised that it’s channel partners needed help in managing their conversions and renewals from their existing service and maintenance agreements.

For example, partners were struggling to receive accurate quotes, were dealing with outdated customer data, were not addressing possible up-selling opportunities and were left with a high administrative workload required to renew their service and maintenance agreements. As a result, renewal rates suffered, channel partners were frustrated and enterprise customers were left without proper service coverage – impacting customer satisfaction. In addition, new business potential was not addressed systematically.

HPE Germany was searching for an annuity management expert who would be able to offer a solution that could help its HPE channel partners to manage their renewals from their service and maintenance agreements.

Tesedi


Tesedi is an authorised Hewlett Packard service-only distributor. Thanks to this clear focus, Tesedi does not sell any hardware or software products – Tesedi is the trusted service expert for both the product distributors as well as the channel partners.

Tesedi service offering


Supported by a suite of highly specialised IT systems and tools, Tesedi services cover the entire spectrum of the annuity management business life cycle, starting with service and partner on- boarding and adoption – where Tesedi welcomes new service partner while tracking relevant renewal information – all the way to sales enablement, quoting and contract optimisation – where Tesedi helps partners to accurately profile, price and quote expiring agreements.

Annuity results


Tesedi focuses on the entire end-to-end renewal process. Applying this methodology ensures that all renewal touchpoints are systematically captured throughout the entire annuity management life cycle. Due to this systematic annuity management, Hewlett Packard resellers are able to fully penetrate their existing installed base while benefiting not only from higher processing efficiency – which in turn results in dramatically reduced amounts of administrative work – but also from more new business by having the support from Tesedi experts to spot up- and cross-selling opportunities. Overall, over the course of more than four years, the Hewlett Packard TS organisation was able to increase its service revenues booked through the channel by over 300%.

Related Solution

Satisfied customers remain long-term customers. The Customer Success Management Service proactively monitors customer behaviour in usage-dependent service agreements.

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IBM relies on worldwide IT support from a single source

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IBM relies on worldwide IT support from a single source


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IBM is an internationally active technology group which offers a wide range of hardware and software solutions as well as IT-related services.


The manufacturer employs nearly 400,000 employees, is active in over 150 countries with a turnover of almost USD 80 billion in 2017. IBM pursues a channel strategy, predominantly bringing its products and services to the market via its partners and distribution channels. The partner network comprises several hundred distributors and several thousand channel partners.

Managing multinational service and support contracts has thus far represented a major challenge for IBM’s distribution partners. Different languages, goods, regulatory­ requirements and contacts made the management of these contracts a complex undertaking. Because of their heterogeneity, quoting and accounting for such multi-country contracts required great administrative effort and expense and currency risks were linked to both to the manufacturer and to the distributors. Furthermore, quality assurance was difficult.

IBM thus began looking for a partner who was able to provide global service and support management, a partner that could properly take into account not only the interests of IBM itself, but also those of the distributors and partners and ensure that there was a 360-degree view of all existing support jobs. The manufacturer chose Europlus Direct (EPD). Together with EPD and participating distributors, IBM developed a concept for a global management of service contracts. This not only brings benefits to the manufacturer and to its distributors, but also to their service partners and end-users. “Using the EPD WW IT service has massively cut down the amount of time needed to administer and manage maintenance across our complex European IT infrastructure,” says David Allanson European IS Manager at NSK a multinational IBM customer working with EPD across 10 European countries.

In order to be able to offer international customers a worldwide IBM service, EPD has established business relationships with over 300 distributors covering over 100 countries. As a certified and accredited IBM reseller, the EPD team can guarantee first class service and support in practically every corner of the world. Customers can rely on the expertise of employees trained and authorised by the manufacturer and, where necessary, obtain original spare parts or replacement devices. And it makes no difference in how many countries an internationally active customer needs service and support. Together with Europlus Direct, IBM is able to provide these in the respective language and currency, adapted to the local regulatory and distribution landscape. This is always original IBM service. Upon request, the customer receives a uniform offer that also provides some cushioning against fluctuations in currency, thereby providing security to both provider and ­customer alike.

Thanks to the cooperation with EPD, IBM and its distributors and channel partners were able to significantly reduce the administrative burden for worldwide sales of IT support services, significantly improve service quality and so markedly increase the sales of multi-country contracts.

Customers


The IBM global partner ecosystem is made of several hundreds of distributors and several thousand of channel partners. They support the full spectrum of national and international businesses – from the SMB customer all the way to the large ­multinational corporate customer.

Challenge


IBM is active in nearly 150 countries worldwide and addresses nationally and internationally­ active customers via an extensive network of distributors and channel partners. IBM was facing the challenge of offering multinational companies continuous and transparent maintenance service. Different national languages, legal requirements, currencies and contact people led to a lack of transparency, an inordinate administrative burden and quoting and invoicing problems. Furthermore, service quality and speed couldn’t be consistently guaranteed.

Solution


For their multi-country contracts, IBM and its distribution and channel partners use the WW IT service of Europlus Direct (EPD), a globally active expert in IT service and support tasks. Thanks to the support from EPD, IBM customers are now able to use maintenance services at different locations. Quoting and invoicing have been enormously simplified, the currency risk reduced and service quality and availability increased. As a result, IBM was able to significantly increase turnover in the maintenance­ area, which had not often been realised before due to the complexity of multi-country contracts.

Related Solution

The World Wide IT Maintenance Service supports business partners and end customers in multi-country management of their IT service and support contracts in almost every country in the world.

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise: Win-Back Service increases sales with maintenance and support contracts

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise: Win-Back Service increases sales with maintenance and support contracts


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In the past, renewing service and maintenance contracts in the volume business area has posed a challenge for HPE for a number of reasons.


These fixed service packages, which typically have a value of less than 1,000 euros, are highly standardised fixed-term contracts. An end customer will often purchase several of these packages with different expiration dates through a number of channel partners, who in turn purchase their goods from various distributors. Furthermore, the initial registration of service packs often lacks in contract information quality. The name or address of the customer may be incorrect or not recorded at all, the expiry date of the contract not correctly stated, or the contractual relationships with the manufacturer and the distribution channel are unclear.

For the channel, managing these small contracts poses a major challenge despite the high level of automation provided by HPE. The overhead required for them to track, process and renew these fragmented and low value contracts prevents it being a commercially viable activity in most cases. As a result, service and maintenance contracts are not renewed, although the channel partners are reminded of the upcoming renewal 180 days before it expires. The hardware then remains either unprotected or is serviced by third parties (Third-Party Maintenance, TPM) who are not authorised by HPE. Even if the contracts are small and of little value in themselves, they represent a considerable overall sales potential which HPE and the channel have thus far lost.

HPE was therefore looking for a way to win back (rescue), expired service pack contracts but without generating any channel conflict. HPE selected Support Warehouse, a specialist in win-back of expired contracts. Founded in the UK in 2005, the company has been part of the Annuity Management Group since 2017 and currently employs some 60 people. The service provider works with HPE in over 12 markets, including UK&I, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and the USA. Due to a specially developed Inside Sales IT system, Support Warehouse is in a position to manage raw contract data very efficiently, to clean it and start win-back campaigns immediately with a highly qualified sales team on the day the contract expires.

Upon expiry of the contract, the end customer first receives a renewal reminder email and is prompted to renew the contract with their channel partner or another reseller authorised by HPE (including Support Warehouse). Following the renewal reminder, another automated contract entitlement check is performed. If the contract is still not renewed, a Support Warehouse (SWH) account manager will contact the customer by phone to inform them about their renewal options. In the course of this conversation, the account manager checks the customer’s support requirements and also checks whether there is other HPE equipment with no contract coverage (so-called naked boxes). This allows Support Warehouse to include identified naked boxes in addition to expired contracts in their renewal quotes (SWH can only quote services renewals at-list prices).

Approximately 40 percent of all customers won back by SWH buy their contract renewal with their existing channel partner following the SWH reminder email. This makes SWH one of the largest lead generation providers for the channel. With won-back customers that have directly renewed through SWH on average, up to 30 percent naked boxes are uncovered and included in the renewal. For the customer, this reminder service means more security and protection for their valuable hardware, while manufacturers and channels benefit from additional sales.

For HPE and its channel partners, Support Warehouse was able to win back more than 100,000 contract renewals over the past twelve years and achieve incremental sales of nearly 160 million US dollars. In addition to this, there are the renewals, which were ultimately concluded by the channel partner, but whose win-back was initiated by SWH’s reminder service.

Customer Background


Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) was formed in 2015 from the division of the Hewlett Packard (HP) technology group. The company sells information technology for business customers and has over 100,000 employees and an annual turnover of more than 40 billion dollars.

Challenge


HPE offers standardised service and maintenance contracts (service fixed packs) for SMBs that HPE primarily addresses via the channel. Some of these are only a few hundred euros, making their renewal unattractive for the channel, as the management of these very small contracts is complex and prone to error. As a result, these contracts often remained unmaintained and simply expired after the fixed term. HPE, or its predecessor HP, was therefore looking for a way to win back and sustainably manage small-volume contracts without causing channel conflicts.

Solution


HP commissioned the service-only renewal expert Support Warehouse (SWH) to design a win back program for such high-volume contracts. Support Warehouse developed a reminder and rescue service for this purpose, in which the end customer is reminded of their renewal when a contract is due to expire. The customer is then prompted to contact their channel partner or another authorised HPE reseller. If they don’t, SWH becomes directly active during the rescue service. This means that business and margins remain in the channel, while the complex renewal management is handled by Support Warehouse.

Results


For HPE and its channel partners, Support Warehouse was able to win back more than 100,000 contract renewals over the past twelve years and achieve incremental sales of nearly 160 million US dollars. In addition to this, there are the renewals, which were ultimately concluded by the channel partner, but whose win-back was initiated by SWH’s reminder service.

Related Solution

The Reminder and Rescue Service wins back service contracts that have been thought already lost.

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