Michael Dell: No upper limit to channel business growth

At Dell Solutions Summit in Brussels, chief executive hints at more indirect business growth as its channel revenues break $20bn barrier

Dell’s channel business is now worth $20bn (£12.3bn) worldwide, according to its owner and chief executive Michael Dell.

His appearance at the Brussels event was a surprise for all attendees, but the firm’s charismatic owner was upbeat about growth and determined to get even closer to partners.

Speaking at a breakout channel Q&A session, Dell said: “In 2007 we introduced our Partner Direct Programme and during the last seven years indirect has grown to over a third of our commercial business. We are committed to the channel, they are a part of our growth and success. We have a wonderful partner ecosystem.”

He said in an earlier keynote that the vendor operates a four-pronged strategy for customers – to transform, connect, inform and protect – with security, software, converged infrastructure, mobility and virtualisation all major growth areas for Dell and its partners.

“We have an omni-channel approach, and our inside sales teams have been incentivised to work with channel partners, and our channel partners are seeing that we have the broadest set of solutions for any company,” he said.

“We don’t have an upper limit [for the amount of business through the channel]. We have countries where it is 100 per cent indirect, and for example our US Federal business is two thirds channel driven. The number just goes up, there is no ceiling.”

Dell (pictured) said partner attitudes are also changing as they trust the vendor’s intentions.

“If you go back to 2008/9, the partners we had were a little bit cautious. We worked with a number of them, but if you asked them it was a little hush-hush. Now they are very open, and they tell us that Dell is their number one vendor, or has moved up from fifth place to third.”

And he added that since going private, the move has taken the pressure off and allowed him to focus more on innovation.

"We can take more risks, and are not fearful of hitting quarterly guidance numbers. We are 100 per cent focused on partners and customers and have a long-term focus. [Since going private] 20 per cent of my time has been freed up and that was 20 per cent of the most annoying things you can imagine.

"Now I can focus on making investments and handing out money," he said.