HPE Disty Creative Business Solutions Is Helping Partners Overcome Global Supply Chain Crisis

‘Our business has more than tripled over the last year as a result of us being able to quote and ship immediately on what we have in stock,’ says Creative Business Solutions Executive Vice President of Sales Barry Weisberg. ‘There are some HPE medallion partners that in the past only bought through traditional disty. However with everything going on with the supply chain they have reached out to us to buy from us.’

Vince Carone, a global client manager for World Wide Technology, No. 9 on the CRN SP500, ran into a brick wall earlier this year trying to get an HPE DL380 with Nimble storage delivered to a Fortune 500 global customer on a quick turnaround.

That’s when Carone turned to HPE-authorized ‘Renew’ distributor Creative Business Solutions, Plainview, New York, which specializes in HPE server, storage and even Aruba products that are overstock, in transit change orders or event/demo proof of concept products.

“Creative got us the product (a global standard for the enterprise customer) in a week rather than waiting four to six weeks from other distributors,” said Carone. “Being able to deliver the product in that time frame was instrumental to the success of our customer and World Wide Technology. It was that important for the customer to continue to run the business. Business doesn’t stop. Because Creative had the configuration in stock it did not impact the business. It saved us with this customer. It was very impactful.”

In fact, Creative’s quick turnaround resulted in a “lot of thankful emails and good conversations” said Carone. “They absolutely saved the day,” he said. “It’s all about the customer.”

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Creative has opened the door for customers to stay on track and within budget for critical projects, says Carone. He says customers are not put off by the renew status because the products are authorized by HPE and have the same warranties as original HPE products. What’s more, as an HPE authorized distributor, HPE resellers and HPE reps get commission credit on all sales through Creative Business Solutions.

World Wide Technology is not alone. With the pandemic impacting the global supply chain, the number of HPE medallion and business partners doing business with Creative Business Solutions has “increased tremendously,” said Creative Business Solutions Executive Vice President of Sales Barry Weisberg (pictured).

“Our business has more than tripled over the last year as a result of us being able to quote and ship immediately on what we have in stock,” he said. “There are some HPE medallion partners that in the past only bought through traditional disty. However with everything going on with the supply chain they have reached out to us to buy from us. They now realize the value we provide as an extra arrow in their quiver.”

The supply chain crisis has become a “major problem” for solution providers of all stripes, said Weisberg. He said the uptick in IT spending with the economy picking up after lock downs is also helping drive Creative Business Solutions’ overall sales.

“What the resellers are telling us is that we are helping them meet the demand now that the economy is building back up and customers are turning on the IT spending spigot again,” he said.

One of the key to Creative Business Solutions’ success is its build to order model – the equivalent of what Weisberg’s calls the Build A Bear model at the local mall. “Resellers give us the exact configuration they want and we have all the parts individually that we build to order utilizing our internal integration center to deliver those exact configurations,” he said. “With the Build To Bear scenario, other distributors might have the head and the arms but not the legs. We have all the components to build that server to the specification of the reseller.”

Weisberg says the 19 year old company has always realized the value of carrying products in stock in its 65,000 square foot warehouse in Plainview New York. “We are fully stocked with nothing but HPE products,” he said. “We are the largest stocking HPE Renew distributor in the US. Everytime product comes into the Renew pool of HPE, the three authorized distributors can buy it. We always pull the trigger and stock our warehouse to the hilt with products. That’s what gives us an advantage and keeps us with an advantage when there are constraints and long lead times for partners.”

World Wide Technology’s Carone credits Creative with providing much needed flexibility in the midst of the supply chain crisis. “In the past I wouldn’t even have thought of looking at a Creative Business Solutions,” he said. “I never worked with them until the pandemic. They have definitely become a strong business partner. They have filled a need to help our team and the business to move customers forward. It’s all about customer service and meeting and exceeding customer expectations. It is Sales 101.”

The speed at which Creative Business Solutions can deliver will ensure they continue to be successful even when the global supply chain crises subsides, said Carone. “There will always be a place for Creative because of customers needing to hit dates,” he said. “It’s not just the pandemic and the shortages. They provide faster turnaround so partners can meet their customer commitments.”