Google Cloud Chooses HPE GreenLake For Distributed Cloud

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is one of the infrastructure as-a-Service (IaaS) partners underpinning the Google Distributed Cloud Hosted offering.

Google Cloud has agreed to use Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s GreenLake on-premises cloud service for its distributed hybrid cloud in a “very strong endorsement” of HPE’s edge-to-cloud pay-per-use cloud service, said HPE CEO Antonio Neri.

“We were recently selected as the primary provider for Google’s Cloud distributed, hosted solution,” said Neri. “HPE GreenLake will enable Google to deliver an on-premises cloud experience for organizations with strict data residency, security and privacy requirements.”

The agreement effectively combines the Google Cloud stack with GreenLake for a seamless on-premises Google public cloud experience, said Neri. HPE is one of the infrastructure as-a-Service (IaaS) partners underpinning the Google Distributed Cloud Hosted offering.

[Related: Google Cloud To ‘Attach Partners To 100 Percent’ Of Customer Engagements]

The fact that Google Cloud is leveraging HPE GreenLake to deliver its own “managed, hosted distributed cloud” is a testament to GreenLake’s hybrid cloud prowess, said Neri, who referenced the blockbuster deal Wednesday in a call with analysts after HPE posted a 107 percent increase in as-a-service orders for its second fiscal quarter, ended April 30.

The Google Cloud-HPE agreement opens the door for HPE partners to sell both Google Cloud plus the on-premises version of GreenLake, said Neri. Partners no longer have to “do all sorts of gymnastics to say, ‘Your stuff is in Google Cloud, now you want something on-prem and I have to put it together for you,’” said Neri. “Now you do it together with HPE GreenLake. If you go to HPE GreenLake you can go to Google Cloud or Google on-prem, which is basically the solution for GreenLake. That is a unification of the experience which, for the partner, is all about removing friction and making more money.”

Paul Cohen, vice president of sales for New York-based PKA Technologies Inc., which has closed a number of GreenLake deals, said the Google Cloud endorsement is another big boost for HPE GreenLake.

“The fact that Google Cloud has selected HPE GreenLake for its own distributed cloud validates our strategic investment in GreenLake as the hybrid cloud platform of choice,” said Cohen. “This is just more evidence that GreenLake is the standard for hybrid cloud.”

Partners: Pay-Per-Use Model Is Attractive To Customers

PKA Technologies has more than 20 “viable” GreenLake opportunities that it is currently pursuing, said Cohen.

“Customers want to pay for what they use,” said Cohen. “From both a financial modeling and technology perspective, it resonates with CFOs and IT management. The idea of paying for only what you use is resonating in all industries. That is what today’s savvy buyer is looking for. Why would you want to pay for more than what you use? It’s that simple.”

Key to the GreenLake value proposition is that it is managed under the PKASolveIT managed services umbrella, said Cohen. “From a marketing perspective, PKASolveIT presales consulting is driving the robust GreenLake pipeline,” he said.

Cohen praised HPE for driving strong marketing, sales and enablement that is building GreenLake momentum. Furthermore, he praised HPE for fast-paced GreenLake innovation that is resonating with customers.

The HPE-Google Cloud partnership builds upon a deal three years ago in which the two companies agreed to cooperate to “simplify hybrid cloud.” At that time, HPE and Google Cloud said they would collaborate to “provide customers with a consistent experience across public cloud and on-premises environments.”

CRN reached out to Google Cloud for comment but had not heard back at press time.

The Google Cloud deal comes as HPE’s GreenLake momentum continued in HPE’s second quarter, with the Spring, Texas-based company adding an additional 150 new GreenLake customers in the quarter, including BMW Group, which is using the platform to “streamline and unify” data management across its global locations, said Neri.

In addition, Worldline, the fourth-largest digital payment provider, is leveraging GreenLake to implement an upgrade to its payment platform, said Neri.

The number of partners “actively selling” Greenlake increased by more than 50 percent compared with the year ago quarter, said Neri.

In addition, the number of partners selling multiple GreenLake deals increased in the quarter by 2.5 times year over year.

CPP Associates, one of HPE’s top enterprise partners, is seeing increasing momentum for GreenLake in the wake of the supply chain crisis and IT inflation, said Pat O’Dell, general manager and managing partner for the Clinton, N.J.-based solution provider and HPE partner.

CPP just closed a GreenLake deal with an international bank and expects to close four more GreenLake deals with customers in widely different industries by the end of 2022, said O’Dell.

“I don’t claim to be smart enough to predict the market, but I can tell you for CPP Associates the time has come for GreenLake adoption,” he said. “With GreenLake we become a strategic partner to the customer. It greatly reduces the friction in the relationships because it makes us a true partner with the customer. With GreenLake we are working together rather than fighting on supply chain, lead times and rising costs.”

GreenLake definitely “mitigates” supply chain issues and IT inflation, said O’Dell. “Supply chain issues are mitigated because there is always a 30 percent buffer with additional capacity built into GreenLake,” he said.

“GreenLake allows us to avoid the supply chain challenges that account for 30 [percent] to 50 percent of the IT challenges we face today,” he said. “That goes out the door when you purchase GreenLake. You also get an enhanced level of support that mitigates some issues that customers could have. That enhanced level of support takes away another 10 [percent] to 30 percent of the IT challenges.”

As for IT inflation, O’Dell said that GreenLake provides an attractive option to combat rising IT costs by providing a predictable, consumption-based service. That predictability is key for CFOs and CEOs facing a market in which prices are rising as a result of the supply chain crisis, said O’Dell.

O’Dell praised Neri for delivering on the promise three years ago that by 2022 all of HPE’s products and offerings would be delivered as a service. “My hat is off to Antonio,” he said. “It’s impressive that he made a prediction three years ago that was aggressive but credible and then delivered on it.”

HPE Reports Slight Revenue Growth, Earnings Dip In FYQ2

With supply constraints a factor in the quarter, HPE reported non-GAAP diluted net earnings of 44 cents per share on sales of $6.71 billion. That compares with non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share of 46 cents on sales of $6.7 billion in the year ago quarter.

HPE order growth was up 20 percent from the year ago quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of 20 percent or more order growth.

“We are seeing persistent demand from our customers, underscoring both their IT spending prioritization and their attraction to our compelling portfolio,” said Neri.

Neri said he expects HPE to enter Fiscal Year 2023, which starts November 1, with “an elevated backlog, which bodes well for us for future revenue growth” for the company.