Dell left critical questions unanswered for its nascent channel
program partners when it announced a reorganization of its major
divisions on Dec. 31.
A Dell spokesman said Dell had yet to reveal its plans about potential
personnel changes for its three regional channel chiefs and also the
division or divisions that those chief or chiefs would report into.
But
Dell’s reorganization – creating three global divisions organized
around customer segments and dumping its current three geographic
divisions – will not affect the company’s year-old channel efforts,
according to a Dell spokesman.
"Our channel program is key to
what we are doing," the spokesman told Channel Insider. "We continue to
anticipate growing our channel." But Dell declined to answer questions
about the reporting structure of the channel into the three new
divisions and how the changes would affect the company’s three regional
channel chiefs
"We aren’t saying which one [of the new divisions] the channel will report into yet," the spokesman said.
Dell’s Americas Channel Chief Greg Davis previously reported into
Dell’s President of the Americas, Paul Bell. But under the new
structure, Bell is heading up the new Public Sector division – one of
three new global business divisions organized around customer segments.
Dell’s previous divisions were organized around three geographic
regions, and each of those regions still has its own channel chief.
Dell’s new global divisions will serve large enterprise, the public
sector, and small and medium businesses. Dell’s consumer division, led
by Ron Garriques, already served the global market, Dell said in a
statement.
When asked whether Dell would consolidate its regional channel chiefs
into a single leader for the channel, as the rest of the business had
been reorganized, the spokesman declined to answer. He added that Dell
was not ready to reveal any personnel changes that might occur around
the company’s channel business. Queries to Dell’s Americas Channel
Chief Greg Davis were referred to the spokesman.
Dell’s channel partner program "PartnerDirect will not be directly affected by the reorganization," the spokesman said.
Dell’s reorganization calls for a handful of executive changes at the top of the company.
Steve Schuckenbrock, previously president of Dell’s Global Services and
chief information officer, will now lead the Large Enterprise division.
Dell said, in a statement, that "a single large-enterprise unit will
further Dell’s advantage in delivering globally consistent innovations,
solutions and services to the world’s largest IT users."
Steve Felice will lead Dell’s Small and Medium Business division.
Felice, based in Singapore, is currently president of Dell Asia-Pacific
and Japan. Dell says that this division will "accelerate creation and
delivery of SMB-specific solutions and technology."
As part of the reorganization Dell will say goodbye to two executives
it worked hard to woo. Mike Cannon, Dell president of global
operations, will retire. Michael Dell enticed him to join the company
with a $2 million signing bonus, according to a Reuters report. And
Dell’s marketing chief, Mark Jarvis, is also leaving. His signing bonus
was $250,000.
Cannon will be succeeded by 21-year company veteran Jeff Clarke.