It’s been just over one month since we officially launched the Dell Partner Program. Partners … You’ve attended the launch broadcast. You’re getting trained and enabled. And, you’re seizing what John Byrne pointed to as the “spectacular opportunities” afforded by the innovative Dell Partner Program. Our Meet the Leaders series gives you a chance to get to know the Dell channel executives who designed the Dell Partner Program—individuals who are passionate champions of the Program’s core tenets: Simple. Predictable. Profitable.^TM

Meet John Byrne – President, Dell Global Channels

How long have you worked with the channel partner community?

I’ve worked in or with the Channel for close to 24 years, and have spent more than 29 years focusing on overall technology sales. During the first part of my career I focused on EMEA, Greater China and USA. Then in 2007 I shifted my focus globally when I sold one of my channel companies to a Fortune 500 company. I then worked for that company in a sales capacity for a number of years before becoming their Chief Sales Officer and GM. Then I made the jump over to Dell mid-2015, and have been the head of Dell Global Channels since September 2016. I’m loving every minute of this remarkable journey we are all on.

What most excites you about Dell opportunity?

What’s not to be excited about? This is a unique moment in time and you can feel the excitement from our team, Partners, customers, and the press and analysts.

First, we have an unbelievable team. Every single person on this team is passionate, driven, has true channel DNA, want to win as a team and is ready to be extraordinary. So impressive.

For Partners, what’s particularly exciting is the ability to sell and work with the full Dell portfolio. We’re leading in 15 Gartner Magic Quadrants, we’re number 1 in nearly everything that matters to the Modern Data Center: storage, server, data protection, networking … And did we mention we’re the fastest growing PC company on the planet? The list goes on and on.

As we’ve brought our legacy Dell and EMC Partner ecosystems together, Partners now have a world of opportunity at their fingertips. We know customers need and want digital transformation. We know Partners are experts in guiding and architecting the right path towards the Modern Data Center. And now, with Dell, they have the best of everything—from the edge to the core to the cloud—to deliver REAL transformation for their end-users.

What most excites you about the Dell Partner Program?

Easy: Together we are primed to “Go Bigger and Win Bigger” as a team.  I deeply respect that when Partners spend their dollars with us, they need to get a return on that investment. Certainly profit matters for the obvious reasons … Most businesses are not nonprofit; we’ve got to make money to exist. Profit is also something very personal though – it’s what lets us continue to innovate, to work with the best and brightest people, to provide for our loved ones and to create a safety net for leaner times.

That’s why it was essential to us—and personal to me—to see “Profitable” included in our Program’s core tenets, along with “Simple” and “Predictable.”

We’ve structured the Dell Partner Program to be the most desirable, most innovative and most enviable program of its kind. We traveled the world speaking with our Partners to understand how we could take cost and friction out of their selling motions so that they can focus on the reason we’re all here: to sell. I’m immensely proud that we delivered on our promises. Today, Partners can earn 1.5X up to 8X what they were making with us before. That’s just an incredible ROI.

What do you see as the biggest opportunity for Dell partners in 2017?

Of course selling the full portfolio is a huge opportunity. Dell has award-winning products and we want our Partners selling more Lines of Business and making a lot of money both on the top and bottom line. The other pot of gold for Partners is Services. Whether Partners are delivering their own Services, or they want to augment with ours, we’ve got Partners covered. We don’t want to compete. We want our Partners to win… and win big.

Services are about bringing value to customers with Consulting, Deployment, Support and Education. With the new Dell Partner Program, Partners will earn rebates by reselling. There’s real cash to be made in selling consulting and deployment… a boatload. Our Partners have choice in how and which Services they sell, but I think to get the full potential of the Dell Partner Program, they’ve got to go with Services some way or another.

So, please grow your top and bottom line, sell more Lines of Business, attach Services and bring net new business. Let’s light this one up, it’s one for the ages.

Do you have a favorite country, place or city to visit; and why?

Where to start? We love London as it was “home” for 13 years. So much history, so much culture, so many friends, so many pubs to meet mates and have fun… we just love going back. If I can chose another then it would be Japan; Tokyo specifically.  I fell in love with it the first time I went in 2007. What’s not to love? Great people, amazing culture, steeped in history, and the food is to die for.

What do you do for fun outside of Dell?

Family time is precious. I spend as much time as possible with my wife and our twin girls. At their current age (~2.5 years) they are so much fun, you don’t want to miss a second of it. If not at work or at home, you will find me at the gym currently doing a lot of CrossFit. With all the travel, and getting older, you’ve got to keep in shape. Healthy body, healthy mind.  Oh and shouting on my soccer (or for my international friends – football) team.

Follow John Byrne on Twitter @JohnByrneCSO.