HPE’s Cloud28+ community has received big name support from Microsoft.
Announced at Microsoft Inspire, the Redmond company has formed a go-to-market alliance with HPE through the open community that’s dedicated to increasing enterprise cloud adoption.
The initiative, which is led by HPE, will now see Microsoft join as an Azure Stack technology partner, the idea being that Microsoft and HPE will join forces to provide partners with new business opportunities and tools. 
The partnership will have the two companies create a joint Azure Stack ISV on boarding program that’ll be focused on connected software vendors to HPE and Microsoft solution and service providers, in order to help them grow their market visibility.
HPE and Microsoft say that their solution and service providers will benefit from lead gen campaigns and “sales enablement activities,” to bolster their Azure Stack sales.
Cloud28+ was launched in December 2015 as a way to help businesses to use cloud services both on and off premises. It’s based on a common platform of shared resources and is now seen by some as the largest cloud aggregator (451 Research).
Alyssa Fitzpatrick, general manager, Worldwide Channel Sales, Microsoft Corp., said, “It’s all about choice and trust. By joining Cloud28+, we will help empower customers with market-leading hybrid IT offerings fueled by partners who know and serve them best. We see Cloud28+ as a real differentiator in terms of helping our customers and partners build their own ecosystems.”
Cloud28+ is said to have more than 500 partners, service providers, solution providers and so on, that all contribute to a catalogue of more than 18,000 build and consume services.
Read more: HPE driven Cloud 28+ catalogue goes live across Europe
“With IT at the core of every business today, Cloud28+, gives all members – whether customer or partners – the opportunity to quickly connect, share knowledge, and innovate together,” said Xavier Poisson, vice president, Indirect Digital Services, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “It’s a transformation engine around shared values that boosts broader business opportunities for everyone involved.”
It’s not a community that’s in the limelight that often, perhaps because it works, but it’s one that seems to be continuing to grow and the addition of Microsoft certainly gives it more credibility.
