Four Reasons the CTG and HP Partnership Matters

When a business comes to CTG and trusts us to provide an information technology platform to rely on every day, they are choosing our company for two critical components: our people and our partners.

We have built our company by finding young talent that believes in our customer-first approach and who are steady resources that grow with our client. But this is only part of the equation.

Equally important is that our team has developed critical partnerships to implement the best, most reliable and flexible technology in the industry today. That’s why we decided many years ago – after observing and testing products from the majority of the top IT manufacturers – to develop a strategic partnership with HP, whom is currently rebranding this part of it's business as Hewlett Packard Enterprises. Our strategic recommendations are built first on HP platforms and software, and we tap into other partnerships to meet specialty niches.

While you’re right to think that we’re a little biased about the high quality of HP at this point, we aren't the only ones. Just last week, the 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Modular Servers – always a highly anticipated market analysis – endorsed the Palo Alto, Calif.-based manufacturer as a “Leader.” At CTG, we firmly believe in HP’s self-assessment that it “offers a strong product portfolio and delivers the right compute for the right workload at the right economics.”

By building a relationship with HP beginning nearly a decade ago, we, in turn, can offer key benefits to our customers:

1.      Simplicity. Whether you have an in-house IT team or rely on CTG for daily support, building a platform that connects different elements from storage and servers to desktops and networking from the same manufacturer streamlines your everyday management and workload. HP allows us to develop a strategic architecture and implement a single console for your IT needs, whether you are a mom-and-pop operation or a Fortune 500 company. Not many manufacturers can offer that full portfolio, and our CTG team provides a single point of contact.

2.      Expertise. As an HP Gold Partner, CTG has access to the best computing minds at Hewlett Packard. We receive unique training and education on the HP product suite. If you have a question, we can easily find the right answer. This single-vendor strategy allows us to deepen our knowledge as we consult with our clients to find the products that match their needs. That starts with HP hardware and extends to HP software as well. And when you have a specialty IT need that is outside the HP family, we can bring in the right resource and use our expertise to easily integrate it with your HP platform.

3.      Reliability and Innovation. Each is as important as the other. HP delivers products that are durable and carefully designed to meet evolving business needs. Of course, you want to know that you can trust your IT systems, but you also want to be ready to take the next step forward. We have seen firsthand that once HP releases a new product, it is already is back in the research and development lab, looking for enhancements to make that product even more efficient and effective – and to launch innovative new products. Our CTG team serves as a bridge to keep you running smoothly today and scaling up with new technology as your business grows.

4.      Value. Leveraging our knowledge of the HP product line, we can quickly assess your needs and recommend the best technology that delivers the best bang for your buck. In an ever more digitized economy, our clients are looking for the smartest solutions that allow them to best serve their customers. But IT budgets aren't limitless, and our HP relationship delivers a valuable win-win in the best firepower at the best price.

This is an exciting time to be working with the emergence of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise division. You will see the company putting a more complete focus on the data center. That means even greater R&D investments, better customer support, more product customization and a greater understanding of how technology intersects, drives and supports business strategies.

But don’t just take our word for it in this post. Give us a call – and we’ll show you the best that CTG and HP can offer.

John Monahan is a co-founder of Convergent Technologies Group.

Test and Learn

Do you remember how some of the best days in high school science class were when you got to go in the lab? When you had a problem to solve and you got to roll up your sleeves and experiment until you got the answer?

We got to do the professional version of just that last week, when we brought a handful of customers and special guests to the HP Customer Experience Center in New York. This is a living production laboratory for testing and learning, featuring the latest-and-greatest technology from HP today.

What made the trip invaluable:

• We learned from the best in the business. At the Experience Center, HP offers its top subject matter experts to share new and emerging technology and answer questions on the spot. Technology represents one of the biggest line items for any company, and business leaders need to be confident that their suppliers and partners understand their needs and environment to offer the right resources at the right cost at the right time.

• We saw the latest technology in action. Nothing is more important than seeing first-hand how different products and software can perform. The demonstrations not only presented good introductions to different resources, but they illustrated how to make the most of your technology. (Dare I admit that being in a nearly 10,000-square-foot facility with all that cutting-edge IT brought out the best geeks in us?)

• We solved some vexing problems. A couple of clients came looking for answers to specific challenges with storage. In that real IT setting, HP experts were able to configure and demonstrate a storage array that would specifically eliminate those problems. Those clients now have a strategy to discuss with their business leaders and to use in determining how to prioritize the HP recommendations.

• We got a sneak peak at what’s coming next. Our visit last week allowed us a glimpse into HP’s next generation of products, and how they will integrate with existing platforms.

Unique opportunity for customers
This hands-on experience is a rare perk of collaborating with CTG, which is an HP Gold Partner. During our nearly 10-year history, we have worked with a host of technology manufacturers, but we have chosen this specific partnership for HP’s comprehensive and integrated product portfolio. We know that all technology has a lifecycle, and our clients trust us to recommend hardware and configurations that meet today’s needs and are scalable for future business growth.

What our customers and guests told us was that this hands-on day gave them better insights into how HP’s architecture and products can deliver on all IT needs, from security to software, hardware to mobility. Because HP is one of the biggest in the industry, we know it can be daunting for our clients to navigate through all those products. This visit allowed our customers to learn more about why we trust HP, which delivers products that are equally innovative and reliable.

What happens next?
Our CTG team will be meeting with local HP account teams to host a technical discussion, where we will dive deeper into the day’s learnings.

And in keeping with our commitment to be on the leading edge, we already are planning our next visit to the HP Customer Experience Center. If you've got an IT challenge that is continuing to haunt you, let our CTG team know – and join us on our next trip to this IT laboratory.

John Monahan is co-founder of CTG.