Dell Gives Partners Bigger Incentives On Networking, Storage, PCs, And Winning New Customers

“We've made a number of enhancements to tools to processes, to just improve the way in which we're working with our partners, so that we are simple, and we are predictable, and we are driving profitability … This is going to be a year of growth for our partner ecosystem with Dell, so we're super excited,” Dell Technologies Channel Chief Denise Millard.

Dell Partner Program for 2025 that launches today includes bigger margin opportunities on PCs, storage, and networking devices as well as more ways for partners to deliver AI through the channel.

“We're really proud of the work that has happened over the past year to prepare for the program that we're launching,” Dell’s channel chief Denise Millard (pictured) told CRN ahead of today’s announcement. “We've had a number of listening posts across our partners, which we've taken really seriously. And that, plus the opportunity just with what's happening in the market, I think puts us in a really great position.”

Dell partners told CRN that what they have seen around the new incentives on storage are “very exciting” and storage support services is another growth category. One of the bigger growth areas inside this iteration of the partner program, however, is Dell’s networking product portfolio, said Josh Lee, CTO at VirtuIT, a Dell Platinum partner based in Nanuet, N.Y.

In 2025, Dell is offering a 3x multiplier on Dell PowerSwitch Z-Series on top of the base incentives.

“VirtuIT has implemented Dell Enterprise SONiC for several customers shifting to open networking,” Lee told CRN. “Dell has a great offering with the combination of the Z-Series switches and support for SONiC operating system.”

Att Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based LAN Infotech, president and CEO Michael Goldstein said the rebates he sees throughout the program will help his bottom line.

“It’s great to see the push into networking,” he told CRN. “With the big return to office, network infrastructure has become an important initiative for our clients.”

Demand for the products that Dell makes is peaking in 2025 as analysts expect a PC refresh wave to hit as businesses and consumers upgrade the largest ever installed base of 1.5 billion devices worldwide. This coincides with a growing appetite in the data center for large AI deployments using Dell’s servers, storage and networking systems. Dell holds No. 1 market positions across storage and servers, as well as in the commercial PC category, according to IDC.

While the opportunity is huge, Millard said Dell can’t do it alone.

“We have the largest go-to-market engine in the industry and more and more of the areas that Dell is playing in require an ecosystem, and we can't do it without partners,” Millard told CRN. “Partners at this point have contributed approximately 50 percent of Dell's net revenue over the past four quarters.”

Partners have told CRN that Dell’s programs like Partner First for Storage, which was unveiled in late 2023, and incentives for Dell’s core sellers to move all storage deals through a channel partner, boosted their revenue and reflect a deeper commitment to the channel.

Millard said that this year Dell is asking partners to lean into three areas.

“Modern workplace, especially with the PC refresh. Modern data center, especially with customers looking for optionality and choice and investment protection. And then, of course, AI,” she told CRN. “We're going to underpin all of that with having really clear requirements for our program, making sure our sellers understand how to engage partners and the value of engaging partners. And then we're going to continue to reward our partners for growing and winning new business.”

In addition to opportunities for Titanium partners, Dell is introducing a targeted rebate called “compete select” that focuses on large, under penetrated end-user accounts for all metal tier partners. When partners win new business for Dell in storage, data protection, or client devices inside any of the “compete select” accounts, they earn a 4-percent rebate, which is stackable with other incentives.

At Dell Technology World in May 2024, Millard announced that Dell had opened up client devices for partner of record, and now Dell has sweetened the pot with one of the largest investments it has yet made into the partner client PC business, giving Titanium partners an incremental 1.5-percent growth incentive when they meet quarterly targets. This is timely as 400 million PCs that are operating on Windows 10 will lose support after October, Millard said.

“Customers are going to have to make a choice, either pay the additional support per device, or they're going to have to refresh, and a big part of the modernization effort there is going to come through the channel. So huge, huge opportunity there,” she told CRN.

Dell showed off its new simplified PC portfolio last month at CES 2025, replacing the Inspiron, XPS and Latitude with the Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max.

Millard said that on the topic of AI, Dell believes this is the year the enterprise will adopt AI in a meaningful way.

“We’re shifting from proof of concepts to delivering real outcomes with enterprise customers. A big part of the last year has been navigating and learning the journey Nvidia, and AMD and Intel [are on], but it’s also been about enabling our partners.”

The partner program this year will focus on workshops that help partners improve their competencies so they can stand up and run Dell AI factories for customers.

“We're excited about the 2025 program. This is going to be a year of growth. That is going to be the theme word for probably all of our conversations throughout the year,” Millard said. “We want to work with our partners to continue to take share and do that at pace.”