Dell EMC has unveiled new updates for its 2019 Partner Program designed to drive growth and profitability for partners through its simple, predictable and profitable approach. The Dell EMC Partner Program launched two years ago when Dell and EMC officially merged. In that time Dell EMC and its partners have delivered very strong results – with Dell Technologies partners delivering $49 billion in orders in the 12 months leading up to Q4 FY19 – and the focus remains on sustaining and investing for further growth. Dell EMC continues to value partner feedback and the new enhancements have been developed and implemented according to direct input from partners in order to streamline the program, whilst delivering greater opportunities for success.

#1. Protecting Partner Investments With Partner Of Record. Last year, Dell EMC launched the Partner Preferred Program, which introduced Partner of Record to protect partners’ investments in new business. Following feedback from partners Dell EMC has extended the Partner of Record designation to protect historical business as well. If a partner is listed on an account as a storage or server “Partner of Record,” the Dell EMC end-user sales teams will work all new deals in that line of business through that partner. This is all about supporting partners to drive continued business where they have strong relationships and driving greater collaboration with Dell EMC’s core sales teams.

#2. Storage, Data Protection & HCI Place Partners In The Fast Lane. With storage remaining top of mind, the programs and incentives have been extended. The very successful Test Drive Program for Storage and Data Protection solutions will now include X2, Unity, Isilon, PowerMax and DP4400 to help partners close deals faster and deepen customer relationships.

Dell has also extended the two percent Tech Refresh and eight percent Competitive Swap rebates through the first half of the year and extending the 3x Storage/Data Protection and 1.5x Hyper-converged Infrastructure Tier multipliers for the full year. That means every $1 of Storage or Data Protection partners sell is counted three times towards program revenue tier requirements and HCI is counted 1.5 times.

Lastly, the rebate and MDF product categories have been restructured with clear delineations between Storage, Data Protection, and HCI. This will ensure alignment to these core market segments, as well as make it easier for partners to manage how they can earn financial incentives.

#3. Simplifying Tier Requirements and Sparking A Gold Rush. The revenue requirements have been simplified down to a single revenue path and the requirement to sell multiple lines of business has been removed. Partners are already taking advantage of selling across the full portfolio and reaping significant financial benefits as a result. By reducing to a single path, partners can more easily navigate tier attainment.

For the Gold Tier, the number of individuals required to complete training has been reduced. To move from Authorised to Gold, now only one sales and one systems engineer are required to complete the training to obtain the gold level competency. This will enable more partners to attain the Gold Tier and start earning benefits.

#4. Streamlining Training Requirements & Enabling More Time Selling. Starting this year, Dell has simplified the training process to maintain a Product, Solution and Marketing credential. Partners will maintain credit for courses completed in 2018 and will only be required to complete new or refreshed courses in 2019.

Services Competencies will now be counted towards program requirements. Earning any Product, Solutions, or Services Competency will count towards next year's program requirements. Also new is the launch of a Data Analytics Solutions Competency, which is a growing technology segment for Dell.

#5. Driving Consistency and Predictability in Rebates and Earned MDF: Dell has made it easier for partners to do more business with the company. The payment process has been consolidated to make it easier to understand and reconcile payments, Market Development Funds (MDF) and rebate calculations have been aligned to product categories for simpler tracking, and the MDF tool has been enhanced to improve user experience.

“We are dedicated to providing our partners with a world-class program which delivers upon our three pillars of simple, predictable, profitable. and enables them to grow their businesses and stay ahead of the market,” commented Anwar Dahab, senior vice president, Channel EMEA, Dell EMC.

“The latest updates have been implemented based on our partners’ feedback to ensure that they feel supported and are prepared to tackle emerging technology challenges, which represent significant opportunities for profitability and growth now and in future. In 2019, we will continue delivering on our core promises, whilst factoring in feedback to ensure that the Dell EMC Partner Program remains the best in the industry in the eyes of our partners,” he concluded.