Dell’s Jim DeFoe ‘Is Definitely Going To Be Missed’
Longtime channel advocate and Dell Technologies’ distribution leader Jim DeFoe is leaving the infrastructure giant after 23 years. Partners said DeFoe, senior vice president of Global Distribution for Dell, elevated the company’s partner program strategy and channel vision over the decades.
“Jim played a key role in shaping Dell’s channel and working through all the problem areas in the program’s early years while Dell was leaning how to be channel-friendly,” said Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group, a St. Paul, Minn.-based Dell partner. “During those formative years, he definitely earned his stripes as he mediated all types of conflicts between the partner community and Dell’s field team, as well as encouraging Dell’s leadership team to consider the partner’s feedback regarding the program design. Jim is a super nice guy that knows how to navigate within the vast Dell organization and get things done. He is definitely going to be missed.”
Since 1997, DeFoe has held a variety of executive positions at Dell including vice president of North America Channel Sales, as well as vice president of global commercial channels sales and programs. Most recently, he reshaped Dell’s distribution business by cutting the number of global distributors from around 350 to 180.
In an interview with CRN, DeFoe talks about his greatest accomplishments at Dell, working for CEO Michael Dell for more than two decades and his advice to channel partners on how to succeed in the future.
