Dell Ups Incentives To Drive Storage, Client Growth; Brings Back Titanium New Business Bonus

Dell Technologies is doubling down on a select group of its largest partners with a new storage and client growth program.

Dell Technologies is doubling down on a select group of its largest partners with new incentives to drive storage and client growth and is bringing back New Business Incentives and competitive swap rebates for Titanium partners.

Under the new Dell channel program, which went into effect Feb. 1, Dell is unveiling a new storage and client growth program with what it called a targeted set of its largest partners.

In addition, Dell is reintroducing Titanium partner eligibility for Storage and Client New Business Incentives and storage competitive swap rebates.

“There are some partners who really organize and get behind a growth program and they want to co-invest with Dell, and those are the partners that we want to reward with the growth program,” said Dell Chief Partner Officer Denise Millard of the new storage and client incentives. “They are also the needle movers in terms of making a really big impact in terms of us demonstrating growth through the partner ecosystem.”

The new program—which was previously open only to Titanium partners—requires Dell and the targeted partners to work out a “targeted growth plan,” said Millard. “There’s a set of KPIs between the two organizations that really govern how the program will get structured,” she said. “That is allowing us to kind of reimagine the way we are engaging with those partners to really be needle movers for driving storage and client growth.”

Millard said the new program now features “two levels” of achievement to enhance partner profitability. “It was an all or nothing last year,” she said. “Based on the feedback from our partners, there are now two target levels to achieve. That will give them [partners] an opportunity to get to the money earlier.”

As for bringing back the Titanium partner eligibility for Storage and Client New Business Incentives and storage competitive swap rebates, Millard said that could have a “huge” impact on partner profitability.

“Those partners that are consistently bringing new storage and client business to us, that is going to be quite lucrative with the competitive swap program and rebate,” said Millard. “Obviously when you think about bringing those two together that really represents huge profitability potential for partners.”

Dell is also continuing its sales incentives to get partners to swap out VxRail—the Dell precursor to the current Broadcom-VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0—to Dell private cloud.

“We launched it in Q4 and we are extending it through our FY 27,” said Millard. “So it is a huge investment. It is not just about the incentives. It is rebate plus making sure customers are ready for the transition.”

Among the investments Dell has made in the VxRail program are a try-and-buy program, migration services, no-cost training and financial services aimed at helping partners close deals.

Dell is also considering making changes to partner deal registration, said Millard.

“Nothing has been finalized,” she said. “What we always do is leverage feedback from our partner community, especially our Partner Advisory Board, to help us make foundational decisions and evolve our program. You will see us do that with deal registration. We have not finalized that but just know that we are in the spirit of streamlined collaboration looking for ways to drive incremental business and unlock the value to how we are working with partners. You will see us continue to focus there and more to come.”

Millard’s comments came after several partners told CRN they are concerned about any changes that would weaken what has been viewed by them as a stellar deal registration program.

The CEO of a top Dell partner, who did not want to be identified, said the Dell deal registration program is a staple for driving innovative solutions with the partner working hand in hand with the customer. He said he expects “level heads will prevail” and the deal registration program will remain a vital part of driving enhanced profitability for partners who invest heavily to drive game-changing business outcomes for customers.

The CEO of another Dell partner, who did not want to be identified, urged Dell not to weaken the deal registration program. He said any detrimental change could result in partners shifting business to competitive solutions.

As for the overall partner program, Dell partners said they see it as a linchpin in the $110 billion storage and PC behemoth’s determination to drive channel sales growth.

Bob Venero, founder and CEO of Future Tech Enterprise, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a Dell Titanium partner, said he sees the new channel program as a means to help drive “growth and market share in both client and storage” in a “volatile market” being rocked by memory shortages and price increases.

Venero said he sees Dell’s buying power and supply chain prowess as a competitive advantage in the current market. He praised Dell for continuing to look at what is going on in the industry and adjusting to continue to be successful.

“Dell has the foresight to pivot and adjust, and if that doesn’t work they pivot and adjust again,” he said. “When you adjust based on what is happening in the industry and the market, that is how you know you have a good company and a good partnership.”

Venero praised Dell for continuing to look at how to be more “competitive and innovative” in the channel with what the company has said in the past is about 50 percent of its sales coming from partners, which would amount to about $55 billion.

“It’s smart for Dell to enhance the programs, look at how they can reward their partners and make sure they consistently look at what does partnership mean in an account, especially when it ties to the ability to be transparent with each other on opportunities that are jointly being worked,” he said. “Continuing that nimble approach to adjusting their program is key.”

The CEO of a top Dell partner, who did not want to be identified, said the Dell channel program has evolved over the last several years into a “best-in-class” program. “I applaud their effort to continue to invest in the partners that are bringing the most value to Dell,” he said. “This allows partners like us who see the opportunity to have a profitable relationship with Dell to continue to invest to build a more strategic go-to-market relationship with Dell.”

The CEO said he is looking forward to hiring additional reps and going into new markets to drive sales growth with the enhanced channel offerings. “I’m excited that they are working with their most strategic partners,” he said.