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In an interview with the US channel publication CRN, Michael Dell conceded that Dell already has a significant partner infrastructure, which is the fastest growing part of its business.
"It’s just a really important growth opportunity for us to work with partners as we expand the ways that we’re going to go to market, said Dell. "And it’s really an acknowledgment of the relationships we’ve already built and intend on building further with solution providers, channel partners and retail partners – not only here in the U.S., but around the world."
"We’re going to work on a number of different program elements and reach out to these partners because, actually, this part of our business has been growing faster than the overall category. We take that as a positive affirmation that there is a great interest here. We’re going to ramp it up quickly."
When asked about his retail intentions, he was even more bullish. "I think you’ll be quite interested to see what we do, and it’s going to be quite aggressive," he said. "I think you’ll see Dell showing up in a lot more retail locations – not only here in the U.S. but also in major countries around the world over the next several quarters. So stay tuned."
It appears that Dell’s indirect strategy would involve bypassing distribution and going straight to resellers and retailers, so the effect on the overall channel could be severe.
PC Retail would like to know what its readers think of this development. Do you welcome Dell in the channel? Do you view it as a threat or an opportunity or both? Do you think it will succeed? Please email your thoughts to PC Retail editor Scott Bicheno.
