Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is claiming early success from its reconfigured partner program, a reconfiguration model that it expects will gain momentum as it moves to integrate its $14 billion Juniper Networks acquisition.

Simon Ewington, SVP of worldwide channel and partner ecosystem at HPE, in a blog post claimed the vendor counted “more than 1,700 partners with one or more HPE Partner Ready Vantage membership,” at the close of its recently completed third fiscal quarter.

HPE unveiled the updated partner program at its Discover event in June. It’s designed to bring together previously disparate channels such as HPE Partner Ready and HPE Partner Ready for Networking under a single umbrella.

“Designed with partner input and built on best practices from HPE’s award-winning programs, it simplifies enrolment, offers flexible participation, and provides tailored support,” Ewington said of the program. “With a unified compensation model and the ability to choose competencies aligned with their business goals, partners can easily differentiate, drive growth, and deliver innovative solutions in a competitive market.”

Ewington added that number will surge as HPE integrates legacy Juniper Networks partners.

“Partner feedback on the Juniper Networks acquisition has been overwhelmingly positive, with great interest in HPE’s go-forward plans and enthusiastic engagement around the opportunities it creates within the partner ecosystem,” Ewington touted. “The focus now shifts to seamlessly onboarding partners into each other’s programs, fostering collaboration, and unlocking new growth opportunities.”

Those growth opportunities are going to be important for HPE as it looks to layer in Juniper’s assets.

HPE recently appointed Juniper’s sales leader Gordon Mackintosh as SVP of sales to lead its channel and partner networking sales. Mackintosh had spent five years at Juniper and was previously VP for partner-led sales at Extreme Networks and spent almost two decades at Cisco.

HPE’s integration focus

HPE CEO Antonio Neri was peppered during the vendor’s latest earnings call with questions regarding HPE’s Juniper integration plans, something that analysts have noted will be essential in order to garner maximum value from HPE’s $14 billion purchase. Neri danced around timing, reiterating previous comments that no customer would be left behind as part of the integration process.

Neri and Rami Rahim, who was Juniper CEO and is now president and GM of HPE’s Juniper-infused networking business, have both repeatedly noted a “thoughtful” integration process that reduces market disruptions.

“Our first integration priority is therefore to maintain continuity momentum across the traditional HPE, Aruba, and Juniper networking businesses,” Neri said during a call post-acquisition. “We are fully committed to supporting the lifecycle of existing products and protecting the investments our customers have made. No customer will be left behind.”

Neri during the latest earning call did add that Rahim would provide more details of that approach during an HPE investor meeting next month.

The importance of partners

HPE’s partner program overhaul follows similar moves by rival Broadcom for its VMware subsidiary, and Cisco.

Broadcom initiated its VMware partner program changes shortly after it closed on the VMware acquisition. That change aligned legacy partner activities more with Broadcom’s own programs.

Kris Prasad, SVP and GM for Broadcom’s VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) division, captured the essence of those changes in a blog post earlier this year in stating that the vendor expects “that our partners will go all-in with us on helping customers unlock the full value of VCF.”

“Partners that are not committed to investing in and evolving their businesses to help customers adopt and succeed with VCF will struggle to find a place in the Broadcom partner ecosystem,” Prasad wrote. “As we head into the second half of 2025, we intend to put greater emphasis and focus on these value-based solution providers. We believe this is the right path forward, not just for Broadcom, but for every customer who relies on VCF to run their digital infrastructure with speed, agility, and security.”

Broadcom during the recent VMware Explore event trotted out a handful of those “all-in” partners, which noted the new focus makes it easier for them to take VMware products to market.

“What I love about it is the focus, one platform, one solution,” Stephen Moss, SVP of managed services at Insight, said of the new VMware platform structure, later noting that it was superior “versus the kluge, Band-Aid together 20 different products that were not built to work together.”

“And if you look at the partner program, the way it's structured, how you have a very clear goal-based system for certifications, if you're looking to build and become a VMware partner,” Moss added. “If you're not, it's a great opportunity because it's very well structured. There's great options for getting your team skilled up. If you're not, there's all this training available.”

Cisco is in the process of rolling out its 360 Partner Program that was initially unveiled last year and is also targeted at consolidating the vendor’s various partner programs.

Rodney Clark, senior VP for partnerships at Cisco, noted in a recent blog post that the initial phase of the overhaul would begin on July 25. This will see the implementation of different incentive programs and changes to partner payout programs.

The new incentive programs will focus on providing a bigger reward for partners on “strategic offers and adoption-based incentives,” and “more earnings for high-quality assessments.” The current “Cisco Services Partner Program” will have its payouts changed and the “Monthly Value Rebates for Cisco Success Tracks” will be ended.

The full program overhaul will commence in February 2026, with the launch of the “Cisco Partner Incentive” program that will replace “multiple siloed programs.” Cisco will also be cutting the annuity payout on software and services and its “Delivery Rebate” program.

“I understand these changes directly impact your business operations and profitability,” Clark wrote. “That’s why we’re taking a measured, two-phase approach that provides stability while allowing time to adapt.”

Clark further tied the move to evolving market demands, pointing to subscription services accounting for 56% of Cisco’s total revenues during its most recent fiscal quarter, with software revenue growing 33% and software subscription revenues surging 39%.

The program changes also align with Cisco’s ongoing push away from one-and-done sales to a partner-reliant subscription model. This is based on using its channel partners to run those managed offerings for customers.

Cisco executives had previously noted that partners managed more than 90% of its managed services, and that it forecast the total addressable market (TAM) for those services would exceed $113 billion by this year.