Dell Networking on track to hit 50 per cent channel target
EMEA channel boss hints that vendor is looking to increase channel business percentage even further in new financial year
Dell Networking’s EMEA channel chief, Mark Pearce, has hinted that the vendor is keen to grow its channel business significantly in the coming year.
He explained that the vendor wants to keep in close communication with its partners and as a result has established a network of Partner Circles over the past eight months, which is already helping resellers reap the benefits by answering questions posed by the vendor through a questionnaire.
Last month Dell Networking revealed it was slashing rebate thresholds for Premier and Preferred partners, meaning they had to do $20,000 (£13,300) of business a quarter, to qualify for up to 14 per cent rebates. Previously partners were required to generate $100,000 a quarter to qualify.
Speaking to CRN, Pearce said: “One of the things I wanted to do was have a two-way communication with partners, and the Partner Circles was a good way of generating the information we needed through our questionnaires. We wanted our partners to tell us what they thought would make our programme more fair, and the one thing that came up across all the countries we questioned was rebates.
“We already had competitive rates, but the feedback asked for a level playing field for the two partner levels, when it came to rebates,” he said.
Pearce said both Premier and Preferred partners were happy with the decision, and Premier partners can still get an extra two points of MDF, differentiating themselves further.
“We have had a great response and some of the other things we will be looking at in the future is accreditation and certifications.”
Importantly, Pearce said the vendor had been keen to get 50 per cent of its networking business through channel partners.
“It looks like we are going to hit that goal by the end of our current financial year, and the goal is to increase it again next year. As we do that we are increasing our market share and solidifying our place as the number-three networking vendor in the market.”