Dell EMC IT transformation central to 2018 channel strategy

Dell EMC is urging partners to position its portfolio as an enabler of customers' IT transformation initiatives.

At its Global Partner Summit (GPS), held this week in conjunction with Dell Technologies World, the company rolled out a Dell EMC IT Transformation marketing campaign. The campaign is designed to help partners communicate the value of the Dell Technologies portfolio and support a consultative selling approach in their customer engagements. Dell EMC partners can access marketing content aligned to the buyer's journey, as well as industry analyst research, as part of the campaign.

"It is really evident that we need to talk solutions, we need to talk outcomes [and] we need to do everything we can to enable and [empower Dell EMC partners]. ... And with this new campaign, it will help you be able to transform your customers," said Cheryl Cook, senior vice president of global channel marketing at Dell EMC, at a GPS marketing session.

Ahead of the GPS event, Dell EMC revealed the results of an IT transformation maturity survey conducted by research firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), which helped inform the new campaign. Commissioned by Dell EMC and Intel, the survey polled 4,000 IT decision-makers globally to gain insight into the benefits of IT transformation.

According to Dell EMC, survey data indicated that transformed organizations are 22 times more likely to get new products and services to market ahead of their competitors. Eighty-one percent of firms said embracing IT transformation is critical to stay competitive in their markets -- an increase from 71% in 2017. Additionally, almost all of the survey respondents -- 96% -- said they have digital transformation initiatives in progress and a clear connection exists between IT transformation maturity and digital transformation progress, the ESG report said.

Cheryl Cook

Cook said ESG's findings line up with Dell EMC's channel strategy. "Our customers are trying to keep pace with the accelerating shifts going on in the world. That's why one of our top imperatives this year is to fast-track partners' ability to deliver transformational solutions," she told SearchITChannel in an email last week. "Our channel partners will have an incredible opportunity to grow while helping their customers modernize their IT infrastructure, automate the delivery and use of IT services, and update operating methods while providing them a competitive advantage in today's digital economy.

"We have the broadest portfolio in the world and can put these elements together in really compelling ways to enable IT transformation, as well as transformation in workforce, security and digital," she added. She noted that these technology elements include hyper-converged infrastructure, storage, server, cloud computing and data protection.

Cook told GPS attendees that the campaign isn't focused on product marketing but instead looks to stitch together the Dell Technologies portfolio into a coherent "one-stop shop" resource for IT transformation. The hope is Dell EMC partners will use the marketing materials to focus their customer conversations on business outcomes and consultative-led selling.

"It absolutely is going to enable [Dell EMC partners] to leverage what we are investing in," she said of the campaign.

Cook noted that Dell EMC has invested about $1.5 million in market research, tapping research firms such as ESG and IDC to develop the campaign.

The Dell EMC IT Transformation campaign is available for partners through the vendor's partner portal.