Dell: Bullish Channel Chief, Bearish Investors
Will the real Dell please stand up? Following yesterday’s quarterly financial statement, Wall Street is bearish on Dell today. Still, Dell Channel Chief Greg Davis sounds bullish about the company’s partner program. Here are some observations.
Dell shares are down 10 percent today (Nov. 20) following an uninspiring earnings release yesterday. As MarketWatch reported:
Dell “shares dropped more than 9%, after the Texas-based company reported a 54% decline in profit, surprising some analysts.”
Still, one analyst told MarketWatch: “We are disappointed in Dell’s consumer performance, but view the corporate strength and margin numbers as very encouraging,”
Dell’s Perspective
Despite some concerns on Wall Street, Davis sounded upbeat during a conversation with The VAR Guy earlier today. Among the key points Davis shared:
- On a worldwide basis, roughly 26 percent of Dell’s commercial business flows through the channel — up from 20 percent during the corresponding quarter last year.
- Dell now has 131 certified managed services partners — about the same as last year, though the number did decline briefly in early 2009 and has since increased again.
- During the quarter, Dell achieved its targets for the channel in terms of top line and bottom line margin goals.
- Year over year, 31 percent more channel partners have sold EqualLogic storage arrays.
- Dell is rolling out a revamped partner portal on a worldwide basis. All regions should be covered by the end of January 2010.
Bottom line: The VAR Guy thinks MarketWatch’s analysis is on the mark. Dell’s weak consumer business is making Wall Street nervous. But Davis communicated some resonably good to very good points about Dell’s channel progress. The one area that sounded underwhelming involved managed services partnerships.
Have MSPs lost interest in Dell, now that Dell is offering a direct managed services package? The VAR Guy is looking for more clues…
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