Dell's Regional Sales Reorganization Allows Partners To 'Work More Closely' With The Vendor

The reorganization of Dell's U.S. sales teams under a new regional structure may be a smart way for partners to strengthen their ties with the Round Rock, Texas, company as it prepares to acquire EMC.

For Scott Winslow, president of Winslow Technology, a Waltham, Mass.-based Dell partner, the reorganization of Dell's sales operation gives partners an opportunity to get closer with Dell sales execs and prove to them that partners are ready to take EMC products into their portfolios.

"We just want to continue rolling along with those guys and let them know we can handle the larger solutions they're going to have at their disposal," Winslow said. "We want to continue the momentum. We live and breathe Dell, but we're signing up with Arrow and EMC now to get trained on [EMC's] ExtremIO and Isilon." Dell's $67 billion acquisition of EMC is expected to close between May and October.

[Related: Team Players: 7 Things The Execs In Charge Of The Dell-EMC Integration Want Employees To Know]

"Dell's new go-to-market formation is much more regional. It allows us to work more closely with their sales team," Winslow said.

Dell made the change, effective this week, with the aim of making its sales force simpler, and better aligned for customers and partners. The move also brings the overall Dell sales organization into line with its channel sales organization, which is already based on a regional structure.

Jim DeFoe, Dell vice president of global commercial channel sales, said the new structure will be a lot easier for partners to navigate.

"That's especially true for regional partners," DeFoe said. "Before, a lot of these resources were based in Austin, and it's just a lot easier to develop trust with people when you're in the field. Now, you can sit a partner down, and there's consistency. We had execs flying all over the place. Now that it's geographic, they can better understand who's in their territory. It makes it easier to deliver."

Dell hopes the reconfiguration will lead to better joint sales engagements with partners, stronger long-term relationships and better account planning.

The new approach is organized in three regions, headed by three vice presidents/general managers: an East region led by Bill Popp, a Central region led by John Mullen and a West region led by Dave Trotter.

All three are Dell sales veterans, and they'll work closely with Matt Sedlacek, vice president and general manager of acquisition accounts, and Mark Horan, vice president and general manager of inside sales.

The reconfiguration doesn't have any effect on individual account teams, or on Dell's Canadian operation.

Dell says the move will bring its sales teams closer to customers, drive operational efficiencies and "streamline the number of people customers and partners need to work with on account planning and execution."

In addition to the regional change, Dell is creating a vertical market Center of Excellence, focused on education, state and local government, and health care and life science.