**Editor’s Note: Click here for a list of March’s important channel-program changes you should know.**

Dell has launched its Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions Partner Program aimed at helping customers find the best technologies for IoT services.

Dell tells Channel Partners the program helps to bring customers and partners clarity in “such a fragmented, busy market through our certification and blueprint work.” Partners play a “critical role in building the bridge between the exciting industry potential of IoT and profitable market reality, as well as unifying the differing business approaches of IT and operations technology departments,” it said.

“Dell believes that opportunities increase when you help others win,” said Andy Rhodes, Dell’s executive director of commercial IoT solutions. “We are passionate about collaborating with this strong group of companies and believe independent software vendors (ISVs) are critical in building the bridge between the exciting industry potential of IoT and profitable market reality.”

The program builds an ecosystem of partners to help customers navigate the IoT landscape and identify the right technologies to develop their IoT services. It will combine a global, multi-tiered (Executive, Associate, Registered) network of ISVs with Dell’s portfolio of IoT assets, including purpose-built, intelligent gateways and embedded PCs, security and manageability tools, data center and cloud infrastructure, and data integration and analytics software like Boomi and Statistica.{ad}

The program will include companies across a wide range of industries that further strengthen Dell’s expertise in areas such as industrial and building automation, and transportation, according to the company. It launches with about 30 partners including GE, SAP, Software AG, Microsoft, OSIsoft and others, many of which are utilizing the Dell Edge Gateway 5000 series to power their own IoT services. Dell also continues to build relationships with systems integrators (SIs) with vertical guidance and deployment scale.

In addition, Dell is continuing its IoT momentum with availability of the Edge Gateway 5100 Model, Windows 10 IoT Enterprise option, five new accessories and Edge Device Manager (EDM) manageability software.

“Microsoft is continuing its work with Dell across our offerings for every IoT scenario, from the Azure IoT Suite to Windows 10 on the Dell Edge Gateways,” said Caglayan Arkan, Microsoft’s general manager of worldwide manufacturing. “Our collaboration will help both companies to ensure that our customers receive a world-class ecosystem of devices and services and time to production at industry-leading speeds.”