Regional resellers 'local heroes' to schools - Dell EMC
Vendor expects expanded education channel as sector picks up tech adoption
Local resellers have been able to make hay in the education sector as schools look towards regional support for IT adoption, according to Dell EMC.
John Bailey, head of education at Dell EMC told CRN that while two thirds of its education business revenue is with universities and colleges, the third of business with schools is proving fruitful for local resellers.
"The area that schools really benefit from is those channel partners that are local, those 'local heroes' that are geographically located that can support the school in whatever way they want; that is the secret for the local schools," he said.
"This is about schools getting technology that enables their students to thrive and grow. Whether you are a carpenter, a bricklayer, a mathematician or a journalist, if you don't know how to use technology in the simplest of forms, then you are going to fall behind in the modern world."
Despite the likes of Apple trimming its education channel, Bailey insisted the focus at Dell EMC will be on expanding its education channel remit.
"As with the rest of the company, we base the channel on the customer decision. If the customer is working with a specific channel partner, then we work with that channel partner," he said.
"Since the Dell-EMC merger, we have seen some great channel partners come onboard with some great speciality. One of my biggest challenges is reach and speaking to all our customers about everything we do."
On the university side of the education sector, Bailey said this area is trending towards looking for technology partners that have "solutions that are not necessarily the cheapest out there".
"For universities, it is about the quality and longevity of the product. They want the highest level of results and want to attract the most talented students and lecturers, and want the best research grants. If they are not using the best technology out there, they will fall behind," added Bailey.