Shant Soghomonian (Dell)
Dell Technologies has seen the number of partner engineering competencies in its channel ecosystem grow by 18 per cent in Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ), reaching roughly 110.
The figure marks a decrease in the growth rate of certified partner engineers during the past 12 months, having experienced 46 per cent growth between 2020 and 2021.
On a positive note, Dell has more than doubled the growth rate of its transacting partner numbers, which rose by 7 per cent year-on-year to reach about 2,400.
Dell revealed the figures following the unveiling of its latest partner program updates in the Asia Pacific and Japan region.
The partner program overhaul puts solution providers, cloud service providers (CSPs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) under one incentive scheme, one tier structure and one set of tier requirements.
"Our partner ecosystem has evolved," said Shant Soghomonian, senior director and general manager of channel sales across A/NZ at Dell. "A study last year by Tech Research Asia showed that 76 per cent of partners recognise themselves as managed or cloud service providers. That's exactly why we need this one program.
"That simplification process will have a big positive impact."
Meanwhile, Dell's 'Access for VMware', which provides licence reselling and rebates, will now be available to all eligible metal tiered partners.
To encourage cross-selling, Dell is also expanding the new business incentive to include the vendor's displays and client peripherals.
"VMware also has a wide distribution partner network," Soghomonian said. "What this allows though is for us to partner deeper with a set of gold partners that have a strong set of skills in the data centre space. This is to make sure we are positioning those partners to win with the VMware suite."
The new program will also offer a 5X tier accelerator for mid-range storage solutions, such as PowerStore and Unity XT, and a new 2 per cent incremental rebate kicker for acquisition and tech refresh opportunities.
"We want to make it as profitable as possible for partners to deliver outcomes," Soghomonian said. "Accelerating storage and mid-range growth [is a key priority]. We continue to see great opportunities here.
"Our differing products enable partners to capture that opportunity and invest in the skills required from a storage perspective."
Speaking about APEX, Dell's flagship as-a-service portfolio, Soghomonian said he was planning on having conversations with partners around the opportunities available, given the latest program iteration included a number of new APEX portfolio training competencies.
