This year’s Dell Technologies World was awkwardly timed for partners, who usually hear about new programs at the springtime event. This year, announcements were few but the company took advantage of the opportunity to reinforce its commitment to its partners, and to give some new faces a bit of air time.
Chairman and chief executive officer Michael Dell first thanked partners for their efforts in this challenging year, noting, “the power of partnership has never been more evident.”
“If you’re like me, you’re inspired by how the forces of technology innovation are converging to drive human progress,” he continued. “We are proud to be on this journey with all of you doing this incredibly important work.”
Senior vice-president of global alliances Denise Millard expanded on the theme, reflecting on how the world has altered in the last six months.
“The power of change is all around us, and at the centre of it all is technology. It’s a common thread that is redefining our businesses and the way we live, there is no choice,” she said. “It has never been more important to have a trusted partner by your side. Because in this new world, none of us can go it alone.”
She added that with everything the tech giant does, the goal is to make “one plus one equal three, or four or five – it’s exponential.”
In newly minted global channel chief Rola Dagher’s understandably brief message (she’s recuperating after being hospitalized with COVID-19) she told partners how excited she is to return to Dell, where she had spent twelve years in leadership roles in Canada before a three-year stint as president of Cisco Canada.
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“People that know me know that I grew up in the channel. That’s all I know. I bleed partners. It starts with you and it ends with you. I am here to listen, learn and lead through all of you, and focus on innovation and speed to market,” she said. “My commitment to you is to empower you, to inspire you, so you can go out there and make a huge difference and an impact on all of our customers. I want to make sure that you know that my commitment will always, always be focused on your success. You are the foundation of our success, today and tomorrow.”
Cheryl Cook, senior vice-president of global partner marketing quantified partner impact, noting that they drive 50 per cent of new and reactivated buyers.
“You are our heroes,” she said. “You’re a community of superheroes that share the same goal. You’re driving digital transformation across every industry, and you’re an extension of Dell Technologies. We couldn’t transform the world without you. Our Heroes program is developed for you to help us, help give you the same training that we give our internal sales and technical teams.”
This year, she said, Dell had to pivot to provide all of that training online, and in six months has hosted more than 400 sessions for over 18,000 technical individuals in more than 70 countries. To further enhance the program, she announced a new app for the Heroes program in which partners can interact with the community as well as finding and registering for events.
“The Heroes platform is really our opportunity to share with you all the things that we’re doing, not just within our portfolio, but within our go-to market and within our roadmap, and what we’re doing to help more effectively compete against the variety of competitors that are out there,” added Matt Dunfee, senior vice-president, global sales.