Dell EMC: We have too many distributors

Vendor hints that distie review is happening following merger

Dell EMC has admitted it has "too many" distributors globally following the merger, claiming that by December, a "select few" will have been chosen to continue working with the firm.

Speaking to partners at the first-ever Dell EMC partner summit in Austin, the firm's global channel chief John Byrne said that although distribution plays a "critical role" in its route-to-market, the vendor is over-distributed at present.

"Distribution is growing in the double digital and last quarter distribution grew by 30 per cent, which is quite spectacular," he said. "Now we have a lot of work to get done on our distribution strategy. We have over 300 distributors around the globe once we combined Dell and EMC. That's too many. It's just too many."

Byrne did not say exactly how many disties would be an ideal number, but he said that the characteristics of an ideal distributor are similar to those of resellers with whom it is looking to work more closely.

"We want to work with partners and distributors who want to be selling all of our portfolio," he said. "We also want distributors who want to derive solutions from that portfolio. We want distributors who want to attack the market with us - not waiting to fulfil what you or the direct team are driving. We are going to put a lot of pressure on the distributors - and incent the distributors - to attach services aggressively."

He said at the moment, Dell EMC is working on a "master map" to identify which disties to work with - adding that "a select few" will be chosen by December.

He said disties are keen to work with Dell EMC.

"They are all over us - everyone is all over us," he said. "But they have to drive solutions."