Dell: Wyse partners know we are committed to the channel

Channel integration process set to be completed by April

Dell claims it did not have to do anything to prove its channel credentials to Wyse's partners following its April acquisition of the thin-client vendor, and plans for the two firms to be fully integrated by April 2013.

Speaking at a Dell Wyse Partner Update event yesterday, Dell emphasised that its days as a direct-only vendor were "history" and claimed its legacy had caused no issues during the integration so far.

Speaking at VMworld last month, Wyse claimed its partners were "running through the streets with their hair on fire" when they got wind of the takeover, but had since been calmed by Dell's approach to the channel.

Dell's European marketing director David Angwin, who formerly worked for Wyse, said the integration process will take time and is not being rushed.

"It is an ongoing process; it will not happen overnight," he added. "We want to make sure we get it right and maintain the business running at full speed while we bring [the two firms] together."

Some 300 of Wyse's UK partners will join 1,900 of Dell's once integrated, with Wyse's Premier partners joining the Dell programme as Preferred partners. They will then have the chance to gain additional competencies, which, together with hitting a revenue target, will enable them to become Premier partners, according to Dell.

Computacenter, which was a Dell and Wyse partner before the acquisition, has had a good experience during the transition, according to Pierre Hall, its solutions director.

Speaking at the partner event, he said: "It is interesting to see the [two] strategies coming together, I'm not saying I'm giving it a tick, but I can see the journey [they] are on to bring it together. ...At the outset I was not sure, but now I can see how the portfolio blends and can combine - you can now see how that works.

"The Wyse team reached out to us early in the process and it was not just us. I felt that we did not have to reach out to get attention - [they] made sure the channel was catered for."

Guy Watts, sales director at Getech - one of four Wyse distributors alongside Arrow ECS, ISI and Avnet - claimed the changes have benefitted the distributor.

He said: "Straight after the acquisition was announced, very senior Dell and Wyse executives called all their major European distributor partners to a meeting and made it clear at that point that it was business as usual.

"Wyse got to where it is through the reseller channel and Dell understands that, and it was part of the value of buying Wyse, to connect to the channel. There has been a strong supporting message from the outset."