Ralf Jordan, Lenovo
Ralf Jordan is the vice president channel for Lenovo in the EMEA region.
In this role, Ralf is responsible for growing and expanding Lenovo's channel business across the entire IDG, ISG and SSG portfolio. He is passionate about the channel and partnerships and has intensive experience in the Distribution GTM.
For the last 10 years Ralf worked in Dell Technologies, where he was responsible for the Distribution GTM for EMEA. Before that Ralf already worked for Lenovo, where he was Vice President for Emerging EMEA, covering Central-and Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Middle East and Africa.
Ralf began his career in 1992 with IBM as a Systems Engineer before moving into sales. He had several national and international Sales Leadership roles within IBM.
Ralf graduated with a degree in Economics & Data Processing. He's currently based in Dusseldorf, Germany, is a proud father of teenage twins and an avid fan of Borussia Dortmund. He is fluent in German and English.
Number of years in current role:
One and a half
Number of years in current company:
One and a half
Number of years involved in indirect sales:
23
Reporting to:
Francois Bornibus, SVP and president of EMEA, Lenovo
Does this person report to the CEO?
No, two removed.
What percentage of overall sales come through your indirect channel and alliance relationships?
96 per cent.
Describe your personal channel philosophy.
As Lenovo's EMEA channel lead, my philosophy is clear: business success generates outs of win-win scenarios, built on authentic, trusted relationships.
My IT industry journey, including roles at IBM, Lenovo, and Dell, has taught me that despite the ever-evolving nature of technology, the significance of partnerships and human interactions remain key. Success comes not alone, but through collaboration and mutual growth. In short, when we work together with integrity, everyone wins.
What were yours and your organisation's biggest channel accomplishments over the past year?
In a challenging year for EMEA's IT channel, marked by market declines and economic pressures, I successfully helped to navigate Lenovo and it's channel through it, by focusing on our service-led transformation, transparent communication and tactical support for the channel.
Due to the channel, Lenovo maintained #1 position in the EMEA PC market in 2023 and had a positive premium-to-market, therefore took share in our Infrastructure and Services business. Lenovo's Services business in the channel grew double digit YoY.
In past year, we have seen more than 1000 customers in EMEA expanding business from one segment of the Lenovo portfolio to others and on average we gained more than 250 resellers per quarter as pan-Lenovo resellers, selling the entire portfolio.
More than 130 partners joined our Lenovo 360 circle in EMEA to work together on our sustainability journey.
How is your company working to build equity and inclusion in the channel?
We believe technology companies have the capability and the profound responsibility to champion diversity and inclusion. DE&I has been the building blocks of Lenovo's history including in our routes to market.
We have always pursued a path of inclusion for employees and those we work with. We action this through many ways we work, including internal training about inclusion and anti-harassment, endorsing the United Nations' Women's Empowerment Principles, and signing the Declaration of Amsterdam.
Our product diversity office ensures usability of Lenovo products for a diverse customer base and minimizes inherent bias in technology or products our partners sell.
How is your organisation's market development strategy (MDF) changing this year?
No major changes planned.
What are your top channel goals for 2024?
Launch new certifications and/or partner levels and encourage partners to sell a broader part of our portfolio.
What were the key partner investments made over the past year?
Lenovo360 invests in partners' success. In the past year members of Lenovo360 saw a series of updates to existing tools, with even more resources including the new Solutions Hub. We also launched new dashboards & sales content & enablement resources on Lenovo Partner Hub & Lenovo Bid Platform.
Lenovo expanded the Lenovo 360 Circle, an ESG community focused on unifying the channel ecosystem, to all channel partners.
We also launched Lenovo360 Engage enabling partner growth at an individual and company level with new competencies and accreditations. Partners can also achieve new Lenovo360 tiers and incentives.