Dell Getting Partner Raves for Evolving Channel Program - Dell Channel Commitment Starts at the Top
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The channel advisory board is just one aspect of Dell's partner initiative,
according to Davis. The company is also trying to boost its channel
credibility by training all of its sales force in the value of the channel;
opening new lines of communications with VARs through blogs, forums and other
Web 2.0 efforts; and adopting so-called neutral compensation, which gives Dell
sales reps the same commission for deals done through resellers that they get
for direct sales engagements.
According to Dell officials, 93 percent of the top VARs in North America already buy from Dell. "We've been in the
channel in reactive mode for many years," Davis tells Channel Insider. "Now we're being a lot
more proactive."
CEO Michael Dell tells Channel Insider that the channel
now accounts for some $12 billion, or roughly 20 percent, of the vendor's
annual revenues. "We've got 22K [global] partners," says Dell.
"That's pretty staggering. And on top of that, we've got the No. 1 brand
and some unbelievably great, differentiated products. The brand is well ahead
of the other guys in SMB. We've got stuff other guys don't have in the form of
EqualLogic. We have a great managed services platform. So there was a latent
opportunity here.
"If you look at our history, we had a monolithic strategy that worked
quite well until it stopped working," Dell concedes. "So as we
reevaluated that, we saw that partners and channel would be a big part of our
success. That's exactly what you're starting to witness."
Davis says Dell is making three broad commitments when it
comes to the channel. The first is to fill the partner ranks with as many
resellers as it can recruit. With 11,500 North American partners already
registered, Davis says he's aiming for 200 new resellers a week to meet
his goals for the year.
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