IDC Vendor Spotlight Underlines IT Modernization Opportunities for Dell EMC Partners

Take advantage of top advice from industry analyst firm IDC on how to best pitch IT modernization to your prospects and customers

Are all of your prospects and customers considering how IT modernization can benefit their business? They should be, because they’re in danger of being left behind if they don’t find a way to remain agile and efficient in today’s fast-moving, digitally driven world.

As a Dell EMC partner, you’re ideally placed to assume the role of trusted advisor, consulting with key stakeholders and offering guidance on the best technology solutions to suit their specific business needs.

IDC identifies clear opportunities for Dell EMC partners

In a new IDC Vendor Spotlight[1], influential analyst firm IDC noted that “Dell EMC holds the market share leadership across across most of the offerings it considers foundational to IT modernization.”

This leadership position, combined with a comprehensive portfolio of solutions spanning infrastructure from endpoint to data center, makes Dell EMC the ideal technology partner to enable organizations of any size to modernize their IT environment.

The analyst outlines the company’s fully integrated and forward-looking IT modernization strategy and details the substantial opportunities that this presents for Dell EMC partners.

Insider advice on how best to bring strategy to life

The IDC Vendor Spotlight contains plenty of guidance for partners on maximizing the opportunities around modernizing IT.

It states that customers need help in assessing how best to modernize their IT and that they’re looking for expert technology partners to address this need. However, the report also stresses that capturing and realizing the significant opportunities open to partners “requires a deep understanding of customer priorities”.

In particular, the IDC Vendor Spotlight is advising Dell EMC partners to focus on three key requirements:

• The ability to clearly explain the importance and scope of IT modernization: You need to be able to articulate to customers the benefits of IT modernization and the essential role it plays as a necessary first step and best path towards wider digital transformation.
• The ability to adopt a consultative, solutions-focused sales approach: Deep understanding of the customer’s environment will enable you to offer trusted advice on IT modernization solutions that will deliver specific business outcomes, not just tick technology boxes.
• The ability to appeal to and engage with different types of buyers: More and more IT decisions are being made outside of the IT department, so you need to be able to tailor your sales approaches to C-suite level and LOB buyers, as well as traditional IT personas.

Get these three aspects right, IDC says, and you’ll be able to win IT modernization business while also earning long-term customer respect and loyalty.

Partners “well positioned” to become trusted advisors

All of these inherent challenges feed into one of the fundamental points made within the report. This is the assertion by the IDC Vendor Spotlight that partners “play a critical role in helping Dell EMC bring IT modernization to its customers at the scale and pace that customers are demanding it.”

That’s because technology providers need to shift the conversation from generic product features to how a particular solution can meet specific business needs. To succeed, they have to be able to deliver complete, often bespoke, solutions to customers – solutions that create value and meet desired targeted outcomes. And that, of course is dictated by business need, not technology.

This drives many business-led IT purchases into very specific use case scenarios, where each solution is slightly different from the next. The best way to assess, advise on, sell, and ultimately implement these solutions is for technology providers to work with expert partners who are ‘on the ground’ – partners like you.

The IDC Vendor Spotlight emphasizes that Dell EMC partners are “well positioned” to act as trusted advisors who can guide their customers through the complex journey required for IT modernization, from awareness and exploration through to decision-making.

The Secret to Success in a Digital World

Henry Ford once said, ‘before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.’  Most, if not all business leaders will agree that getting ready; having a plan; being on offense vs. defense; all these things will help your business survive and thrive in today’s digital world.

Dell Technologies’ recent Digital Transformation Index Study shows that businesses around the globe are thinking about digital transformation, and they’re getting ready to seize the opportunities their data holds.  Leveraging the insights from this study, my last blog, Hindsight to Insight: Why Digital Transformation is Not an Option, discussed the barriers most companies are facing when it comes to digitally transforming their business. Security and data concerns ranked as the top barrier to transform; the very reason businesses should transform, is the number one reason why they are struggling to do so.

To compound this, data is growing at unprecedented rates.  5G technology is being rolled out to mobile devices this year.  This technology is set to completely disrupt the market, paving the way for emerging technologies such as AI and ML.  5G is a complete infrastructure change and will realize the convergence of computing, cloud and IoT.  Think of it as the era of hyper connectivity.  The implications are huge.

Following the Digital Transformation Index study, Dell Technologies published the Global Data Protection Index Study.  From this study we learned that on average businesses managed 9.70PB of data in 2018, compared to the 1.45PB managed in 2016.  This represents an explosive growth of 569% in just two years!  With this enormous growth in data, what will you do to prepare for continued advancements in disruptive technology and the data it creates?

If you plan to attend Dell Technologies World in Las Vegas this month, I encourage you to attend the general sessions as they are insightful, thought leadership discussions around current industry trends.  If your schedule is tight I recommend you focus on the IT Technology Track.  Below is a list of break-out session recommendations for you to prioritize.  These sessions will help you gain a better understanding of why you should digitally transform your business, what steps you need to take to make that happen, and you’ll hear from customers who will share their own digital transformation experiences.

While Henry Ford is not here today to see our world of big data and human-machine partnerships, his legacy endures because he knew that being ready and getting ahead of industry trends was the best way to position his company for success.  Regardless of where your digital transformation journey will take you, the secret to success in a digital world is to be ready, data is coming!

Monday, April 29th:

• 8:30 am – 9:30 am: The Dell Digital Way: A Streamlined People, Process, & Technology Approach For Digital Transformation – This is the Dell Technologies Digital Transformation story told from our CTO. He’ll share with you what’s required for digital transformation and the things you can expect on your journey.
• 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM: Dell IT’s AI/ML Journey: Evolving From Data To Insights To Enabling The Digital Enterprise – In this session you will learn how Dell IT is enabling Dell Technologies to become a data driven enterprise.

Tuesday, April 30th:

• 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM: Customer Case Study: How Aon Corporation Saved $25m A Year Through Application Transformation – Nothing is better than hearing from industry leaders who have embarked on a transformation journey and are now reaping the rewards.  In this session, Aon Corporation will share their own story of Application transformation including their approach, pitfalls and lessons they learned along the way.
• 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: Get Your Strategy & Transformation Programs On Track – In 2018 lack of senior support and sponsorship still ranked as one of the top ten barriers to Digital Transformation.  In this session you’ll learn how to create a visionary strategy to help gain the support you need to move your transformation forward.

Wednesday, May 1st:

• 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM: Customer Panel: The Need For Speed: Learn From Customers How Dell Has Helped Them Deliver When The Stakes Are Highest – In this customer panel you’ll hear from your peers who will be discussing some of their biggest challenges and how Dell’s commercial products and services help them remove traditional barriers and achieve industry-leading performance.
• 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Your Data Is Telling You Something: Are You Listening? – Data is a game-changer if you know how to tap into its potential.  In this session you’ll hear examples of companies who have embraced the digital economy and use data to disrupt industries.