2. “My 94-year-old mother could be an HP Gold partner if she applied”
Norris argued that HP’s top-level badge is too easy to obtain, contrasting it with Cisco Gold status, which he branded “tough”. “This makes it valuable,” he said.
“We are Cisco’s largest vendor in Germany by a mile and do okay with them in the UK. I went along to Cisco France and said, ‘make me a Gold partner’, and they said ‘no’. I said, ‘I’m sorry, do you know who I am?’ and they said, ‘yeah, but still no’.
“Eventually we bought the BT business which pulled in the Gold partnership. It’s a pain in the arse when you’re getting it, but I think it’s fantastic.”
Mic drop rating:
See next page for final mic-drop moment….
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