HP Enterprise Turns To eCommerce For SMEs

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is deploying a digital commerce solution to help its small business customers procure IT services, according to Friday (June 3) reports.

HPE reportedly introduced a pilot eCommerce platform for its U.K. SME clients. HPE Marketplace links small businesses to both HPE and its partner services, including servers, data storage and other solutions.

Its introduction in the U.K. follows what HPE described as a successful pilot program with U.S. small business customers.

“Our small and mid-size business customers now expect and demand a wide variety of choices and options from their online shopping experience,” said HPE Vice President of Indirect Sales and Service Providers Lee Hughes in a statement. “Our new direct-to-partner model will give our customers the ability to choose which partner best fits their specific IT infrastructure needs. As an additional benefit, we’ll also drive more revenue back to our participating channel partners.”

The marketplace will enable product browsing and descriptions, special offers and price comparison capabilities for SME shoppers, the company said.

According to reports, HPE has seen growth among its SME client base since it first became an independent company from Hewlett Packard last year.

In June 2015, Hewlett Packard announced the decision to split itself into two separate entities, with HPE targeting the enterprise. Despite growth among SMEs, HP Enterprise has faced skepticism over its strength. Reports last August said that Hewlett Packard had cut staffing levels at its HP Enterprise Services unit before it broke off to become HPE.

HP also said that it would look to reduce costs of its Enterprise Services unit by $2 billion over the next three years in response to mediocre sales.