July 2008 - Dell Channel Blog

As we’re quickly approaching our PartnerDirect one year anniversary, Chris Gonsalves, editor at eWeek, interviewed our executive team last week, including Michael Dell. eWeek concluded what the channel team here at Dell already knows, that from Michael Dell on down, we’re committed to channel, there’s no going back, and that our direct-only past is behind us.

Moving forward, Greg Davis stated that Dell is making three commitments in our channel efforts.

1) Recruit as many resellers as possible to fill in the partner ranks.

2) By year’s end, PartnerDirect will add certifications to augment the enterprise architecture and managed services currently offered. Davis stated, “We don't need 10,000 resellers. We need the partners that can best work with what we offer to help drive success for everyone involved.”

3) Place an emphasis on channel and increase this business faster than the rest of Dell’s organization.

Furthering the discussion, Donna Troy added, "A lot of interesting things are going to happen with VARs around services. We're developing everything to be available as a service to be delivered through the partners."

eWeek captures the partner perceptions that Dell is up against in the voice of Oscar “Tim” Hebert, CEO of Atrion, a solutions and managed service provider (MSP). Hebert joined us in our first-ever Partner Advisory Council (PAC) meeting back in June and was impressed by Dell’s willingness to listen.

While we’ve captured his business, he’s still a bit cautious about Dell’s growing pains of implementing a new channel program. Hebert said he looks forward to his future relationship with Dell, one that brings strategic direction back to him on how to grow his business. He concludes that PartnerDirect has the opportunity to showcase its ability by finding its true influencers (top 400-500 partners) and building a channel program to support those folks.

What do you think of Dell’s progress so far in channel? Is it possible to have a channel program for all partners beyond the top influencers? Let us hear your thoughts.

With Stuart Crawford of Calgary's respected IT Matters leading the way, Greg Davis and Heather Harrison, Regional Sales Manager, talk PartnerDirect updates, future state, what’s working and how we’re listening to feedback.

Greg discusses the implementation of compensation neutral, improving and growing our partner base around the globe and several ways we’re looking to add value to our partner relationships. The latest action Greg & team are moving towards is adding a partner locator on the PartnerDirect portal. This partner network would identify skills and make partner info readily available to each other, Dell’s global sales team and Dell.com customers looking for specialized expertise.

The interview lasts an hour and is a good overview to Dell’s commitment to the channel and building better relationships with our Partners. Tell us what you think about Greg’s comments on PartnerDirect and being successful in today’s marketplace.

 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2008/07/25/Partnering-with-DELL

In this latest vlog, Donna Troy, VP & GM of the Corporate Accounts, interviews Greg Davis, VP & GM of Americas Channel Group, on everything from pricing to conflict to EqualLogic. You’ll hear first-hand how Dell’s direct and channel teams are engaging for success.

As always, your comments are welcome!

Posted on behalf of Michael Bukowski – Channel Liaison

Guess what??? It’s time to share (and shamelessly promote) our newest channel generated content site, PartnerStorm. I’ve mentioned it in a few posts before, but now it’s time to take a closer look at what it’s all about and what it means for you, the partner community.

We’ve already seen how this concept has changed our business offerings from Ubuntu, product RED, and ink cartages, to SSDs, extended XP, and retail offerings. On a weekly basis , ideas are reviewed with the Channel team to further understand implementation and opportunities. If you have an idea that make sense for PartnerDirect, write it up and post it, give others the chance to read, comment, and vote on it. We’ve provided the platform to voice your opinions, and the opportunity to influence our program evolution.

Our latest updates include:

Ideas submitted by mongo-

1- Give customers an easy way to send configurations to VARs for quotes and add functionality that allows VARs to edit configurations without having to rebuild them from scratch.

Dell’s response: We are looking into this; it’s an excellent idea to implement and would save valuable time in the review and transaction process.

2- Make the price shown on Premier the best possible purchase price. Right now VARs have to send quotes to their account managers for the “best” pricing, which is a waste of time for everyone involved.

Dell’s response: This is already on our Dell roadmap and is one of our most common requests. Most likely it will be implemented within the year as Dell.com runs on a different platform from Premier.

3- Make all software and peripherals available on Premier. So many items are simply not listed and require a call to your S&P agent.

Dell’s response: This is currently under review and we will keep the community updated on the progress and status.

Idea submitted by cyberbiz-

1- Support the channel by giving us leads and some sort of regional or industry sales support for big leads

Dell’s response: On the horizon, Dell is working on providing our Partners leads. Stay tuned for more information about this launch date.

Idea submitted by Twohlford –

1- Is there a way that a VAR like myself can have each of these small accounts somehow credited to me for purposes of keeping a good rep?

Dell’s response: This idea sounds similar to the Microsoft Influencer Program. We are reviewing a program of this nature; our channel team will keep the community updated on this opportunity.

Over the last two weeks, we've held the first in a series of EMEA PartnerDirect Solutions Club Events. Held in Manchester and Bracknell, the two events attracted partners who wanted to learn more about the benefits of becoming a PartnerDirect partner for them and their customers.

During the one day event, the partners heard from Josh Claman (VP & GM Dell EMEA Channel Business) and Andy Dow (head of the UK channel business), plus other senior product and solutions experts from Dell, EqualLogic and Intel.

The agenda covered details on our Certified Partner Program, together with break-out sessions on Green IT, Virtualisation and Mobility, giving partners first-hand access to tips and information to help them sell these solutions to their partners. It also enabled these partners to get an early look at some of our latest and greatest products, and a good networking opportunity between partners and the PartnerDirect EMEA team.

Feedback from the partners about the PartnerDirect Program and the event was very positive and constructive. We'll be using their input to help shape the Program moving forward. Here is what partners said about the event and Dell:

· "Excellent information throughout the day. Not afraid to tackle difficult questions - very refreshing to see"

· "Informative and useful, whole event was pitched well"

· "We look forward to developing a mutually successful partnership"

· "Would welcome the chance to do this kind of day with my team; Great to be getting your support"

These events were the first of five events being held across Europe. The next events will be held in September.