HP Partners Win Big In Europe, Africa And Australia In First Amplify Impact Awards

In an exclusive interview, HP Inc. Channel Chief Kobi Elbaz says the awards represent the next step in recognizing the progress made by partners who invest in HP’s sustainability- and social justice-focused Amplify Impact program. Mary Beth Walker, the head of global channel strategy, tells CRN that the concentration of top winners in regions like Europe reflects how governments there prioritize environmental, social and governance requirements for IT procurement matters.

Kobi Elbaz, HP’s general manager of the company’s global channel organization

HP Inc. partners in Europe, Africa and Australia won big as part of the IT giant’s inaugural Amplify Impact Awards that recognized those leading on matters like climate change action and social justice.

The Palo Alto, California-based company announced on Tuesday the winners of the 2022 Amplify Impact Awards. The honors represent the next step in recognizing the progress made by channel partners who invest in HP’s sustainability- and human rights-focused Amplify Impact program, Kobi Elbaz, general manager of the company’s global channel organization, told CRN in an exclusive interview.

[Related: 3 Big Ways HP Amplify Is Driving Partner Profits]

“We want to make sure that we started to give them back benefits because we really believe it’s good for the planet, and it will be good for their business and our business,” he said. “More and more customers have an agenda [with environmental, social and governance requirements], and we would like to make sure that we continue to encourage that.”

HP launched Amplify Impact in early 2021 as a key pillar of its Amplify partner program. The voluntary program provides resources around issues such as climate change, social justice and the digital divide to channel partners who want to stand out by reflecting their own values. The resources include a free sustainability assessment, a training program, plus sales tools and marketing assets for partners who want to pursue sales deals with environmental, social and governance requirements.

“We have a clear ambition to be the most sustainable company by the year 2030,” Elbaz said. With that, he added, HP knew this goal had to be a “team sport” and include its channel partners.

The Top Winners Of HP’s 2022 Amplify Impact Awards

The Amplify Impact Awards recognized 43 winners in as many countries that are currently covered by the program. But there were five partners who went above and beyond in supporting HP’s initiatives on climate action, digital equity and diversity and inclusion. All winners will be honored at the company’s Amplify Partner Conference, which happens March 28-30 in Chicago.

The top winner was South Africa-based Introstat, which won the Global Leader Award “in recognition of the partner who demonstrates best overall sustainability performance.”

Introstat also won the HP LIFE Award for completing the highest number of courses on the HP LIFE, the company’s global training program that provides free lessons on IT and business skills.

HP gave the Business Excellence Award to Germany-based Bechtle Logistik & Service for being the “best performing multi-country partner that shows outstanding performance in driving sustainable business.”

The Sustainability Business Award was given to Sweden-based Advania “in recognition of the highest percentage of sustainability-influenced deals globally.”

Australia-based Truis Pty Ltd received the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy award for having the “most impactful” strategy in that area.

The Climate Action Award was given to Germany-based CNW IT-Systeme, which created the “most comprehensive carbon footprint and action plan” in coordination with HP.

Out of the country-level winners, there were two partners in the United States who won awards: Les Olson Company for a Sustainability Business Award and Loffler for a Climate Action Award. (See the end of the article for a full list of Amplify Impact winners.)

Mary Beth Walker, HP’s head of global channel strategy, said the concentration of top winners in regions like Europe reflects how governments there prioritize environmental, social and governance requirements for IT procurement matters.

“We’re seeing a lot more interest in European countries where there’s a higher level of sensitivity and push from the countries themselves,” she told CRN. “And I think that’s another thing that we’re looking at with our partners is where governments are going to start to step in. We need to be ready for [that] and be ready to help our partners for what those governments are going to require.”

Elbaz said he would like to see a greater push from U.S. partners in the future.

“It would be good for everybody if we continue to step up in that area,” he said.

New Benefits For HP Amplify Impact Program

HP announced the award winners alongside a couple new benefits for the Amplify Impact program along with progress the company has made in increasing engagement among partners.

The first new benefit is the Global Good Community Project Platform, which gives partners visibility into projects with volunteer and donation opportunities through non-governmental organizations.

The second new benefit are additional features on HP’s Find a Reseller portal, which now gives customers the ability to find partners working on climate change, social justice and digital equity issues. The portal also now highlights recipients of the Amplify Impact Awards.

Elbaz said HP continues to get closer to its goal of having half of the company’s global partners participating in Amplify Impact by 2025. Out of the 43 countries covered by the program now, he said, more than 35 percent of partners in those regions have pledged to participate.

A critical way HP expects to reach 50 percent participation in Amplify Impact is by expanding the countries and regions covered by the program.

“In an ideal world, we’d like to see all our Amplify partners [participate], in a certain way because not everybody has the same capability and the same size,” he said. “We’ll keep [Amplify Impact] for the time being voluntary, but we’ll give more and more benefit to encourage people.”

Partners are also increasing their engagement in Amplify Impact. Elbaz said HP saw a 250 percent increase in HP Sustainable Impact training courses completed last year compared to 2021.

“What we’re actually seeing increase is the interest of what they’re doing as a company for a sustainability plan,” Walker said. “And they’re starting to see more and more evidence of why they need to use sustainability [initiatives] with their employees and with their customers.”

All Winners Of HP’s 2022 Amplify Impact Awards

The country-level Sustainability Business Awards went to 01 Computer System (Singapore), A.T. Techdata Ltd (Greece & Cyprus), Abast Systems & Solutions (Spain), Advania (Sweden), AEG Soluciones Tecnologicas (Argentina), ARUS (Colombia), Atea (Norway), BABAS Inc. (Korea), Complete Office Solutions Limited (United Kingdom & Ireland), Denker Elektronik (Turkey), Dimacofi (Chile), Egiss (Denmark & Iceland), Elmec Informatica (Italy), Era Supplies (Indonesia), Euro Media Košice (Czech Republic & Slovakia), EV Servileasing (Mexico), Gulf Islands General Trading Est. (United Arab Emirates), ICT Zone (Malaysia), Imagetext (New Zealand), Inotev (France), iTMaster (South Africa), Kurmi Color (Peru), Les Olson Company (United States), MUP Bürohandels (Germany), Nova Fase Comercio De Informatica Ltd (Brazil), PureSpirIT (Canada), Quantum Technologies (India), Quartz Matrix (Romania), SLID Netsystem (Philippines), TECNASA (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua), Thalmann-Computer (Switzerland), Virtu (Australia), and Xerima Jolanta i Jan Szwakop (Poland).

The market-level Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards went to ARUS (Colombia), Introstat (South Africa), PMC GRUP (Spain), Softcat (United Kingdom), and Truis Pty Ltd (Australia).

The market-level Climate Action Awards went to Banner Group Limited (United Kingdom), CNW IT-Systeme (Germany), inmac wstore (France), Introstat (South Africa), Loffler (United States), and Truis Pty Ltd (Australia).

The market-level HP LIFE Awards went to BB Professionals (India), CNW IT-Systeme (Germany), Delgado Ramos Sa (Costa Rica), Introstat (South Africa), Monclick (Italy), Softcat (United Kingdom), Virtu (Australia).