EMC renews its channel vows
Vendor says its own staff will not be paid for direct sales outside of 150-strong "hard deck" by the end of the year
EMC has renewed its commitment to its partners, claiming that the move to sell entirely through the channel except for its "hard deck" of 150 direct accounts will be complete by the end of the year.
Speaking to partners at the EMC Forum in London, James Petter, managing director for UKI, said staff will not be paid for sales outside those 150 very large firms once the move is finalised.
During the speech, he updated VARs on the vendor's plans, claiming that EMC has delivered on its promises to become more channel-friendly.
He said: "Our strategy is not successful without our partners... We said we would employ a further 21 mid-market salespeople [and] we did. We said we would increase channel pre-sale resource, and we have. We are not as far along with that as we want, but we are getting there."
He added that the appointment of Andy Bant and JT Lewis to the roles of cloud provider practice lead and partner global services lead has further aided the channel's enablement and profitability.
Speaking to ChannelWeb at the event, UK channel director Terry Beale revealed he plans to push further sales through the channel.
He said: "My key measure for success is how many of my partners' salespeople are selling EMC products. Roughly, on a regular basis, 11 per cent of all salespeople in our partners are selling EMC, but I have a personal goal to get that to 20 per cent."
He added that the current win rate for business in the channel stands at 25 per cent, but that he plans to double that by the end of the year.
"I want to move [the channel win rate] up to a different level. I'm saying, why not start at [a target of] 50 per cent and see what happens? Fifty per cent is a real challenge, but we might as well try."
Sam Routledge, solutions director at Softcat, said the vendor has turned a corner.
"[EMC has] not always been the most channel-friendly company, but it has changed its focus in that respect and we have benefited from that," he said.
"We saw a renewed focus two years ago and then noticed a real definite channel push in the past six months."
However, 101 Data Solutions' Brett Edgecombe claimed the new approach has experienced some "teething problems".
"Although we have seen a stronger push in its internal sales trying to work with us and help us, there has been a recent discrepancy with deal registration. We have had some declined and reinstated again; it has been a bit messy," he said.
"They are having problems with the transition, but all the problems we have had have been resolved and they have jumped on the problems quickly, so I hope it is only short term."