Dell To Cut Partner Deal Reg Minimum

Many solution providers have told Dell that $75,000 was too high, but the company felt a higher figure was necessary initially in order to make sure the program worked correctly, Davis said.

"[At $50,000], we feel confident that we can continue to deliver a quick turnaround to partners," said Greg Davis, vice president and general manager of the Dell Americas channel organization.

The move comes as Dell claims early success for its formalized partner program that launched last month. Thus far, Dell said it has registered 3,500 partners in the U.S., the bulk of which were already doing business with the vendor. Davis said, however, that about 170 of the partners were completely new to Dell. Those partners have registered more than $20 million in opportunities, he added.

About six months ago, Dell's direct sales force began using the same Salesforce.com tool to register deals, so the company has a time stamp on the registration to determine who had it first and provide evidence to partners if necessary, Davis said.

Dell approved about 70 percent of the deal registration applications submitted thus far, Davis said. Dell's direct sales force was already involved with the remaining 30 percent, he said.

"We fully expected partners to come to us with opportunities where we were already engaged. In those cases, we could not approve those deals, [but] I view the program as a great success. So far there has been no escalation, no issues, of us not living up to our commitment," Davis said.

In a handful of cases, Davis said Dell account executives decided that the customer would be better served working with a partner. Because Dell's reps are compensated the same for direct or channel business, the partner has taken the deal, Davis said.

Dell's channel program still has many solution providers polarized. Some simply can't envision ever working with a vendor that has competed so aggressively against them for years. Others are engaged with the company, but even many of those VARs are frustrated by a perceived lack of progress in the program, which will be expanded to include Canada and European VARs on Feb. 12.

Those VARs should get some relief Monday, when Dell plans to roll out an enterprise architecture certification path for U.S. partners. That news could coincide with a rumored announcement of a closing of the EqualLogic acquisition. Davis declined to comment further on any announcements for Monday.

Dell has had its hands full while trying to build out a program for solution providers while closing two acquisitions -- EqualLogic and SilverBack Technologies.

Next: Dell's Partner Program Takes Hold