Through organic growth and strategic acquisitions Dell is now successfully positioned as a global provider of true end-to-end technology solutions. Equipped with all the key components and capabilities, our mission is to enable our Partners around the world to easily deliver successful, profitable enterprise solutions.
I work in Dell’s channel organization supporting Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), executing regional marketing and social media campaigns in support of Dell Partners’ business.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Edwin Ng who leads the enterprise channel sales in Dell’s Asia-Pacific region and to take some time to learn more about the future opportunities Edwin sees for Partners in this region. I’m excited to share our conversation with you.
As the APJ Enterprise Sales Director for the channel, what opportunities do you see in APJ markets for our Partners to sell enterprise solutions?
Edwin: Some of the greatest opportunities for our Partners are with small to medium businesses with 100 to 5,000 employees. There is enormous growth happening in this part of the market and these companies will need flexible, grow-as-you-do enterprise solutions.
Fortunately, Dell offers several servers, storage and networking solutions that are both affordable and powerful enough for this group’s unique needs. So while our competitors may not be paying much attention to these customers, we believe that there is great opportunity for Dell Partners to deliver them the Dell enterprise solutions and expertise they need.
It’s also important to forge meaningful relationships throughout the entire business lifecycle so that as these smaller organizations grow in their data and networking needs, they know that their Dell Partner already understands their business and will equip them with the right solutions.
Which of Dell’s enterprise solutions do you think are most compelling to small and midmarket companies?
Edwin: Unlike the competition, Dell Active Infrastructure is flexible, simplified and affordable—offering our Partners compelling differentiation for small and midmarket organizations with 50 users to 1,000 users. Partners who have customers in these markets with small or remote offices should also be excited about the recently announced PowerEdge VRTX. Combining server, storage, networking and management software in a compact form factor, Dell’s PowerEdge VRTX is a revolutionary, comprehensive, budget-friendly enterprise solution that is easy to deploy—and should be easy to sell.
How are our Partners winning in the enterprise space?
I see Partners growing with us by taking advantage of Dell’s differentiated storage solutions. For example, a Partner in China needed to provide a reliable, comprehensive and cost-effective disaster recovery solution to one of the largest offshore oil and gas producers in China. Our Partner proposed and implemented a disaster recovery solution with data recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO) in the “near-zero” zone, thanks to Dell Compellent™ SC8000 Storage Center Controller, Compellent Copilot Optimize Service, Storage Consulting and Data Migration. The combined solution and services will effectively minimize both loss of data and system downtime for their customer. The sale was a result of great collaboration and close relationship between the Partner and Dell.
We have also made great progress in the direct attach storage (DAS) and Internet SCSI (iSCSI) space—and continue to grow. Additionally, we see great opportunity in the Fibre Channel market here in APJ where our storage solutions are increasingly being preferred since they offer the latest features and functions without forklift upgrades, helping to lower total cost of ownership.
Thanks to our Partners’ support we have reached superior market positions in much of our enterprise business – as validated in the articles listed below. We won’t rest idly with a top ranking, though. Dell will continue to develop innovative solutions and seek additional independent software vendors to make our server offerings even more compelling for our Partners’ customers.
Michael Dell: Servers and the Channel Are More Important Than Ever
Dell wins out as global server market slides by ZDNet
I know that Dell is committed to building the best channel program in the world and that we want to ensure that doing business with Dell is both easy and profitable. To do so, we regularly seek input from our Partners in regards to the tools, resources, training and incentives we provide. How have you seen the needs of Dell Partners change over the life of the program?
Edwin: The area in which I see the biggest evolution is in regards to training and education requests. Our Partners rarely ask for siloed product trainings or assets that only focus on the speeds and feeds of our offerings. Instead, they want training that helps them to successfully position Dell solutions to address their customers’ specific pain points.
Dell is excited to invest in new trainings and tools that help Partners to build their business and grow professionally. The launch of the exclusive Engineers Club in APJ and the new PartnerDirect community on the Dell TechCenter (open to all Dell Partners) are but two examples of how much Dell values our Partner community and how we wish to provide them with unique learning and sharing platforms.
How does Dell help Partners to provide the right solutions for their customers?
Edwin: While Dell’s business model has evolved from a strictly direct model to one that now offers smart selection and fully embraces our channel Partners, our key to success has remained constant. We always have and always will listen to our customers. In learning more about their needs, we deliver the best solutions for them. We are committed to sharing our customer insight and expertise with our Dell Partners. Together, we can go to market confident that we are providing all end customers with the enterprise solutions they want and need.
Ready to start taking advantage of all the enterprise opportunities Edwin mentioned? Join APJ PartnerDirect Community on LinkedIn to engage in discussions and learn more.
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