IT Optimization in Today’s Multi-cloud World | Dell EMC US

The Dell Technologies
Partner Program

The Power of Partnering Excellence

By Kevin Rhone, Director, Channel Acceleration;
April 2021

Introduction

Three years ago, ESG looked closely at the Dell EMC Partner Program, when Dell EMC brought two world-class programs together with the goal of creating a best-of-breed partner program. The program strove to unify the entire Dell EMC partner ecosystem, inclusive of solution providers, cloud service providers, global alliances, OEM solutions partners, distribution, and federal partners, and create a true partner-first program with the promised elements and execution to drive change.

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The flexibility and worth are reflected in how well Dell adjusted to the demands of digital transformation and more recently, the relocation of employees to work-from-home status due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The usefulness of a program and its inherent benefits are based, in part, on the business environment of the day. For example, the flexibility and worth are reflected in how well Dell adjusted to the demands of digital transformation and more recently, the relocation of employees to work-from-home status due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dell’s response, and how that flowed to its partner relationships, demonstrates the effectiveness of the programs and the company’s recognition of the needs of its partners worldwide.

The pandemic threw traditional, product-focused business models into chaos. The new IT world focuses on cloud-based services; a diverse workforce operating outside the friendly confines of the traditional corporate firewall and its protections; cloud-based, as-a-service business models; and finding ways to serve clients with products and services that meet an evolving business operations design. Today, that means focusing on and empowering business partners to make their lives and operations safer, more stable, and profitable in an emerging business environment.

The many ways in which IT is now consumed by end-customers is reshaping the economics of the IT sector, and the primary vehicle for this is comprehensive partner programs, which are increasingly important to support partners in this new economic world. Leading IT vendors must proactively help their partners evolve their businesses to meet these challenges and become stronger both operationally and financially.

ESG regularly reviews and evaluates IT vendor go-to-market strategies, programs, and partnerships, and Dell Technologies has built what ESG considers a leading, strategic, and innovative partner program to help partners deliver value for their customers as they progress along the IT optimization maturity curve.

In this paper, ESG will look at how well Dell executed on its plan, summarizing the effectiveness of the program and the value it brings to its members to provide guidance to partner executives as they navigate changing times.

A Look Back: The Dell EMC Partner Program

The Dell EMC Partner Program launched in February 2017, shortly after the completion of the merger of EMC Corp. and Dell Incorporated. The program was designed to bring the two legacy partner programs together under the binding premise of “Simple. Predictable. Profitable.” Dell EMC solicited input from leading partners with the goal of developing a set of program elements that work seamlessly together in key areas that affect partners’ operations. Ultimately, the program’s key aim was to drive growth, profitability, and deeper, ongoing customer relationships while simplifying the partners’ engagements with Dell.

The newly combined program was designed to be a unified, transparent, and world-class program that features best practices in the IT market, and supports the partners on a journey to increased profitability with one vendor that they can rely on for a complete range of products: infrastructure, software, cloud, and services. It was built upon three defining elements:

1. Support the partner journey by expanding their relationship with Dell and helping their customers transform their businesses.

2. Evolve the value proposition for partners to be aligned to Dell’s overall value proposition and solutions-based approach to sales for the full Dell portfolio.

3. Feature simplified program requirements that are aligned to business objectives as well as active support for partner-led marketing and lead generation activities that allow partners to invest to grow their business.

So how did all that work out? Exceedingly well, actually. Rebranded in 2019 as the Dell Technologies Partner Program, Dell has been executing on this program and has enjoyed many important successes. Here is what Dell has been up to in the past two years.

Key Initiatives for 2019 Speed Partner Revenue Growth

Partner-impacting go-to-market programs and “plays” add opportunities to the top of the funnel:

  • Programs such as Tech Refresh supported by lead sharing.

  • New Business Incentives (NBI) and expanded Partner Preferred end-user account opportunities.

  • Partner Preferred Program rewards partners for new business in underpenetrated accounts.

  • Compensation-neutral structure for top products, motivating Dell sales teams for partner-led sales.

  • Partner of Record protection and increased partner margins.

The results of these initiatives led to dramatic growth in partner pipeline and presence, all supported by aggressive co-selling with Dell field teams. Following up on these market share successes in 2019, Dell has been hard at work further improving and expanding the program for 2020 and beyond.

Key Initiatives for 2020 and 2021 Refine an Already Strong Program

The accomplishments for 2020 certainly were challenging considering the worldwide pandemic and the complications it caused for Dell’s business partners. Yet despite the pandemic, the program and its value to its members will continue to grow substantially. Joint sales engagements between core Dell Technologies sales teams and its channel partners will stand on a foundation of deal registration, joint territory/account planning, and teaming plans. These are critical elements that build trusting, long-term relationships that result in satisfied, mutual customers.

Partner-impacting steps with a focus on simplification will include:

  • Updates to first generation program to make it cleaner and crisper overall in terms of simpler program structure, requirements, and partner experience (ease of doing business).

  • Restructure to focus GTM on three critical, related areas: storage, server, and client.

  • The success of the Partner Preferred program saw it extended to additional lines of business, covering server as well. Now, including more than 60,000 commercial accounts globally, the program also features higher discounts through Deal Registration and Partner of Record (PoR) status, plus resources to support joint account planning.

  • Processes and systems continuously addressed to feature operational investments, including increased partner self-service and an updated quoting platform.

“

The accelerated MDF payment was more aggressive than other suppliers.
It gave us the funds to invest quickly, to promote the new incentives and maintain visibility with our clients.”

- Dell Titanium Black Partner, EMEA

“

I give Dell huge credit for their COVID response. It took guts ...and saved jobs.”

- Dell Titanium Partner, US

Dell’s Pandemic Response: Bold, Aggressive Support for Partners

The COVID-19 pandemic is radically altering businesses worldwide, and severe impacts in the short-term may produce long-term change and opportunity. As businesses look to return to normal, the lessons and experiences of COVID-19 will remain, especially the introduction of the demands of securing the remote workforce.

As a result, businesses and the IT pros that support them are finding new models designed to protect against risk by relying on their partners to help improve business resiliency and operational flexibility in a post-COVID-19 world.

Dell’s response to the pandemic has been instrumental in helping its business partners grow their businesses safely and securely. Dell was first out with creative partner programs that kept business flowing from its customers and provided fee-waived training to strengthen partner tech teams. Most importantly, they took on partner uncertainty and cash flow concerns head on by accelerating marketing development fund (MDF) benefits and leveraging the power of Dell Financial Services (DFS) to provide Working Capital Solutions with both extended terms and faster payments.

The Dell Technologies Partner Program: A Sustainable Competitive Advantage for Partners

In today’s world, the responsibility for implementing and supporting complex infrastructure and systems has shifted to the partners who live on the frontlines. Channel partners of all types are served by the Dell Technologies Partner Program and are now relied upon to provide a full range of technical services to install, integrate, and operate the new, hybrid computing platforms and systems.

“

The synergy with VMware has been important for us to develop a combined Cloud value proposition. Any concerns we had during the merger have proven to be unfounded. The combination of Dell Technologies portfolio companies has been a home run.”

– CEO: US Solutions Provider

Technology Leadership Is the Foundation

The program features access to leading storage, server, networking, and software solutions from Dell Technologies that are strategically aligned to businesses. Partners in the program can seamlessly procure and sell solutions across the family of businesses, which includes Boomi, SecureWorks, Virtustream, and VMware. This broad, integrated portfolio provides underlying technology and platforms for partners to build out private and hybrid clouds and support as-a-service offerings. In each case, the latest products rolled out by these allied businesses increasingly focus on solutions that simplify complexity and achieve IT optimization.

Dell’s pathway to build partner value comes through leveraging this portfolio of unique strength and breadth that becomes a significant differentiator in terms of a partner’s ability to offer a full range of data center, endpoint, and multi-cloud solutions and also incorporate VMware software across hybrid cloud environments.

Progressive, effective partnering strategies are needed to capture this opportunity, however. Forward-looking tech vendors recognize that partners have a set of new priorities and challenges in maintaining profitability in the transformed world of IT, so they are taking steps to deliver more value from their partner programs.

The Go-forward Strategy: Delivering More Value for Partners

For Dell, it is all about partner success. The program Dell put in place shortly after the merger brought together the best parts of both Dell’s and EMC’s existing programs, then it laid out a future for the combined organizations. Moving ahead, Dell is committed to expanding and improving its partner program to align it internally and with the partners.

“

Technology may be the enabler, but our partners are the true transformers. So every investment we’re making is designed to help our partners serve customers better, deliver outcomes faster, and fuel growth—all while driving impact in our shared communities. Our promise to our partners is Together, We Stop at Nothing—this means that our partners can count on the full strength of Dell Technologies behind them, every day, to enable their success.”

– Rola Dagher, Global Channel Chief

The Dell Technologies Partner Program is a multifaceted and multidimensional program designed to enhance operations and empower Dell’s business partners. Thus far, Dell has seen considerable advancements in simplifying and improving partner engagement, but more is being done to enhance that. Let’s take a deeper dive into what this means.

Dell’s path for continuous improvement is built on a set of interlocking goals that signal the future of the program:

  • Create a “roadmap to simplicity” to make it easier to do ongoing busines with Dell Technologies.

  • Support “partner self-service” via updates/upgrades to automation and tools to improve “transactional velocity,” reduce time to market, and therefore provide shorter partner time to revenue and profit.

  • Make complex sales processes easier through better enablement and continued field support.

  • Drive more opportunities at the top of the funnel through marketing funds, tools, and programs.

  • Continue to enhance sales collaboration between Dell core sellers and partner sales teams.

  • Provide economic visibility and transparency to maximize partner rewards.

Building Blocks for Partner Success

To achieve these goals, the Dell Technologies partner leadership team has been reimagined with a new go-to-market structure for the Global Sales Organization. Key changes designed to ensure company-wide support for partner success include:

  • Experienced, savvy experts are now firmly in the Global Channel Chief, Global Alliances, and OEM Solutions chairs.

  • Channel sellers have been brought into the North America and International regional teams to maximize predictability and execution of engagements with partners.

  • Led by the Global Channel Chief, regional channel leadership will ensure alignment of partner vision, strategy, enablement, and program design, all focused on enhancing partner experience.

Each person heading a partner group sits on the Global Sales leadership team, a group that is deeply committed to partner success by achieving simplicity through automation, providing economic transparency, and via support for the transformation underway in the as-a-service consumption model.

Through automation and simplification, Dell is making its partners’ transactions easier to conduct with a greater focus on reducing the friction in even the most complex transactions and business relationships. Implementing partner self-service is important in that it lowers the cost to the partner and permits the partner to realize increased revenue and margins sooner.

Through economic transparency, Dell partners with complex business operations can work more closely and productively with the company. Many Dell partners now have relationships where they buy Dell technology for data centers, resell managed services based on the products obtained from Dell, provide integration services, and maintain a host of other products and services based on their clients’ needs. Dell partners cut through the complexities of the myriad of transactions to obtain a clear vision of all their incentives.

Dell has also unveiled its long-term as-a-service strategy, Project Apex, that will impact the way Dell develops future products, sells solutions to customers, and enables channel partners to drive recurring revenue. Project Apex will unify Dell Technologies’ as-a-service and cloud strategies, technology offerings, and go-to-market efforts to provide a consistent experience wherever a workload runs, including on-premises, at the edge, or in public clouds.

The first as-a-service offering for Project Apex is Dell Technologies Storage as a Service, and more are in the queue, such as PC as a Service, Compute as a Service, and Data Protection as a Service. In the future, Dell will extend Project Apex vertically, with solutions such as SAP as a Service and VDI as a Service offered over time.

“

This is how we sell products, how we market products, how we build products, how we finance products—the whole end-to-end value chain is moving toward Project Apex.”

- Dell Technologies’ Sam Grocott

“

With Project Apex - channel partners are enabled to turn traditional data center sales into recurring revenue.”

- Dell Technologies Platinum Partner - US

Important for partners is the new Dell Technologies Cloud Console. The console provides customers with a single, self-service online interface to manage every aspect of their cloud and as-a-service strategy.

As Dell Technologies moves to an as-a-service provider model, the company can pass on greater financial benefits to its business partners. Dell now offers much more flexibility in the product offerings and accompanying transactions as well. Much of the time-consuming and expensive operating costs are no longer borne by the ultimate user or the partner, reducing the partners’ CapEx and staffing costs and driving attractive net contribution.

What’s in It for Dell Partners: Key Benefits of the Dell Technologies Partner Program

Figure 1. The Dell Technologies Partner Program

Logical, Flexible Tiers with Progressive Rewards and Benefits

The Dell Technologies Partner Program features five tracks based on sales motions, and with different partner levels. The tiers each have their own revenue and training requirements, enabling different combinations of training to progress to higher tiers and to match with partner business models. Training is available across the portfolio in areas that align to partners’ core competencies. With tier progress, benefits increase whether partners procure directly with Dell Technologies or indirectly through a preferred authorized distributor.

Profitability is enhanced through a combination of rebates depending on program track, with base rebates and multipliers based on line-of-business products paid from dollar one, net new client rebates, and attached services rebates.

“

Dell has demonstrated that they value the channel and understand our business. Simple things like providing gear for our demo/solutions center to solid marketing campaign support mean a lot.”

- Cofounder, US Solution Provider

Market Development Funds Backed by the Tools to Put It to Work

The Dell Technologies Partner Program offers two types of Marketing Development Funds including Earned and Proposal-based MDF. Earned MDF, accrued based on revenue/rates based on type and tier, rewards qualified partners with predictable funding. Proposal-based MDF provides incremental discretionary funds provided to partners based on strategic proposals aligned to the latest regional sales and marketing priorities.

Both funds can be used on a breadth of marketing and solution development activities, and are supported with a full range of sales tools, including calculators, proposal tools, access to solution centers, and a demo program. On top of this is a comprehensive digital marketing tool to enhance partner marketing teams and to help generate leads efficiently using syndicated and social content, cobranded materials, and concierge marketplace expert services.

The Right Kind of Sales and Technical Training

Dell Technologies offers training and competencies with the flexibility to specialize in evolving solution areas and a focus on solving evolving customer needs. Importantly, these competencies, which span sales, pre-sales, technology, and services, feature the same training as Dell sales teams.

Partner Engagement Policies that Align Channel and Core Sellers and Shorten Sales Cycles

Dell Technologies is committed to driving new business through a fully integrated and streamlined process, as well as globally enforced Rules of Engagement, a core set of policies that align the behavior of the entire organization.

The guiding principles support joint selling efforts and overall partner success in delivering an excellent customer experience. With leadership support throughout the sales organization, these “sales norms” have become an important part of the success of the joint selling efforts.

In addition, the Deal Registration program rewards those partners who actively promote Dell Technologies products and solutions to their customers and yields incremental financial benefits.

“

I give the Dell Channel team a lot of credit for listening to partners and responding with targeted programs. The biggest impact for us over the past 3 years is that the program is now much simpler to understand. It is clear how we can leverage and benefit from all the rewards.”

- President, US Edge IT Partner

“

Dell has put the right incentives in place, for named products we don’t normally see in the industry. The platform motivates x-sell and up-sell and generates solid profits.’’

- BizDev Director, EMEA Systems Integrator

Partner of Record (PoR) status drives strong collaboration along several go-to-market programs in place. When held, this status means that the Dell Technologies core sales teams work with partners on future Dell-found opportunities for the line of business in the account that the status is earned.

The Partner Preferred Program enables partners to earn PoR status when they source new business in underpenetrated accounts. This is supported by higher discounts through Deal Registration and joint account planning.

The Storage & Server Partner of Record Incumbency Program is another unique element and further protects partner historical customer investments, establishing PoR status on LOBs where the partner already has strong relationships.

Industry-leading Incentives and Rewards

Dell Technologies has excelled at designing and executing specific go-to-market rewards programs that feature base rebates, added discounts, and incentives for selling targeting products and offerings. These behavioral incentives are focused on areas that align with Dell Technologies strengths and demonstrate strong market growth potential.

For storage:

o Tech Refresh: Incentives are provided for reselling second generation or older entry/midrange equipment.

o Midrange storage programs designed to drive market share.

For net-new client acquisition:

o Competitive swap incentives for displacing competitor equipment.

o New Business Incentives and X-Sell/Partner Preferred incentives for commercial accounts.

Partners also have the flexibility to earn valuable rebates and incentives by selling solutions built and delivered on Dell Technologies, by reselling Dell Technologies services, by co-delivering services with Dell Technologies, and delivering partner-branded services or a combination of all of these at higher margins. Partners can select the options that work best for their clients and their business as they move to add more services to their total revenue mix.

Portal Technology with a Self-service Focus Delivers Improved ‘Partner Experience’

The Dell Technologies Partner Portal is a single source for all program needs, providing access to tools and resources including everyday activities such as:

  • Sales, configuration, and quoting.

  • Deal registration.

  • Training and competencies.

  • Products and solutions.

  • Services resell, co-delivery, and delivery.

  • Marketing and campaigns.

In addition, the portal is the go-to source for easily managing the relationship with Dell Technologies, with tools such as:

  • Partner program and compliance tracking.

  • Payment and financing solutions.

  • Partner support services.

  • News and events.

“

Dell has demonstrated agility and has a certain ‘cultural magic.’ They have fostered partner growth without becoming cumbersome.”

- President US Solution Provider Partner

By providing the partners with all of the tools to cut through the sales process haze and access all of Dell’s products and services quickly, easily, and with full transparency on the financial side of the equation, Dell can be a much more effective co-selling partner with full alignment with the channel and core sellers. The stronger relationship between the sales, pre-sales, and technical support teams improves overall partner experience and leads to higher growth and margins.

The Bigger Truth... ‘Better Together’ Delivers

Three years ago, Dell Incorporated and EMC joined forces in the largest technology merger in history to become Dell Technologies, and unite closely aligned technology companies— VMware, SecureWorks, and Virtustream—around a common vision and strategy.

When ESG first looked at the new Dell EMC Partner Program, we noted that it was clearly set up for both partner growth and profitability. The company has made serious strides with the program in the past 3 years, and Dell has invested heavily to support partners’ growth, to make it easy for them to work smoothly with the rest of the Dell partner ecosystem, and to enable them to deliver for their mutual customers.

Dell strategy is based on partners leading, helping customers embrace their digital future and delivering expertise, applications, and services for planning, integration, and support, all with a focus on IT optimization.

“

What are the most important changes? I would say there are three:

  • Strong partner sales focus and resources with communication and teamwork at the highest levels.

  • Incentives are simpler and rewards are now more clear.

  • MDF is well executed and more important – better than competitors.”

- Director, LATAM IT Infrastructure Partner

We have seen the Dell Technologies Partner Program constantly improving, by pursuing these tenets:

  • Reworking partner programs, adding rewards and marketing dollars, and updating partner skills and enablement.

  • Bringing transparency and predictability to partner engagement.

  • Providing all partner tracks with a simplified structure and tiers that reward investment.

  • Being flexible and adaptive to rapidly evolving as-a-service business models and partner needs.

  • Creating fully invested partners through a set of incentives and rewards that drive profitability.

ESG believes that continued Dell leadership will be based on:

  • The “magic” of technology leadership: Dell’s full portfolio plus high-value, partner-services-led solutions.

  • Field support and collaboration pre- and post-sales: Leveraging Dell’s sales culture and global reach.

  • Incentive plans that are based on joint customer and partner success.

The Dell Technologies Partner Program continues to stay ahead of its competition in terms of investment and commitment, providing financial and operational value to both its partners and their joint customers. The program works seamlessly alongside Dell’s partner-led strategy, helping customers embrace IT optimization and create true digital transformation. This is the definition of a win/win situation—a low-friction experience that is also more profitable for Dell Partners. It will be interesting to follow the program as it continues to evolve with the new IT world.

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