OK, I will admit it…when Dell announced last year it was acquiring EqualLogic my e-mail inbox was full of congratulations, kudos and dire predictions. For the latter, the most common themes were around customer service, product development and preservation of our channel business. The reaction I received was that many folks thought EqualLogic had gotten quite a few things right, and they were concerned that may change as we became a part of Dell.
As a co-founder of EqualLogic I have a unique viewpoint and perspective on the deal. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year now, and as I look back at this milestone I’d like to share my thoughts on how things have progressed. Has everything gone perfectly? Of course not, things very rarely do. But in the past twelve months, I’ve seen many more positives than negatives.
First, on the customer service front we’ve grown the EqualLogic support team significantly while maintaining the core values for that team. Really smart people who are product experts still answer the phones and e-mails. The people that our customers talk to on the team – Gunther, Mike, Don, Pete and crew – are all still there working hard to support our customers, and they’ve been joined by some really talented folks. We still have a policy of zero deflections. If customers have problems that aren’t EqualLogic-specific, we remain committed to helping them get them solved – whether the issues turn out to be with the NIC, switch, operating system, virtualization software or a third party application. We also still have the persistence we’ve always had. Dell has made us more efficient by giving us access to a broader range of Solutions Experts. Our North Star of solving customer problems fits nicely with the Dell model and carries forward to this day.
We continue to gather feedback too. Dell EqualLogic still does its independent customer survey and receives responses from a few hundred customers each quarter. There’s a lot of data – on things we do well and on areas we need to focus on - but the metric that I think is the most telling is the responses to the question: “Would you recommend the PS Series to a friend or co-worker.” We still get high marks, with the last surveys reporting 98 percent of customers responding “Yes” to that question. That’s a score we take great pride in but we want perfection, so we are following up with the other two percent to figure out how we can get even better scores. Kudos to Gerry, Dave and crew for keeping the mission alive.
Next, on to - our products. The first concern people expressed was that we’d start introducing licensing and turn our storage into an a la cart menu. This didn’t happen. We still have the all-inclusive model and if you are signed up for customer service you get all the new features as they come out - period! The next fear was we’d stop product innovation. Well… in the last year, we’ve introduced a new platform, some major new features, added Auto-SnapManager for VMware and introduced SAN HQ – a new monitoring tool. In fact, as a part of Dell we have access to more assets to invest in product development. The engineering team has experienced an infusion of resources and the product is more robust and full-featured than at any time in its history and customers are responding favorably.
Going forward, we have a packed roadmap and you can expect some more great innovations in storage over the next 12 months. If anything, our roadmap is richer and the expectations for the product are higher. I would spill the beans on some of the new features, but of course I can’t. What I can tell you is we will continue our mission to simplify storage through automation and innovative storage management. We are still absolutely committed to iSCSI, but we aren’t dogmatic. If customers express a real interest in FCoE, we can go there too. The merger of the EqualLogic team with our peers in Austin has added to the brain trust. There are some very talented storage experts in Dell, and combined we both are much stronger than we would be if we were separate.
EqualLogic can scale and drive its products faster and further as Dell EqualLogic. We now have the ability to integrate storage with servers, services and applications for a seamless customer experience; and Dell added important new products to help drive its ’Simplifing IT‘ mission.
So what about the channel: The EqualLogic Channel program was the cornerstone for Dell’s PartnerDirect Enterprise Architecture program and certification path. That foundation enabled Dell to leverage the success that EqualLogic was driving in their program and quickly ramp and deliver unique value to channel partners. At the time of the acquisition, EqualLogic had ~185 partners in North America and that number has more than doubled during the year to almost 400 Certified Enterprise Architecture partners, with many more expressing interest in the program and certification. The partners that were with us as a stand-alone company are still with us at Dell and they increasingly have more opportunities and now have access to a much broader range of products and services that they can leverage to grow their business.
Looking back on everything we’ve accomplished together, I’d declare this year a win-win-win for EqualLogic, Dell and (most importantly) you, our customers. Unlike in many acquisitions, the antibodies in our companies’ respective product groups didn’t start as an “us and them” culture that leaves the products floundering. Quite the contrary, the teams work well together and have complementary skills. As I look at my calendar and take an inventory of my work I’m struck by the fact that I’m essentially working with the same people (alongside many new Dell colleagues) and doing the same type of work – but with more resources - as before the acquisition. We are all “us,” and we are working on making great products for our customers. To me that’s a success.