O'Shea exits Dell UK channel hotseat
Dell says change is in line with global move to integrate channel and direct sales under single leadership
Bill O'Shea claims he is leaving UK partners in good hands as he relinquishes the UK channel reins after three years.
CRN can reveal that O'Shea is moving to a new - as yet unspecified - role at Dell as part of a structural change that echoes Dell's global move to unite its channel and segment teams under one management structure.
O'Shea, whose job title is executive director of Dell's UK channel, seized the UK channel tiller from predecessor Paul Harrison in 2011.
That role has effectively been axed, with Dell's two highest-ranking channel heads - Steven Holmes and Jeff Knowlton - now reporting directly into UK vice president Tim Griffin.
O'Shea told CRN that Dell staff had been informed of the change yesterday.
"I can't say what I'll be doing in Dell specifically but I am staying in Dell. There are still some moving parts I need to nail down," he said.
"I will miss managing the channel business but I know I'm leaving it in good hands and I think it's a good move for [Steven and Jeff] to report directly to Tim as it allows us to integrate the channel business into the wider business."
O'Shea (pictured) added: "Any move to bring the channel and segment teams together is a positive one as it will allow them to generate more leads together and target that white space."
Dell has "solid plans" to grow the channel business at multiple times the rate of the overall market, as it has been doing in recent months, O'Shea added.
Holmes will continue to manage the UK-based external channel development managers that work with Dell's more strategic UK partners, with Knowlton heading the inside sales teams in Dublin and Hyderabad. Knowlton will now report directly to Tim Griffin, with Holmes sitting on Griffin's leadership team (while reporting into Dell vice president of channels Laurent Binetti).
Terry Betts, managing director of Dell Premier partner CCS Media, said the decision to consolidate channel and direct leadership in the UK had been heavily signposted by Dell.
"This is not a shock. Dell has been evolving for the last couple of years and has given us enough information for us to assume this would happen," he said.