Dell Ratchets Up Channel Perks In Market-Share Offensive

Dell unleashed a channel incentive blitz around storage, server and networking gear that can earn partners who crack open new accounts up to 20 percent front-end rebates on deals more than $15,000. Dell unveiled the incentives Friday and said the perks are available to any Dell Registered partner.

"It's trench warfare in these market segments," said Jeff Purcell, owner of Purcell Consulting Group, a Dell partner based in Denver. "With razor-thin margins on storage and servers, now all of a sudden a partner is going to want to lead with Dell. Those margins are solid."

The front-end rebates for new accounts on deals more than $15,000 that are available to Dell Registered partners include:

-- 20 percent on storage gear including Compellent, EqualLogic and PowerVault

-- 20 percent discount on Dell networking deals

-- 13 percent on PowerEdge servers

These discounts previously were available to approximately 4,300 Dell Preferred and Premier partners. By opening it up to Registered Partners, Dell is extending the benefits to 150,000 additional partners. Additional partner benefits include 5 percent incremental discounts on Dell PCs.

"Dell is gaining significant share on multiple fronts, outpacing the market by 3X to 4X. We want to continue that momentum," said Cheryl Cook, vice president of global channel alliances at Dell, Round Rock, Texas. Cook said she "absolutely wants to do some damage" to competitors' market share. "We don't see a lot of Lenovo [in the] market right now, but we anticipate they will be very competitive. We are giving partners a reason to do more business with Dell."

New incentives targeting just Preferred and Premier partners also were also rolled out Friday. Premium partners can now earn up to $40,000 per quarter in MDF based on volume client and enterprise sales. Dell also rolled out a $250 new account bonus for U.S. partner reps on hardware and software products.

PUBLISHED FEB. 6, 2015