“We are giving partners more predictability in a volatile market,” says HPE Senior Vice President Simon Ewington. “For [compute, storage and GreenLake Flex deals] below $1 million net, which is the majority of transactions, the price that we quote is the price customers will pay.”
HPE has changed its contractual terms to guarantee price quotes on compute, storage and GreenLake Flex deals below $1 million in spite of rising memory prices and shipment delays plaguing the industry.
HPE Executive Vice President and Chief Sales Officer Phil Mottram, who has been driving a more aggressive HPE sales offensive since taking the top sales job last November, disclosed the move Tuesday in an internal message to the HPE global sales team.
The change, which aims to give customers and partners greater pricing certainty, is one of a number of moves made by Mottram recently, including getting more aggressive on compute and storage prices to help HPE gain share.
The new strategy eliminates a contract stipulation made in February that allowed for price revisions and adjustments until the date of shipment, said HPE Senior Vice President of Worldwide Channel and Partner Ecosystem Simon Ewington (pictured) in an interview with CRN.
“We are giving partners more predictability in a volatile market,” Ewington said. “For [compute, storage and GreenLake Flex deals] below $1 million net, which is the majority of transactions, the price that we quote is the price customers will pay—no pricing adjustments between order and shipment.”
The change comes even in the midst of rising memory prices that have some HPE competitors changing prices—sometimes as much as doubling initial partner price quotes—upon shipment.
HPE partners, in fact, said that price stability and predictability is at an all-time low and praised HPE for restoring price certainty on deals under $1 million.
Ewington, for his part, stressed that the change is by no means a signal that the memory crisis is over.
“Prices are still going up,” he said. “They are not going down. So it is an even bolder move when you consider that we are still in a significant inflationary environment for technology solutions. This is genuinely about how we lean in with partners to provide the predictability they need. That has been one of the biggest [pieces of] feedback we have from partners: When is a price a price? When is a quote a quote? A price is a price, and a quote is a quote when you work with HPE.”
Prices Continue To Rise
The IT industry has been grappling with rising memory prices, shortages and shipment delays since the end of last year, with many technology vendors struggling to provide product price quotes amid the rapid changes.
Top vendors, including HPE, shortened price-quote validity windows for channel partners to 14 days and added restrictive language into partner terms and conditions that allowed them to reprice orders upon shipment.
Many industry observers expect prices to continue to rise.
Steve McDowell, founder and chief analyst at NAND Research, Pittsboro, N.C., in a May 13 post, for example, said there is no “credible near-term relief scenario” on DRAM prices, with new capacity not expected to reach meaningful production volume before late 2027 or early 2028.
McDowell wrote that first quarter 2026 “conventional DRAM contract prices” rose 90 percent to 95 percent quarter over quarter, with second quarter prices showing “continued increases at a somewhat moderated pace.”
‘The Right Thing To Do’
HPE’s shift to offer broader price protection comes just two months after it surprised partners at the HPE Partner Growth Summit by announcing that it was extending price quote validity from 14 days to 30 days for servers, storage and GreenLake Flex.
“Not only do partners have 30-day terms, but now they have the confidence that what they quote that customer will be what the customer will pay,” said HPE Vice President of North America Channel and Partner Ecosystem Jeremiah Jenson in an interview with CRN Tuesday. “We are not repricing. We are leading on behalf of our customers through our partners to provide the confidence that our partners need to go to market with HPE. We are putting real commercial muscle behind this. These are not just cosmetic PR headlines. These are real tangible actions that partners can take to customers.”
Ewington said the change is one more example of HPE firmly establishing its position as a channel market leader.
“We pride ourselves on being leaders in the market because we care about partners,” he said. “A lot of the changes we have made are not changes we are forced into making. We do it because we genuinely have got our partners’ business at the heart of everything we do. With the change in quote validity no one else did it. We didn’t need to do it. We weren’t forced to do it. We did it because it was the right thing to do to ease the operational burden of our partners.”
HPE partners said the guaranteed price quote shift, along with a much more aggressive sales effort, is a game-changer that is sure to help them win more business with HPE.
Partners: HPE ‘Sharpening Their Knives’
Mike Vencel, president of Comport Consulting, Ramsey, N.J., No. 309 on the 2026 CRN Solution Provider 500, said the change is a “great opportunity” for partners to bring on net-new customer logos with HPE.
“We are feeling very comfortable with the messaging that we are getting out of HPE leadership,” he said. “Our view is that HPE is sharpening their knives.”
Vencel said the move helps to take some of the “noise and unpredictability” out of the technology hyper-inflation cycle that has hit the industry.
“This is sort of back to the basics,” he said. “In order to win share and take on new clients you have to win with technology, value and price. You’ve got to get all three right in most cases to win business.”
Vencel said he expects prices to continue to rise on infrastructure through 2028. “What is key is that as HPE gives more predictability, we are giving that predictability to our joint customers,” he said. “That allows customers to get out of emergency mode and to get back to their normal business practices. The fact of the matter is that customers having to cut major orders in very short time windows is doable for a couple of quarters. That is not manageable over a long period of time.”
Scott Dunsire, CEO of Somerset, N.J.-based Melillo Consulting, a longtime HPE partner, called the new HPE policy a “game changer” in a market where customers are “uncertain about whether or not to pull the trigger on opportunities because they do not have any real faith that the pricing upon shipment” will not be increased.
“This is a huge move by HPE because it gives customers stability in being able to budget for infrastructure knowing the price will not change,” he said.
Dunsire said the repricing of quotes that has become prevalent in the midst of the memory crisis is causing some customers to walk away from deals.
“There is real uncertainty, and it has changed buying behaviors where customers have literally walked away from buying infrastructure,” he said. “HPE putting guardrails in place on deals under $1 million, no matter when it ships, is huge. It gives the customer stability in being able to budget infrastructure knowing the price is not going to change.”
Pat O’Dell, the head of HPE’s North America Partner Advisory Council and managing partner at CPP Associates, Clinton, N.J., No. 356 on the 2026 CRN Solution Provider 500, said the change is a big boost to partners.
“This is great news for partners,” said O’Dell. “It shows HPE is willing to take a chance and is willing to not raise prices on deals below $1 million even if prices change. It’s a great sign of HPE committing to the channel where the vast majority of transactions are under $1 million.”
O’Dell said all signs he has seen point to memory prices continuing to rise, albeit at a slower rate. “In the worst-case scenario, HPE is going to cover partners on these rising prices for deals under $1 million,” he said. “That is a good thing for the channel.”
O’Dell said it is also exciting to see HPE’s Mottram step up and advocate for partners in the midst of the memory crisis. “The fact that Phil is sending this message and is focused on partners is significant,” he said. “You expect the channel sales leaders to advocate for the channel, but it is exciting when you see the global sales leader of HPE advocate for the channel.”
O’Dell said the message from Mottram is another sign of HPE establishing a more aggressive sales position in the market.
“Phil knows exactly who his competition is, from a sales presence, sales leadership, solution offering and pricing standpoint,” said O’Dell. “Phil knows he is in a street fight and he is aiming to win. That’s a great thing for partners!”
