Success stories

	AC Solutions' enjoyable stay with HP Certified Professional Program secures dual hotel contract wins

If a textbook example was required to demonstrate how undertaking HP Certified Professional training and certification can improve sales and increase competitor advantage, then Graham Martin, Sales Director of Surrey-based AC Solutions Ltd in the UK, must surely rank as a sure-fire candidate.

As well as being certified as an Accredited Sales Professional (ASP), Graham recently won HP's Portfolio Sales Achievement Award; an accolade which saw him beat of competition throughout EMEA and awarded him a trip to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

AC Solutions Ltd is a specialist provider of leading edge technology to the business community and member of HP's Certified Professional Program. The company, which has been an HP Value Added Reseller since its creation in 1991, provides complete business solutions to companies, large and small and, as such, is able to take a requirement from inception through design, procurement, supply, installation and final delivery.

Graham is one of ten HP Certified Professionals within the company, which also boasts eight Accredited Platform Specialists (APS) and one Accredited Integration Specialist (AIS) among its team. For him, membership of the HP Certified Professionals Program is an indispensable asset to ensuring both he and the company achieve their objectives.

"As a company we have always provided end-to-end solutions from consultancy to post-installation support", says Graham. "Being part of HP's Certified Professionals Program allows us to more easily tie this together into one perfect package - which is really helpful in instances where, for example, special bid pricing for big corporates is needed", he adds. "For customers it proves that we are a bonafide, highly trained supplier; instilling trust on their part and giving us a stronger edge against the competition."

As an Enterprise Specialist, AC Solutions enjoys preferential access to HP resources, which means that HP engineers can be consulted to answer technical queries relating to product configurations or to discuss the IT infrastructure of a client project.

"Being an HP Preferred Partner also means that we are afforded excellent support from our Personal Systems Group (PSG), Imaging Printing Group (IPG) and Enterprise Server Systems (ESS). As far as I'm concerned, if being a Preferred Partner allows you to access such effective expertise, then its worth it just for that alone."

The extent to which Graham's training on the HP Certified Professional Program has been of benefit, is best exemplified by the dual contract wins received over the last few months. First, Graham beat a competitor supplier in a head-to-head that eventually saw AC Solutions supply the hotel group, Four Pillars, with a complete HP package comprising ProLiant servers, Procurve switches and Procurve Wireless solutions for the hotel's guests.

More recently, Graham secured the contract to supply the Jarvis Group chain of hotels in the UK with a full HP Solution - something to which he attributes his HP Certified Professional training as being instrumental.

The 42-strong hotel chain sought a replacement of its IT equipment that would enable an upgrade of its property management services and hotel reservation system.

Says Graham, "Jarvis was originally considering a competitor offering to integrate with HP servers, but as was the case with Four Pillars, I found myself selling the complete customer experience. We used the HP servers as a platform to securing a complete HP solution that, as well as the servers, resulted in the supply of HP switches, printers and desktops totalling £900,000."

Naturally, a key requirement was to ensure a smooth installation with minimal disruption that would ultimately provide an infrastructure that delivered more enhanced and efficient management capability. With two test sites now live, customer feedback has been extremely positive.

"I think the two hotel contract wins really prove what can be achieved as a result of being an HP Certified Professional", explains Graham. "When it comes down to it, customers appreciate the brand heritage, prestige and reliability enjoyed when buying HP. This goes hand in hand with the "stamp of approval" that guarantees our own expertise as an HP Partner and, as these two cases prove, such a combination makes for an extremely attractive value proposition."