Each year, Global Partner Summit (GPS) is THE event for partners … A time during which we can celebrate our shared successes and look forward to opportunities ahead. This year did not disappoint – in fact, it may be the most energized gathering yet!
The GPS general session opened with Marc Martel, the singing voice of Freddie Mercury in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, and a booming chorus of “We will rock you.”
“This is one powerful group of partners. You are ROCKING IT in the market,” shared event emcee, Mark Jeffries—a statement supported by Joyce Mullen, President, Dell Global Channel, OEM & IoT.
Mullen shared, “… there’s nothing holding us back, and nothing holding us down. We are….DEFYING GRAVITY! … Skeptics said a company our size wouldn’t be able to successfully adapt, transform AND grow simultaneously… but you helped us defy the odds and defy gravity.” Mullen pointed out that we are #1 in storage, #1 in server revenue and units, and that we have seen 24 quarters of PC gains.
Just as impressive, partners have helped drive $50B in orders, 17% order revenue growth year over year, and 63,000 new and reactivated customers.
“YOU are the key to this success!” Mullen declared. “So, before I go any further. I just want to pause and say thank you. For all of it!”
Throughout the session, a number of guests joined Mullen on the GPS stage, including: Michael Dell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Pat Gelsinger, President,VMWare; Marius Haas, President, Chief Commercial Officer; Bill Scannell, President, Global Enterprise Sales & Customer Operations; Darren Sullivan, Senior Vice President, Global Channel Strategy, Programs & Business Operations; Cheryl Cook, Senior Vice President, Global Channel Marketing; Scott Millard, Vice President, Global Channel Specialty Sales, Dell; and Jay Snyder, Senior Vice President of Global Alliances, Service Providers and Industries.
Joyce Mullen: The performance we’re delivering today is going to help us defy gravity tomorrow.
From the main stage of GPS, Mullen shared her vision “… to be the best in your eyes … For today, tomorrow… and decades to come.” She continued, “Our goal is that by the end of this week, you have even greater trust in us, you have even greater confidence in our strategy, portfolio, our future together, and you know that when we say we’re going to do something, we deliver. “
Dell Technologies is committed to a partner program that is Simple. Predictable. Profitable.TM … and second to none. To that end, Mullen shared partner feedback we have received, and ways we will work to help make it easier for partners to do business with Dell Technologies.
Likewise, the announcements made throughout the GPS session supported these imperatives; and will help enable partners to achieve success both today and into the future.
Dell Technologies Partner Program: We announced the next evolution of the Dell Partner Program to the Dell Technologies Partner Program. While our individual company partner programs will continue to function independently, we are committed to aligning more closely, making it easier for partners to work across the Dell Technologies strategically aligned businesses. Through the Dell Technologies Partner Program, we provide strength in go to market through integrated end-to-end solutions, from the edge to the datacenter to the cloud, and enable partners to brand themselves as Dell Technologies partners.
Partner Preferred Program Expansion: Given the success of the Partner Preferred Program, we added additional accounts in the Commercial segment as eligible for the benefits therein, including Partner of Record opportunities. We have also enabled Dell quoting tools for eligibility for the higher front-end discounts through Acquisition Deal Registration.
Enhanced Rules of Engagement (RoE): We released an updated version of our internal and external RoE policy, based largely on partner feedback, to ensure one RoE across our multiple routes to market and to provide our sales makers and partners clear guidance on how to collaborate effectively. Partners can download the latest RoE here.
Dell Technologies Cloud This new, validated solution pairs Dell hyper-converged infrastructure with VMware Cloud Foundation. It is a fully integrated solution that delivers a simplified offer for partners to take to market. Dell Technologies Cloud uniquely positions partners as a trusted advisor.
Dell Technologies Unified Workspace This comprehensive solution enables partners to deploy, secure, manage and support client devices from the cloud. And, partners holding the services delivery competency have fantastic complementary services opportunities with co-delivery of onsite services.
Expanded Benefit with Strategically Aligned Businesses In February, we announced that VMware solutions purchased through Dell would count toward Dell Partner Program tier requirements. Today we are expanding this benefit to include all sales from strategically aligned businesses transacted through the Dell Technologies Partner Program.
Investing in education Possessing the right skills to sell and deploy innovative higher education solutions is a critical way for partners to differentiate their capabilities in the market. Dell Technologies is announcing two new solution badges composed of already in-market certifications to validate a breadth of capability to support and deploy across a solution. The new solution badges are for Dell Technologies Cloud Platform and Dell Technologies Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.
Under the Dell Technologies Partner Program, the company is announcing a new cloud competency that will support the newly announced Dell Technologies Cloud solution. The competency will be composed of the Dell Technologies Cloud Platform Badge and few other certifications, including Services Delivery Competency on VxRail. Many of our Partners earned this competency last year, which means they already have the foundational deployment certifications to accelerate this new cloud competency. Full cloud competency certification requirements will be announced in Q3.
With these kinds of solutions, our Dell Technologies Partner Program plans to recognize related credentials/certifications earned from our strategically aligned businesses that support our joint solutions.
Online Experience Improvements: As part of our ongoing commitments to enhancing the partner experience and accelerate time to value, we announced that for our partners who participate in multiple program tracks (Solution Provider, OEM, Global Alliances, Distributor) partners now have a more centralized online experience where they can dynamically navigate their program details and benefits via a single account experience. Visit the Partner Portal today to access your account.
Mid-Market Campaign: We have launched our first partner campaign focused on end-to-end solutions for mid-market businesses. Partners can win the sale faster leveraging the work we’ve done to identify the best solutions—from the full range of Dell infrastructure and client products and services, designed and purpose-built to meet their needs. Access campaign materials through the Digital Marketing Tool.
These enhancements will help us—both Dell Technologies and our partners—to perform without limits. “We are a fifty-billion-dollar powerhouse and we’re growing FAST. And we know exactly what it takes to get to $70B,” said Joyce Mullen.
Jay Snyder: Global Alliances – Access, Opportunity and Outcomes
In speaking of Global Alliances performance and growth, Jay Snyder shared, “Gravity pulls you down, and when it comes to our Global Alliances business, the only trajectory we know is UP!”
In fact, Global Alliances and their Partners have seen an overall growth of 28% year over year. With an added emphasis on storage in 2018, storage margin grew 31%; and overall Global Alliances margin grew 40% year over year. Snyder recognized the role that Global Alliances partners played in this success; and challenged partners to further the momentum to help drive even greater success in the coming year.
“While we’ve had incredible success, we’re just hitting our stride. Our record growth and accelerating momentum are the result of our vision – to be one step ahead of the market at all times, and provide access, opportunity and outcomes to our sales team, partners and ultimately, customers. Outcomes that they cannot achieve on their own,” Snyder declared.
Michael Dell on trust and relationships
Dell Technologies Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Dell joined Jay Snyder on stage to discuss the importance of building trust and relationships.
Of our commitment to our Dell Technologies Partners and our relationship with each other, Dell said, “We’re going to deliver on our commitments, and we do what we say we’re going to…It’s super important to our success.”
Let us DEFY GRAVITY together!
As Joyce Mullen shared, “Harnessing the power of the full family of brands is key to DEFYING GRAVITY. I truly believe it’s what sets us apart from everyone else – it’s what makes our opportunity together boundless.”
Joyce Mullen closed a truly epic GPS with “one BIG message to the competition: We are going to ROCK YOUR WORLD. WE WILL ROCK YOU!”
“With the undeniable power and momentum of Dell Technologies and this amazing partner community … We are breaking the mold, outpacing the competition, defying expectations and defying gravity!”
Stay connected and in the know
- Join the #DellTechGPS #DellTechWorld conversation on Twitter with @DellTechPartners and @DellTechWorld
- Stay up to date on the latest GPS and channel updates—follow and read Partner blogs on Direct2Dell
- Tune into the Dell Technologies World livestream
