Dell ups the ante for channel partners

Dell has announced its channel represents more than 40% of its global revenue, and this year it is focused on upping the ante with partner incentives and programmes.

Cheryl Cook, Dell vice president of global channels and alliances, says Dell is one of the top vendors where channel business is such a notable component of revenue.

She says the engagement from the company's 4,300+ certified partners around the world has been significant.

Last year, the number of competencies completed by partners increased 25%, and the strongest growth areas were data protection, client management, networking, network security and storage, she says.

Dell has previously reported its channel business is frowing faster than the direct side of the house, and this trend has directly benefitted partners.

Following Dells $24.9 billion battle to go private, the vendor's PartnerDirect channel community is instrumental to its success, Cook says.

"While we are thrilled with our progress, we are aware and focused on how we can raise the bar on partner experience and programs that help them grow and thrive with Dell," says Cook.

She says, "We have already kicked off the first quarter of the new fiscal year with a bang.

In Dell's fourth quarter, Cook made the announcement Dell would add $125 million in enhanced inventives and programmes to the PartnerDirect programme.

Cook says these programmes include the Dell Storage Accelerator, Windows Server 2003 Migration and Growth Accelerators for the Client Solutions, as well as Enterprise Solutions Groups, which are all launching this year.

Some of the other tools Dell is offering partners in 2015 include: - Windows Server 2003 Migration tools for customers before the July deadline, - New data center upgrades within servers, networking and storage, - Updates to data protection and network security to ensure the partner's customer's data is protected against cyber threats.

Cook says the Dell channel team encourages channel partners to comment on the updates and incentives they plan on utilising, and to share their opinion on the PartnerDirect programme.