We all know it’s a good idea to pay attention to The VAR Guy. After all, whose ear is closer to the IT channel ground? Not many, as it turns out…Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) confirmed late Friday that Frank Vitagliano, the iconoclastic channel guru, is the vendor’s new channel sales vice president, just as The VAR Guy’s sources told him. Amazing, ain’t it?

Starting today, Vitagliano will oversee Dell’s small- and medium-sized VAR channel accounts and the vendor’s two-tier distribution partners, and also will develop growth strategies for small and mid-market business in North America. Vitagliano will report to Greg Davis, Dell’s channel chief, who said, of him, “Frank’s years of experience and outstanding relationships within the channel community will be a great asset to Dell and further demonstrates commitment to our channel business.”

How Dell’s possible equity buyout may or may not affect Vitagliano’s job responsibilities is anybody’s guess at this point, but for now, it is business as usual until otherwise notified.

Since word surfaced in March that Vitagliano would be leaving networking vendor Juniper (NYSE: JNPR) after six years as senior vice president of Americas partner sales, industry buzz has grown louder about where he might land, especially considering his considerable experience and strong reputation in the channel. Before his tenure at Juniper, Vitagliano put in 33 years at IBM (NYSE: IBM), where, in 1994 he was named channel marketing director for IBM PCs. In 2000, Vitagliano was upped to IBM distribution channels management vice president and two years later tapped as IBM worldwide distribution channels vice president.

To make room for Vitagliano, Jim Defoe, who has served as Dell channel sales vice president for the past two years, now will lead the vendor’s large VAR, DMR and global systems integrator team for North America, based on a strategy he crafted to work with that class of partner.

“We think there is a huge opportunity to invest in more relationship programs and resources to continue this growth,” said Davis. “I am excited to announce that Jim will lead our strategy and the team focused on our large VARs, DMRs and global systems integrators in North America.”

Defoe is a 27-year sales and service IT veteran, the last 15 of which have been at Dell, initially as healthcare and life sciences organization sales vice president prior to moving to the channels unit. Before joining Dell, Defoe managed CompuCom regional offices in Denver and Salt Lake City.