Continuing to invest in the channel, increasing staff, and expanding its footprint on the continent are the key aspects of HP Inc. Africa’s growth plans for 2020.
Both MD Elizabeth Moreno and district manager for Southern Africa, Michael van Lier, said at the company’s 2019 partner awards in Johannesburg last night that although 2019 had been a ‘crazy year’, they felt energised following their recent trip to the US, where they met with the executive team.
They are optimistic about the future, even though they know it will not be easy; they believe that working in conjunction with partners will benefit both parties on the road ahead.
“We’ve seen a massive shift within the contractual market – and this is an area we want to grow, as we move from the transactional market into the contractual one,” said Van Lier.
As opposed to a sale where no product knowledge is required, contractual is one where the sale is a more complex, long-term process involving collaboration of both buyer and seller, in which the latter must first develop an understanding of the customer’s business, industry, and needs, and then craft a solution to help the customer achieve their objectives. This is usually service- or solution-based.
“At the same time, we want our partners to also have a closer relationship with the enterprise division so we can own the customer from end to end, thus giving the customer a more agile and improved service.”
New chapter: Becoming more agile
Moreno, who has been at the helm for a year, says the company is ready for its new chapter in South Africa.
“Every chapter in life is about the people,” she said, “and as new changes are implemented in 2020, there is one aspect that remains constant – our partners.
“What is this new chapter? It’s pretty simple; it’s about us becoming more agile and going back to the company’s entrepreneurial roots, and in so doing, increasing the business footprint throughout the whole of Africa.”
In growing its base further with the help of its partners, Moreno said it was important for them to concentrate on the 4Ps – people, planet, profit and petabytes.
“You can have the best tools, but if you don’t have the right people driving it, then you are going to fail.
“The planet is important because we need to ensure we strive for a sustainable environment in which we operate.”
As for profit, she said we are all entrepreneurs striving for profit. Profits enable the company to deliver great products so partners can make more money.
Regarding petabytes, Moreno stated that data is everything, adding that we must know how to manage this data so that our customers feel safe and secure, know where their data is, feel protected and own their own data. “We are working on this because data is the future of business,” she said.
As we embrace the next chapter and concentrate on the 4Ps, we will be able to grow our market share, not only in South Africa, but throughout the rest of the continent as well,” concluded Moreno.
HP Partner Awards 2019 Winners:
- PC Platinum Partner of the Year 2019: Datacentrix
- Print Platinum Partner of the Year 2019: Datacentrix
- Supplies Platinum Partner of the Year 2019: Bidvest Waltons and Introstat
- PC Gold Partner of the Year 2019: Esizwe Technology
- Print Gold Partner of the Year 2019: Introstat
- Supplies Gold Partner of the Year 2019: Inovocom
- PC Silver Partner of the Year 2019: A E Software
- Print Silver Partner of the Year 2019: Graylink Media
- Supplies Silver Partner of the Year 2019: SBD Business Systems
- PC Retail Partner of the Year 2019: Incredible Connection
- Print Retail Partner of the Year 2019: Makro
- PC Gold Partner of the Year 2019: Reliance Technology Limited - Zambia
- Print Gold Partner of the Year 2019: P C NET - Botswana
- Supplies Gold Partner of the Year 2019: Northern Fixtures and Fittings - Botswana
- Growth Partner of the Year 2019: Netsillica Business System - Botswana
- Education Partner of the Year 2019: Golan Traders
- Sustainable Impact Partner of the Year 2019: Introstat
- Retail Point of Sale Partner of the Year 2019: Business Connexion
- MPS Partner of the Year 2019: SBD Business Systems
- Partner First Computing Services Sales Partner of the Year 2019: DG Store
- Partner First Printing Services Sales Partner of the Year 2019: Datacentrix
- PC Channel Service Delivery Partner of the Year 2019: EOH Mthombo
- Print Channel Service Delivery Partner of the Year 2019: First Technology
- Gaming Partner of the Year 2019: Evetech
- Digital Transformation partner of the Year 2019 / Digital Retail Innovation: HP Shop
- PC Business Unit Manager of the Year 2019: Francois van Wyk - Drive Control Corporation
- Print Business Unit Manager of the Year 2019: Morgan Bleasdale - Taropa Technologies
- Commercial Channel Ambassador 2019: William du Preez - Introstat
- Executive of the Year 2019: Jamie Scott - Datacentrix
- Hardware Distributor of the Year 2019: Tarsus Distribution
- Supplies Hardware Distributor of the Year 2019: Kolok
Share