Dell EMC's global channel boss admits there is room to improve

Cheryl Cook concedes vendor giant has work to do to ensure it is easy to do business with

Dell EMC's channel boss has admitted the vendor has room to improve and says it is taking on board "candid feedback" from partners on where it can be easier to do business with.

Cheryl Cook (pictured) acknowledged that the vendor giant is suffering from complicated processes in certain areas that need to be addressed.

"I think the candid feedback we get that I'm listening honestly to is that we just need to make it easier to do business," Cook said. "I think that's a common theme. We're very focused on trying to make it simple… I think we know there are areas, whether it's with our quoting tools, whether it's the turnaround time on deal registration; we're very focused on that."

The SVP of global channel marketing noted that there was "room to improve" for the vendor in order to maintain its current "velocity" in the business. In particular she highlighted making sure information was easy to find and pointing partners to the level of campaigns and sales engagement the vendor would like to see.

"We know that to continue that level of growth and velocity, certainly at the scale we're at, we've got to continue to just stay focused on those areas of automation that's...going to help improve and just keep it simple from a sales engagement perspective," Cook said. "A lot of what you'll see us addressing in the program I call refinements. But there's surely room for us to improve…"

An example of refinements to date include some of Dell EMC's MDF processes, which Cook said the vendor has simplified. "That was feedback the partners gave us on the claiming process, how do we automate it, how can we give them better visibility and reporting? We've taken action on all that," she told Channelnomics.

On the subject of what a VMware takeover of Dell might mean for channel partners, Cook declined to comment