ESG Blogs

The data protection space relies on a very diverse and complex ecosystem of channel players. How has the COVID-19 crisis affected the channel? I discuss this important topic in a new video with resident expert and lead of ESG's channel practice Kevin Rhone.

Been thinking a lot while hunkered down, about how the partner community must address two critically important issues during and after the coronavirus pandemic changes work, home, and lives: the joint challenges of safely helping their teams, their vendors, and their customers move forward to the new IT and tech world.

Spring brings things you expect – tax day (in the US), storms and showers (in much of the Northern hemisphere), and some variant of Dell/EMC/Dell Technologies World (in whatever Las Vegas is!). But this Spring brought something unexpected too – at Dell Technologies World the discussion for the closing general session panel centered on “optimism and happiness in the digital age.” So there!

Our final 2018 Award Winner is Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), and we’re finishing up the year on a high note. As you will see below, the introduction of the new GreenLake Flex Capacity for Partners Program is a game changer!

"The channel" remains a crucial connection between the vendor and user communities, but like everything else in IT, it has evolved. In this discussion, part of ESG's 360 Video Series, Kevin Rhone considers some of the key changes for channel partners in recent years. These organizations have a tremendous influence over much of what is sold to, and used by, IT organizations. With a direct, vendor-owned sales force being such an expensive option, it is typically reserved for only the largest customers and/or the big-ticket items. Everything else normally flows through the channel ecosystem, which has gradually shifted from being essentially a product fulfillment operation to provide far more of an advisory status. Kevin delves into why this change is underway, and addresses whom it is good for.     

Always fun, we’ve had the chance over the past year to meet with the top IT channel leaders as they use the tools at their disposal (technology and product sets, program elements and options, resources, and teams) to gain attention from and drive business through IT partners of all types.

Lots of forward-looking going on at this year’s Dell Technologies World (DTW - the former Dell EMC World) with main stage focus on the promise of Digital Transformation and IT Transformation on the world of IT.

Of course, no IT event in 2018 would be complete without a discussion of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the merging of the cyber and the physical, and the impact of AI and machine learning on everything related to IT infrastructure, IoT, and beyond!

The ESG Channel Awards give us an opportunity to highlight partner-led companies that have invested in their partners; taking steps to help them do more deals, drive their top and bottom lines, and continue to solve customer problems quickly and efficiently.

Next up in our 2018 Award Winners is Trend Micro. Trend really went for it this year, focusing on creating new go-to-market programs with key alliance partners. This effort provides options for customers to consume Trend technology, and gives great flexibility to Trend Micro partners that shortens sales cycles and makes it easy to deliver a range of solutions that end-users want to buy.  

Next in our 2018 Award Winners is Dell Technologies. After bringing Dell and EMC together officially in late 2016, making sure that two different programs and partner bases merged and stayed relevant was key. Maintaining mindshare from the top IT partners in 2017 was a complex task, one that they pulled off with flair!

We’re back with the second in our 2018 Award Winners, companies that are climbing up the "line cards" and earning mindshare from the top IT partners serving growth markets. Hard work seems to pay off!

These awards allow us to share our thoughts on channel-focused companies that stood out over the past several months – and the steps that they took to help partners do more deals, drive their top and bottom lines, and continue to solve customer problems quickly and efficiently.