For Dell SMB Channel Program, Devil Is In The Details

The pilot began last month and involves some 500 to 600 SMB accounts, which Dell defines as fewer than 500 employees, according to the Round Rock, Texas-based Dell. If the pilot goes well, Dell would like to roll it out publicly before the end of the year, said Greg Davis, vice president and general manager of Dell's Americas Channel Group.

"This is an exciting one for our channel, but it's one we have to get right. It's also something that my competitors, to the best of my knowledge, don't have," Davis said.

Indeed, the program appears to be unique among major IT vendors. Smaller manufacturers sometimes offer account registration because they simply don't have a large partner base and can assign specific VARs to geographic areas or vertical markets such as education. Traditional thinking, however, has held that large vendors have too broad a reach for that to work as an efficient model.

For example, Hewlett-Packard uses deal registration as a deal-specific tool for pricing and partner financial benefit tracking, but does not have a customer registration program, according to a spokesman for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company.

"It's a bold move," said Tim Hebert, president and CEO of Atrion Networking, a Warwick, R.I.-based solution provider. "If [account registration] will do what they say, they will create a phenomenal program that will be something all companies will look at as a milestone and something to replicate."

But first they have to get it right, which is no small task. Solution providers said a customer-registration program would require a very specific set of parameters and include a mountain of administrative work to keep straight.

"I think it's a good idea, don't get me wrong, but there has to be a reason that you're able to register that account. It has to be a reason other than, 'I know they exist,'" said Pat Walsh, owner of Computer Station of Florida, Longwood, Fla.

Because Dell is keeping specific details close, and the fact that the vendor trying the program is Dell—which has a very large direct sales force—Walsh is wary of its potential. "I'd really need to know how they do it. If someone calls to order direct, it's hard for me to believe Dell is going to turn that order down because a VAR registered them," he said.

Account registration can be a double-edged sword, said Atrion's Hebert. "It's important to register the account, not just a deal I was working on," said Hebert, a Dell channel advisory council member. "However the downside is if you're doing a poor job of service, it becomes a challenge for both the customer and a different partner that wants to be involved to get engaged."

Dell's Davis said if account registration becomes universal, it would be well-thought-out. The vendor also is working to integrate its direct sales force into the SMB account registration program in a way that would reduce or eliminate potential channel conflict, Davis said.