Dell channel chief Millard on reorganisation, new global channel roles, and how AI is shaping strategy
“In this case we are recognizing that GenAI is making some substantial changes to the world and to the way that we all operate … We’re making some changes to really capitalize on this over $2 trillion market opportunity,” Dell Technologies chief partner officer Denise Millard told CRN.
Dell Technologies chief partner officer Denise Millard has been leading the company's partners through massive changes in how they go to market together, including around major announcements in storage, servers, GenAI – and now layoffs built around reorganising the company for AI.
"In this case we are recognising that GenAI is making some substantial changes to the world and to the way that we all operate," Millard told CRN in a phone interview Monday. "I think its pretty well known that the way that people buy is changing, and this new generation of buyers are much more informed. They're looking to do business with partners who can help them unlock the value to modern IT and AI."
Dell Technologies announced job cuts Monday, but did not specify how many. The cuts hit sales roles as the company adjusts how it takes its leading server and storage products to market, focusing more on the channel to deliver those results.
The move also underscores founder Michael Dell's comments at Dell Technologies World in May that organisations must re-imagine their operations around the capabilities introduced by AI.
Millard said that as part of Dell's own restructuring announced Monday, it has created a new AI Select Team, a group of reps dedicated to enabling AI for customers around the world.
"This team is going to be global. It's going to be focused on the largest AI organisations across the world, specific to the GPU business," Millard said.
Additionally, the company will introduce resources aimed at helping partners who have specific strengths, deepen their competencies. Dell also hopes to drive a stickier relationship with the SMB market through the creation of a global team that delivers marketing and business management insights.
"This is about how do we become best in class with the amount of time our teams are focusing externally, versus internally on tools, systems and processes," Millard said.
Dell cut 13,000 jobs last year, dropping its employee headcount from 133,000 to 120,000, a decline of 9.7 percent, according to the company's annual reports. About half of those came as the company introduced a new go-to-market initiative called Partner First For Storage, in which Dell's internal sellers are compensated more to close deals through channel partners.
The company did not disclose the number of jobs cut in this most recent round, but partners told CRN they believe this is evidence that Dell is leaning more on partners for revenue generation.
Here is what Millard had to say in the interview:
Highlights