A Look at Dell's Wall, And How it Will Work

From an approver's perspective, Dell's indirect sales workflow is fully integrated with the Deal Registration portal. Changes made to a record by Dell channel sales approvers are immediately seen by partners. Dell made it clear to CMP Channel engineers that the data is secured based on field-level access and every transaction is recorded. Every change the system gets a date and time stamp. Approvers can produce full audit trails for every transaction deal, so solution providers can see at every step in the process who is looking over their information.

Upon opening a deal record, engineers found that the account name is blanked out because we didn't have manager credentials. This is a good example of having field level security on the same record. It simplifies the workflow process and ensures that only approvers with the right credential can view the entire record.

Dell's partner system uses time-based workflows for the deal approval process. After registering a deal, Dell has a set of rules for handling the partner information within a period of time. The rules vary on product, location, deal size, and the like. Time based workflow helps partners stay focused on deals by receiving reminders throughout the deal cycle. Partners also can receive other informational messages throughout the process. CRN engineers found that the process creates transparency between partners and the Dell channel sales team, while locking out Dell's direct sales team.

Dell's partner deal evaluation system comes with a "Find Duplicates" feature to help approvers eliminate potential conflicts between partners entering the same deals multiple times. Finding duplications is an important step in the workflow because it ensures that deals are processed smoothly through Dell's system. The criteria on duplication is based on end user account name, city and other key account data.

The search produces results based on words that sound alike. Engineers did not test the accuracy of the search engine, so we don't know the exact logic used in identifying words that sound alike. Partners shouldn't expect to see problems unless approvers and managers get sloppy at finding duplication.

A feature called "Connections" in the system allows Dell to work with partners that are Salesforce.com customers. Solution providers with Salesforce.com accounts do not have to register at the deal site. Partners can simply select Dell as one of their vendors. Dell created a rule to share opportunities with these partners as well -- a feature but not a primary, driving force behind the portal.

Dell's direct sales team also can take advantage of the same system, even without having access to partner records. Dell's direct sales group can send solution providers deals that fall below a certain threshold. The only information they need is the solution provider contact, expertise and territory they cover. For instance, Dell's direct sales folks can find partners that might be willing to cover small accounts. Keep in mind that Salesforce.com's data silo is based on field-level security, so direct sales folks won't be able to view any critical data, even if they are given access to solution provider contact information. Dell's new commitment to partners must guarantee that fields are locked down properly and deal records are invisible to the direct sales group.

As long as Dell maintains the decision making process transparent in the system, partners shouldn't see their deals go awry. From a pure technical perspective, engineers could not identify any flaws that could present a problem to partners.