April 2009 - Dell Channel Blog

In a recent discussion on our PartnerDirect LinkedIn group, it was asked, “What would it take to make PartnerDirect the #1 channel program globally?” Jon S. was the first to respond and provided three quick, but very helpful bullet points. His three items were:

1. Build programs around VAR core competencies.
2. Build stronger infrastructure for the Dell Partner Community
3. Collaborate more openly on services

Today, I’m going to tackle item number three and let our readers chime in on all ideas to provide more insight into the conversation and gain additional feedback. I reached out to Jon asking him for suggestions on how Partners can better collaborate with Dell. In his response, Jon wrote, “collaboration is about building trust. The more online conversations there are about how Dell is collaborating with its partners, the more it builds trust based on the evidence which in turn attracts more partners that want to collaborate. Of course, you need to some foundation to work with.”

I’m curious on what collaboration means to each of you. Let’s face it, you’re busy building your business so what is the most time efficient and useful way for you to collaborate with Dell executives and our extended channel teams on an ongoing basis?

Is it attending a partner advisory councils or is it being involved in an online group, scheduled webinars with Q&A, monthly phone calls, or all the above?

Furthermore, do you feel today’s web 2.0 tools would allow for the interaction and collaboration, that partners are looking for? If you were invited to an online exclusive Dell PartnerDirect group, would you jump online daily, weekly or monthly to chat with folks like Greg Davis and our teams?

Tell us, what collaboration environment would be the best for you?

If you’re a partner or you’re in the channel industry, be sure to check us out on Twitter for latest updates from the blog as well as our Americas Channel Marketing Team. Our marketing team is providing constant information on latest webinars, certifications and much more.

You can follow us @DellChannel

Recent posts about reviews from Channel Insider and the release of three new Dell Precision Workstation models were pretty big news. Anyone who knows anything about high-end workstations knows that Dell Precision is the 900 pound gorilla when it comes to being certified for applications for CAD, modeling, media, architectural engineering, construction design, oil & gas, and medical. But still, it is great to hear someone else say it. So when Mark Schoennagel, Autodesk's Senior 3D Evangelist, discussed how game developers can use Autodesk's Softimage to speed the development of their games, Dell Precision workstations based on Intel's new Xeon 5500 (Nehalem) processors was a major part of the conversation.

Check out this video where Mark shows how the Dell Precision T5500 Workstation "Smokes" on performance and is "flawless out of the box." What does this mean to channel partners? You have the best option to sell!

Dear Dell Partner,

I'd like to invite you to take part in our Dell Channel Blog. The blog is designed to be an open forum for the greater PartnerDirect community. That's why at anytime, you're welcome to submit a guest post.

By creating a guest post on the Dell Channel blog, you can:

· Share your perspectives with other partners, vendors, Dell Channel team members, industry analysts and the public at large.

· Offer expert advice on Dell's latest products, technologies and services.

· Promote your case studies that might benefit the PartnerDirect community.

· Spark a discussion on almost any topic, from general best practices to specific trends.

· Help shape the future of the PartnerDirect program.

Here are two partnered authored posts by Doug Ford of The IT Pros and Steve Brown of Rev2 Technologies.

Posts should be approximately 150-250 words, and submitted to Amie_Paxton@Dell.com. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about blogging.

Thank you in advance for your time and participation,

Amie Paxton

Dell Channel Community Manager

Disclosure: This post was originally posted on July 18, 2008 and is being repurposed to actively recruit interested partners.

Have you joined our PartnerDirect LinkedIn group? Are you taking advantage of LinkedIn’s networking capabilities and building your social equity by connections and various interest groups? If not, you’re missing out on showcasing your talents as well as joining group discussions that can truly impact your business.

On our PartnerDirect group, we’re encouraging our members to start discussions they’d like to learn more about, how-to’s, and feedback on Dell’s program. Dell’s Jeff Johnson recently started a discussion asking, How is Dell’s PartnerDirect Program Doing?

With more than a year under our belt, we’re asking constant feedback on what you need from Dell’s channel program and what you need to effectively build a relationship with Dell and build your business. Sixteen comments were posted as a response to Jeff’s discussion topic with invaluable feedback from all participants.

Here’s a sample of the ongoing conversation:

“The program is working out for our company. Margins are great and our inside team is extremely helpful.” Michael G.

“To further elaborate, the dell technology is great - support even better. Supply chain seems to be very solid still even in this economy. Purchasing enterprise or business class servers/desktops can yield beneficial margins. Trying to help smb's acquire low cost entry level hardware is not competetive through the partner program at this time.” Larry M.

Feel free to join the group and comment on this thread or our new discussion, What would it take for Dell PartnerDirect to be the #1 channel program in the world?