With the first wave of internet, we all know that Dell pioneered the direct model and revolutionized the PC industry. But the internet is changing again. During the first wave of internet, companies like AOL, Microsoft, Cisco, IBM and many others were building the on-ramps to information superhighways. Companies like Google, Dell, Apple and Amazon were taking advantage of these new information superhighways by simplifying legacy business models. Steve Case, the Founder of AOL has a great book on this topic and I highly recommend it – THE THIRD WAVE.
As Steve points out, in this third wave, partnerships play a critical role. Companies won’t be able to go it alone in the third wave; they must go together.
Dell’s $67 Billion acquisition of EMC is the biggest LBO ever in the tech industry. Now Dell’s ambition to be #1 channel company highlights the importance of partnerships as we go into the future.
At Dell EMC World, Michael Dell said “The Channel Matters to Me Personally”. This is an inspiring transformation for Dell – the pioneer of direct model to have ambitions to be number 1 indirect channel company. This is a strong signal to the industry.
Dell EMC’s channel chief, John Byrne @JohnByrneCSO who I admire as a great, enthusiastic and approachable channel servant leader, revealed: “Make no mistake: we have ambitions to be Number 1. We want to be the best and the biggest Channel player in our industry.”
In this third wave, the focus on partnerships is great news for the IT Channel community. I have personally run an IT Solution provider business and I am so excited about the future of all the IT Solution Providers in the world. This is the greatest opportunity for all the VARs, IT Resellers, Solution Provides, MSPs and channel partners to take advantage of the third wave of internet and establish themselves as the new digital leaders in this new digital era.
This is the time to think different and use technology in the same way Dell and Amazon used to become big businesses but without investing millions of dollars. The lesson learned from Dell and Amazon is how they created their digital presence to become part of their buyers buying process early on. As IT Solution Providers, we need to ramp up our digital presence that will keep us, the solution providers from being eliminated from IT buyers buying process early on.
Also dynamic partnerships provide a great opportunity and shifts the power to the solution providers. Creating joint solutions on demand is the magic to improve cross-sell opportunities and margins. Under Dell Technologies portfolio, there are various examples of this happening. You can combine solutions from edge to core to cloud. For example you can combine Dell EMC Isilon with PowerEdge Servers to create a high performance computing solution for DNA genome sequencing and save lives. You can mix technologies up and democratize HPC to extend capabilities to mainstream enterprises.
John Byrne @JohnByrneCSO further says: “ And you want to know a secret? I know we’re going to do it. The time is now.”
So therefore, let us together convert this digital disruption into the greatest digital opportunity of our time and realize our digital future. Together let us continue to add value in our industry and enhance the human potential of our beautiful world. Together we can and together we must. I love digital and I would love to hear from you! Thank you for sharing your time with me!
