Partners expect the appointment of Jimmy Hougaard, a 10-year HPE veteran, to lead to more opportunities for them to drive compute sales growth.
HPE has named Jimmy Hougaard, a 10-year HPE veteran who was most recently director of compute and high-velocity sales for the Nordic region, as the new compute channel leader effective Nov. 1.
Before joining HPE in April 2016, Hougaard, who will report to HPE Senior Vice President of Worldwide Channel and Partner Ecosystem Simon Ewington, spent 10 years in sales at Denmark IT infrastructure and services provider Danoffice IT.
The Hougaard appointment comes with HPE moving to capture compute market share with more aggressive pricing aimed at giving partners a competitive advantage in the sales trenches.
“I’m confident that Jimmy’s leadership, partner focus and deep compute expertise will help us accelerate momentum in this critical area of our business and further strengthen how we bring HPE innovation to market through our channel ecosystem,” said Ewington in an internal email announcing Hougaard’s appointment. “His appointment reflects our continued commitment to sharpening our Compute channel focus and positions us to capitalize on new opportunities created by our recent pricing actions, enabling partners to capture demand, enhance competitiveness, and drive profitable growth across the portfolio.”
HPE has recently upped its partner compute sales charge by increasing price quote validity to 30 days and guaranteeing price quotes on compute, storage and GreenLake Flex deals below $1 million despite rising memory prices and shipment delays plaguing the industry.
To further bolster its efforts to increase compute market share, HPE has lowered compute deal escalation pricing from $1 million to $500,000 as it steps up its bid to win more compute business.
HPE has also moved its compute new business opportunity incentive lookback—which rewards partners for upgrading existing HPE accounts—from a five-year lookback to three years.
Atea Group, the largest solution provider in the Nordic region with over $6 billion in annual sales, has built a growing and profitable HPE business working hand in hand with Hougaard over the last decade, said Chris Ashby, executive director of strategic partners for Atea Group.
“I’ve known Jimmy for 10 years,” said Ashby. “He’s one of the most loyal, dedicated and honest people I have ever met. If somebody dropped $10 on the floor, Jimmy is the guy who would pick it up, walk around and ask the 20 people in the room who lost the $10. Jimmy is a hard-working, good guy who is dedicated to the channel. He knows that the channel is where the growth is. He has lived the channel his whole career, and he has taken on every challenge that HPE has given him over all those years.”
Ashby, who has built a career maximizing vendor relationships to drive sales growth, said he expects Hougaard’s appointment to result in Atea further expanding its business with HPE. That is due to the “trust, time, connections and understanding” that Hougaard has built and developed with regard to how Atea and HPE can work together to drive sales growth, said Ashby.
Ashby credited Hougaard (pictured above) as a channel leader who has built strong, seasoned sales and technical teams that work closely across the Nordic region with Atea. “You have to connect all the dots to our people across countries,” he said. “It’s not an easy job. Jimmy is really good at it.”
C.R. Howdyshell, CEO of Independence, Ohio-based Advizex, a Myriad360 company, said he is “super excited” about the Hougaard appointment given that Myriad360 is looking at expanding into Europe, starting with the Netherlands.
Howdyshell said he is looking forward to speaking with Ewington and Hougaard on Myriad360’s global expansion. “When you are trying to expand globally, it is key to have these kinds of relationships so we can execute in these new markets,” he said.
Howdyshell said Hougaard’s experience as a sales executive with Danoffice IT is going to be key to helping Myriad360 be successful in the field. “As a former solution provider, he speaks our language,” he said.
Scott Dunsire, CEO of Somerset, N.J.-based Melillo Consulting, a top HPE enterprise partner, said he sees Hougaard’s appointment as another sign that HPE is getting more aggressive to drive compute share gains. “I like the fact that we’re seeing more focus on getting aggressive to win back customers and market share,” he said.
Dunsire said customers are responding to recent HPE channel changes including 30-day quote validity and the under $1 million deal price guarantee, said Dunsire. “That’s allowing HPE to play in some opportunities that they previously would not have been considered for,” he said
Dunsire praised Ewington for leading the channel charge to make HPE more competitive in the compute market. “Simon has a good perspective on what channel partners need to be successful,” he said.
