Why Dell Has No Plans to Extend 'Partner-First' to Devices

There is “no plan” to extend Dell’s partner-first strategy beyond storage sales.

Dell’s global channel leader, Denise Millard, responded to a question at the Canalys Channels Forum EMEA this week in Berlin, Germany. Canalys is Channel Futures’ sister company.

Dell introduced its partner-first for storage strategy in 2023. It designates more than 99% of the company's customers and potential customers as partner-led for storage sales. Dell also increased compensation for its direct sales team when transacting storage through a partner, and quadrupled the number of storage Partner of Record-eligible resale accounts.

Partners and industry experts welcomed Dell's move to partner-first.

However, Millard said while “predictability through the channel is incredibly important … There is no plan to extend it to devices at this point.”

But the exec did note that collaboration with partners “is increasing substantially.”

“We’ve seen Partner of Record increase five times what it was from a year ago. What that means is we’re getting participation from partners doing more business in this space, so we’re both winning from that standpoint. We also expanded Partner of Record as part of this announcement to not just be for storage, but we have it for all lines of business: storage, server and client.”

Related:Partners Face Wake-Up Call as Hardware Sales Flatline

Dell Bullish On Devices, Return to Office

Millard said Dell was “incredibly bullish” about Dell’s device business.

“We have an incredible opportunity,” she said. “We’re sitting on the largest tech refresh opportunity that has ever existed. We are seeing companies like Dell and Amazon push employees back to the office, which, as others follow suit they’re going to need new experiences. [It] may not always be new devices, but certainly all of the attach and services associated with driving a solid employee experience presents a really large opportunity.

“When we think about the Windows 11 refresh … 70% of the available PCs today cannot run in a Windows 11 environment. So that represents a massive refresh opportunity, even if customers are not buying into the COVID refresh.”

On the forced return to the office, Dell is now mandating that sales employees return five days a week. Millard said that strategy would aid greater collaboration with partners.

“If you’re not in the office, we want you at a customer site or at a partner site. And that is something that’s getting checked and measured. And when we look at the activity of our sales teams and our sales leaders, we want them engaging with our partners and doing that early and often. To me, it all happens in the field. It’s all about relationships. It’s all about building trust and engagement and the messages from the top down are get out and work with partners.”

Dell 'Committed' to Partners

Millard said Dell would continue to simplify its go-to-market.

“Partners contribute more than 50% of our net revenue just in [the second quarter], and that’s been a pretty consistent number,” said Millard. “We continue to recognize that we can’t do it alone, and we need this ecosystem to continue to grow and scale.

“Our leadership team is fully engaged and fully committed to our partner ecosystem," she added.