HPE Discover: HPE Cites Enterprise Channel as Key to Nvidia Partnership

HPE said it can deliver enterprise generative AI customers to Nvidia, as well as education for its enterprise channel partners.

Dave Raffo, MSP News Editor

June 19, 2024

4 Min Read
HPE Discover: Partners key to Nvidia partnership
HPE Discover 2024, Las Vegas, June 18.HPE

HPE DISCOVER — The reason HPE is going all-in with Nvidia on its generative artificial intelligence (AI) stack is obvious. Nvidia is the AI hardware vendor of choice for all major IT players because of its GPUs and AI software.

But what does HPE bring to Nvidia that prompted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to join HPE CEO Antonio Neri on stage for the first IT keynote session at the Las Vegas Sphere? According to Jesse Chavez, HPE VP of channel partner programs and operations, HPE’s enterprise customers set it apart from its rivals — from Nvidia’s standpoint.

“We are making a bet with Nvidia,” Chavez said. “Typically, we don't integrate as heavily [with partners]. Maybe we did with the Microsofts or the VMwares in the world is in the past, but even with alliances with Intel and AMD, we don't get integrated this deeply.”

HPE's Jesse Chavez

HPE representatives frequently point out that the new HPE Private Cloud AI is co-engineered with Nvidia. Private Cloud AI, the first product of the Nvidia AI Computing by HPE platform, is a turnkey solution rather than a reference architecture that Dell and others have announced.

Chavez said there is another difference between HPE and competitors.

“I think the reason that Nvidia is excited to partner with us, and they’ve been pushing us for the last couple of years, is because our space has been the enterprise,” he said. “That’s where this market is moving. The opportunity is going to be in the enterprise. The majority of partners we have are selling into the enterprise; that’s the channel we have. And in my opinion, it's the channel that Super Micro and Dell have always envied. Nvidia recognized that, and we recognize that.”

Related:HPE Discover 2024: HPE Virtualization Draws VMware Comparison

HPE Discover 2024: Channel Partner Reaction

Stephen Moss, SVP of managed services at Insight Enterprises, said as a close HPE partner, he welcomed the Nvidia news.

Insight's Stephen Moss

“We already all know who Nvidia is, and when you start looking at the combination of the two and how they’re bringing that together in one space, it probably simplifies how the market approaches [AI],” he said. “It should accelerate what I would call the hybridized specifics.”

Brian Spivey, managing partner at IT services and consulting firm Technical & Scientific Application (TSA), said he has already found the HPE-Nvidia partnership “extremely powerful for us as we go to market with them.”

“The HPE partnership with Nvidia is extremely strong, and you’re seeing more and more solutions come together around that,” Spivey said. “So whether your customer’s doing generative AI, large language model, or we've even been looking at computer vision options, Nvidia has been a key player across all of those. We see the partnership benefiting our end users.”

Related:HPE Optimizes HPE GreenLake for AI

HPE’s channel chiefs also vow to give partners plenty of help around generative AI and Nvidia technology with AI workshops, competency programs and certifications.

Simon Ewington, HPE VP of worldwide channel and partner ecosystem, said even if partners recognize the opportunities of generative AI, education is necessary.

“Not every partner knows how to grasp that opportunity,” he said. “Not every partner knows where to start. Not every partner knows the tangible steps to take. And we want to help partners. We want them to better understand these steps, and that is why we will be taking control and we will deliver AI leadership in the channel.”

Chavez said HPE and Nvidia will combine their enablement programs into common workshops supporting generative AI. HPE will hold five-day workshops with two days focusing on Nvidia certifications and three on HPE certifications.

“In order to sell to our channel community, we have to have an enablement program that supports the enterprise,” he said. “It gets pretty heavy. You have to be able to do hands-on, you have to do labs. That's what our customers expect. That's what our partners expect — to grow mastery through certifications of everything that we do.”

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About the Author

Dave Raffo

MSP News Editor, Channel Futures

Dave Raffo has written about IT for more than two decades, focusing mainly on data storage, data center infrastructure and public cloud. He was a news editor and editorial director at TechTarget’s storage group for 13 years, news editor for storage-centric Byte and Switch, and a research analyst for Evaluator Group. In addition to covering news and writing in-depth features and columns, Dave has moderated panels at tech conferences. While at TechTarget, Raffo Dave won several American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) awards for writing and editing, including for column writing.

Raffo covers the managed services industry for Channel Futures. His reporting beat includes the MSPs, key vendors and tech suppliers with managed services programs, platform providers, distributors and all key players in this sector of the market. Dave also works closely on the Channel Futures MSP 501 and our live events.

Raffo has also worked for United Press International, EdTech magazine, Windows Magazine and Data Center Intelligence Group (DCIG) in reporting, editing and research analyst roles.

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