Dell Technologies Extends Payment Flexibility Program, Adds Technology Rotation

Dell Technologies partners on Tuesday got an extension to the payment flexibility program the company announced in April, that was part of a $9 billion financing program for customers and partners. The vendor also announced a new technology rotation program.

The Dell payment flexibility program is extended through the end of October, with payment deferrals until 2021. The new technology rotation program is for PowerStore storage arrays, PowerEdge servers, and Dell laptops and desktops.

Dell’s Darren Fedorowicz

“As we’ve moved through our last quarter, we’ve seen such a tremendous amount of interest in our payment flexibility program. And we remain focused on helping our customers and partners,” Darren Fedorowicz, vice president Dell Financial Services (DFS) and global channel sales, told Channel Futures.

Customers with businesses of all sizes can order technology today and the first payment isn’t due for six months under the payment flexibility program.

“For customers making a purchase in September or October, the first payment won’t be due until March or April,” said Fedorowicz.

Technology Rotation Program

The technology rotation program recognizes that some customers want the ability to rotate technology after its useful life. Dell had an existing technology rotation program; however, prior to Tuesday’s announcement of a more standardized and aggressive rate technology rotation program, customer discussions about technology rotation were more one-offs.

“The key to what we’re announcing today is the level of standardization and very aggressive pricing that gives customers predictability,” said Fedorowicz. “For our channel partners, there’s also a high level of predictability because we’re going to pre-state the pricing. They’ll have a Dell price and be able to add value-added services and make margin.”

The new technology rotation program adds transparency for customers and partners. Additionally, SMB customers are beneficiaries of the new financial programs. Not so much up until now.

“We’re introducing an offer where, for example, a customer might have a $100,000 PowerEdge, and the pricing that we’re offering under payment flexibility may have previously been reserved for a $5 million or $10 million order,” said Fedorowicz. “This is especially valuable for small and medium-size business PowerEdge or PowerStore customers. Historically, they might have had pricing that was higher. However, they’ll be able to get the same pricing that was reserved for multimillion-dollar Fortune 500 customers. And it will be predictable and pre-stated upfront.”

Good for Partners

Partners can leverage the offer of payment deferral for their customers. The partner can buy a PowerEdge server from Dell – for say, $80,000 – and add $20,000 in value-added services. Then the partner sells the solution to the customer for $100,000. The customer finances the $100,000 with DFS for three years. DFS pays the partner immediately.

“The partner has no credit risk. They have immediate cash flow and make their margin immediately. Partners also have a highly predictable quote for the customers. And that enables velocity in their sales motion,” said Fedorowicz.