Dell Channel Chief Says Partner Growth Shows Strong Momentum

Dell says its channel recruitment efforts continue to add 250 to 300 new registered partners each week and that its total number of North American solution provider partners now exceeds 11,500.

Greg Davis, vice president and general manager of Dell's Americas Channel Group, said Wednesday that the vendor's channel recruitment drive focuses on adding more registered partners and growing its base of solution providers certified as enterprise architecture and managed services partners.

"We continue to grow our registered partner base and are averaging 250 to 300 partners a week," he said. "Last week, 210 partners registered and, as of yesterday, we have 11,541 registered North American partners. We continue to see strength weekly in adding new partners."

Greg Davis

Of equal importance is the number of partners certified as Dell enterprise architecture and managed services partners. Davis said the vendor currently has 457 certified partners, 377 in enterprise architecture and 80 in managed services.

Davis said the number of certified enterprise architects includes solution providers that were part of EqualLogic's channel program. Dell used the EqualLogic channel model as a basis for the program after Dell acquired the storage company earlier this year. "But [since the acquisition] we've more than doubled the number of their highest tier of partners," Davis said. "And we've expanded Dell offerings to those partners."

Another key part of Dell's Partner Direct channel program, formally announced last December, was deal registration. Davis said Dell receives an average of 350 requests for registered deals each week and that the company approves about 76 percent of those requests.

Earlier this year, Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell said the vendor's worldwide channel business is on a $12 billion run rate.

While Dell continues to see momentum in partner recruitment, Davis acknowledged that the vendor has no specific strategy to target IBM or Hewlett-Packard solution providers.

"Coming from where we are, we just kicked off a program, all of the partners tend to be someone else's partners," he said. "Is there a targeted strategy for one particular competitor's partners? No."

Instead, Davis said Dell is targeting, especially for its advanced certifications, partners that have virtualization business practices. "I have a list of those partners and we are making calls on them," he said.