Dell first began using Salesforce.com's CRM (customer relationship management) platform a year ago for its direct sales force. Over the last 60 days, the PC maker has taken the relationship a step further, implementing Salesforce Partners, Salesforce.com's PRM (partner relationship management) platform.

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"They wanted one solution to collaborate with direct and indirect sales," said Elay Cohen, senior director of products at Salesforce.com. "They have a history of being a direct business, and their No. 1 business problem is they want to mitigate channel conflict. The only way to do that is to have a single platform."

Dell solution providers can leverage the platform even further if they use Salesforce.com in their own operations. For example, rather than use the different deal registration screens at all the different vendors' portals, solution providers can enter the required information on a single familiar interface—the one they use at their own company.

Dell's deal registration through Salesforce.com has about eight required fields and two clicks.

Ultimately, Dell may also look at using the platform for use with some of its bigger strategic partners such as EMC, according to Channel Chief Greg Davis.