AUSTIN, TEX. – New Dell EMC Channel Chief John Byrne took the stage at the last Dell World to be held at the company’s home town to announce snippets of what the new channel program will look like starting Feb. 1, 2017.
The new partner program will be called Dell EMC Partner Program. The name removes one of the biggest sticking points the channel had with the plan before when it was called Dell PartnerDirect. The channel hated the word “direct” in the title. Now that is gone, but the biggest change will come with a strategic direction to lead with the partner.
Byrne said in the six weeks the two channel teams have been working together they tried to focus on three things:
- Making it simple;
- Predictable; and
- Profitable.
“We are going to lead with the partner now. And, we want to make it simple; there will be no catchy tag lines. We want them to have a voice so we know what the channel wants and how we can do it together. And, we want to create tier envy,” he said.
The new Dell EMC Partner Program will be starting with Gold so no silver, bronze, premier or preferred levels. Following gold is a Platinum tier and at the top will be Titanium tier. Also inside that tier will be an exclusive group of partners that will be classified Titanium Black.
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How do you get to these new levels?
Well most of the details still need to be baked out by the combined Dell EMC team. Bryne said that those details are coming sometime in Dec. But he added what Dell EMC is looking for is a partner who can sell all of the product portfolio and from that drive solutions from that base of products. Bryne also wants the channel partners to attack the market and gain net new logos.
They also want more share of wallet from the channel and they’ll be pushing solution providers to sell multiple lines going forward. The partner requirements for these tiers are not yet announced, but Byrne said they would be “realistic” market targets.
“We want partners to be an extension of our own organization and do wonderful things. It’s easy to say we are going to be simple, predictable and profitable but the difference is in the execution,” Bryne said.
Jeff Ridout, president of Dell Premier partner Eastbay I.T. Consulting Inc. of Toronto, told CDN he was excited about the commitment level of the combined entities.
“I believe the new enhanced tier levels is a step in the right direction,” Ridout said.
He added that partners the size of Eastbay can achieve these levels if they commit to the business strategy and be able to work with the Dell teams closely. Come next Feb. 1, Eastbay could be one of the new Titanium partners under this new structure and Ridout estimates that his business could grow three to four times the market rate.
“To be a successful partner you have to engage with both organization sales structures and commit yourself to the business, the certifications and the training. One of the big things that separate us is we are a pro deployment partner and the only one in Canada that is Compellent certified to deliver on Dell paper. If you commit to Dell EMC there is commitment that is equal right back to you as a partner,” he said.
The new Dell EMC Partner Program, as CDN reported earlier, will be an all-encompassing program and inside this program there will be specialization called tracks for OEMs, security focused partners, managed services providers and cloud.
This program will be officially unveiled on Feb. 1, 2017 as a centralized model where the company will be paying on all revenue.
Bryne also told the 14,000 partner executives at the event the team is looking to automate rebates. They will stay the course with EMC training, while MDF dollars will not change every quarter. Actual the entire program will remain the same for an entire year.
“We have to make this easy and take cost and friction out of the selling motion,” Bryne said.
There will be one single portal and deal registration turnaround will now be four hours. Bryne added deal registration will be heavily policed and there will be zero tolerance for violators.
“We are going to be making mistakes and when I make a mistake you will be able to find me. We are not going to hide. We want to be with you every step of the way,” Byrne said.