Dell EMC's 2020 vision is a 60 per cent channel business

CCO Marius Hass says Dell EMC's $35bn channel business will take bigger share of overall sales over next three years

Dell EMC's indirect business will account for more than 60 per cent of its overall revenues by 2020, the vendor claims.

That is according to chief commercial officer Marius Haas, who said during a keynote Q&A session at EMEA Canalys Channel Forum that Dell's indirect business will become its main source of revenue in the next few years.

At Dell EMC World in Las Vegas this spring, Michael Dell pegged the firm's channel business - including EMC's contribution - at $35bn (£26bn), equating to $7 of every $15 the firm generates in sales.

But Haas said that leading up to 2020, indirect sales are expected to exceed 60 per cent of the firm's overall revenues.

"When we first looked at the numbers, we said roughly in the $35bn range… we don't have a target to say 'this route to market is this percentage of our business or our goal'," he said.

"I think we will be close to 55 to 60 per cent of our revenue flowing through [the channel]."

When prompted by Canalys CEO Steve Brazier to confirm if that figure was achievable by 2020, Haas said: "More than that by 2020".

When Michael Dell took to the stage at Canalys' Channel Forum event last year in Barcelona, he claimed that there was "no upper limit" on Dell's channel-centricity, and did not rule out the possibility of indirect sales overtaking the firm's direct business.

Haas conceded that faults in Dell's deal registration process have caused some frustration among partners.

"We had 160,000 [deals registered] last quarter around the globe," he said. "Not 100 per cent of them went flawlessly, so [there are] a couple of areas where our partners have indicated that we need to improve."