Company Updates

Dell Continues Channel Momentum in 2015 & Empowers Channel Partners to be ‘Future Ready’

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Dell channel has made tremendous progress and growth in its channel partner business this year and is set to deliver sweeping new programs and investments to accelerate this growth into 2016. We kicked off 2015 by putting to use the $125 million in investments for new and enhanced PartnerDirect programs and incentives to drive partner and customer value as announced at Dell World last year.

Illustration: Dell Channel momentum continues in 2015

Below are just a few of the Dell channel highlights from this year:

In other big developments, to grow the Onsite Vendor Rep Enablement program we funded over 160 North American partner-badged people such as solutions architects, alliances managers, and marketing managers to assist partners. IT investments such as improving the Partner Portal site resulted in a performance increase of more than 25 percent and led to over $180 million in revenue won by Dell channel partners. We’ve also seen a double digit increase in partner use of Dell’s Executive Business and Solutions Centers this year.

In the words of a key industry analyst:

“Dell continues to broaden its channel efforts, with its channel business representing over 40 percent of its global revenues,” said Paul Edwards, director, infrastructure channels research, IDC. “Dell provides partners with end-to-end offerings from client products through the data center, including software, services and financing. It continues to listen to partner feedback, delivering partner programs that enable new opportunities, profit and revenues.”

As we look ahead to 2016, we are delivering new programs to help our partners be “Future-Ready” by helping them identify the right solutions for their customers, enable their teams to sell and deliver those solutions, and by providing innovative business models to maximize their value to their customers. To close new acquisition and retention deals with customers, we are delivering key incentives, financing options and IT investments to help our partners grow and thrive with Dell.

  • Rebates and Growth Accelerators: Dell introduces incentives and growth accelerators for global Premier and Preferred partners selling Dell Storage, Networking, Server, Client, and Software products to new customers – in some cases doubling the existing incentives.
  • Service Attachment Rebates: Dell is introducing rebates to select North America partners when they attach Dell ProSupport, ProSupport Plus, and ProSupport Flex to qualifying hardware.
  • Data Protection Incentives: When bundling software solutions with Dell storage hardware, Dell now offers North American Premier and Preferred partners incentives on data protection software capabilities targeting the new Dell Data Protection | Rapid Recovery solution while discounting integrated appliance deals by up to 60 percent.
  • Scalable Cloud Payments for Service Providers: Dell Financial Services introduces global Scale Ready Payment Solutions designed for service providers, including a Pay As You Grow option so payments increase as the business grows, a Provision and Pay option with cyclical deployment and payment plan, and a Scale on Demand option with cloud payments based on usage.
  • Investing Tens of Millions in IT: Dell is committing to investments in 2016 to continue delivering easy to use IT systems and provide tools for lead management, deal registration, training and certification, ease of navigation and mobility.

As part of our commitment to enable partner growth, Dell is also investing in new PartnerDirect competencies and training, and strategic program improvements, including:

  • New Deployment Services Competencies: Starting today, partners in 123 countries with Certified Deployment Professionals on staff can earn new competencies to co-deliver Storage and Networking Deployment Services. Partners will gain access to exclusive Dell deployment tools, best practices and the latest critical updates, enabling them to expand their capacity, grow opportunities and increase revenue.
  • Updated Software Competencies: Product competencies in Data Protection, Identity and Access Management, Endpoint Management, Windows Management, and Network Security Solutions enable partners to deepen their expertise, drive competitive advantage and earn rewards.
  • Updated Cloud Competency: Partners with medium to large customers can pursue sales and technical training on Dell’s latest scalable hybrid cloud solutions, enabling them to deliver innovative cloud infrastructure, attach software and services and deepen their customer relationship.
  • New Big Data & Analytics Solutions Competency: Dell partners can pursue sales and technical training on Dell’s end-to-end big data portfolio including infrastructure, data analytics, and data integration solutions.
  • Service Provider program – Leveraging Dell’s leading solutions capability, the Service Provider program enables partners to incorporate the future of utility IT in their business model, where customers only pay for value-as-consumed with a wide range of solutions including infrastructure, networking, applications and security. Service Providers can also leverage Dell Financial Services’ Provision and Pay and Pay As You Grow to enable XaaS business model transformation.
  • Distributors Recognized as Dell Authorized Training Partners: In 2016, selected distributors will be authorized to offer Dell training. We will partner with these distributors to authorize their trainers, share our courses and build a partnership to enable resellers to grow revenue via our distributor network.

We love feedback and have been fortunate to hear from partners giving us their firsthand accounts of how Dell channel program investments have helped their businesses grow:

“Dell has shown tremendous consistency and momentum in its channel partner program, while laying the groundwork for innovation that will pay dividends for years to come. As a result, we’ve enjoyed a great partnership and driven 120 percent growth in our business with Dell this year,” said Jason Myers, Regional Vice President – Southwest, FusionStorm. “These new ‘future-ready’ investments are another great example of Dell’s commitment to its channel strategy, providing the training and support necessary to help partners deepen our knowledge and evolve with changing IT requirements.”

Partners, please be on the lookout for more information to come on these new and updated solutions, programs and incentives in 2016. We appreciate your business and would love to hear from you! Please send us your thoughts and suggestions through your Dell representative. I also encourage you to engage with me on Twitter via @CookCherylS.

Cheryl Cook

About the Author: Cheryl Cook

Senior Vice President at Dell Technologies, Cheryl Cook spearheads development and strategy for the Global Partner Marketing organization. Beyond her main global responsibilities for branding, partner program marketing, channel events, partner communications and MDF/BDF program investments and execution, Cheryl drives long-term partner marketing strategy, together with Global Alliances, OEM, and global and regional business teams. A vocal advocate for the partner community, Cheryl is a 20+ year partner veteran, known as an innovative, collaborative leader who creates compelling business solutions that accelerate partners’ success. Prior to her current role, Cheryl served as Vice President, Global Channels and Alliances, leading channel strategy for the company worldwide. Her responsibilities included setting Dell’s partner strategy company-wide, as well as developing and executing channel programs, training, certification, and global marketing programs that enabled partners to grow their business with Dell. Cheryl and her team contributed to the growth of Dell’s global channel business from 33% to over 40% of Dell’s total revenue. Prior to running Dell’s channel business, Cheryl served as Vice President of Enterprise Solutions, where she was responsible for the go-to-market strategy and execution for Dell storage, server, networking and related software businesses. Cheryl has more than 25 years of IT and high-tech experience. Before joining Dell in 2011, Cheryl was Senior Vice President at Nuance Communications managing sales across all lines of business. She also served as Senior Vice President at Sun Microsystems with global responsibility for $6B in enterprise solutions revenue. A contributor to Fortune Magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Women’s community, Cheryl is an active proponent of women in business and technology. Cheryl is the founder and executive sponsor of the Dell Technologies Women’s Partner Network, an initiative that supports and empowers our community of women partners. Cheryl also contributes to Dell’s Women in Action and Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network. Honored by CRN numerous times as one of the Power 100 Women of the Channel, 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs and Top 100 Channel Sales Leaders, as well as Channel Partners Top Gun 51, Cheryl serves on the board of directors for ARC Document Solutions, is a member of Channel Focus Club 50 and holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Florida.