HP: POD channels to market 'quite broad'

Sales of HP's performance optimised data center could bring with it new channel partnerships, Country Manager Jeff Healey has said.

HP has warned that data centers in New Zealand are reaching their limits in power, cooling and space while at the same time capital constraints are requiring a rethinking of data center strategy. The company is currently inviting partners and resellers to attend POD events that discuss the benefits of the containerised data center. 

"We've had some of our major customers and channel partners come in, who are the sort of people grappling with the challenges that we’re looking at,” Healey told The Channel. “Most of them have data centers that are underutilised because they can’t fit as much equipment in their existing data centers. That’s generally because they’ve got an old data center that was maybe designed to cope with four to six KWs per rack. Today’s IT equipment can draw anything from 18 to 30 so they find they have a stranded rack capacity.”

Healey said that HP is already speaking to its channel community about how to deliver POD to New Zealand customers.

“If you look at the channel in New Zealand, how many channel partners have a thermodynamic expert on staff?” he asked. “The answer’s none. So by having that expertise within HP, it’s something we can enable through our channel partners in New Zealand. Most partners don’t get a request every week to build a data center and they don’t have that capability sitting on the shelf. They’ve got to go and partner with someone.

“Each one of their customers individually couldn’t afford a performance optimised, containerised data center but by pitching to say ten of their customers it may be a viable option. In that respect, the channels to market are quite broad really, right from the multinational, larger organisations in New Zealand right down to the smaller organisations that are looking at regional DR,” he said.

HP’s POD event series continues in Wellington on April 28 and then in Christchurch on May 4. You can find details on how to register here.