Earlier this month Dell EMC announced the promotion of VP for the UK and Ireland channels, Sarah Shields to VP of Europe. Keen to take on the bigger stage, Shields spoke to Channel Pro about her plans to implement a new team.
That team is presented with a big task; many partners across multiple countries, different languages, different needs and the uncertainty of Brexit looming over Europe and the UK.
It's also likely to have brand new business on its hands with the launch of its new prefered partner programme, an amalgamation of Dell Technologies and Dell EMC sales teams to provide a unified platform.
Previously, Shields had stated that the new role would have to wait until a replacement was found. Now that she's made the move, the company remains reluctant to announce a successor. "We are not in a position to announce, but my replacement has been found," she tells us.
But Shields has been busy looking for new recruits and she says Dell is in such a good state that it's opening up plenty opportunities for talent acquisition.
"We've had this amazing opportunity to refuel our partner account managers and at the same time I've been able to look for outstanding candidates, that will join me in my new role looking after the enterprise part of our business.
"I currently have individuals in the UK, France and Western and I am now hiring for the rest of the territories and I expect to have all positions filled by the end of September.
"We are having an amazing time right now, I think we have the strongest portfolio we've ever had and our customers and partners are doing well with us. Which means we are hiring and we are hiring a ton of people across our business."
VP of Europe
Although Shields believes the new role will be "more of the same, less diluted", she will now have a larger roster of clients and partners to focus on and the challenge is to maximise the share of wallet and the headroom Dell has in the enterprise marketplace.
"My new role is about driving strategic relationships, it's about identifying the right partners with the right opportunities and the right customers and go and sell a Dell Technologies solution. This is about how we engage in a bigger, better and more profitable relationship with our partners.
Last year Shields told us that Dell was on an "aggressive counterattack" to reclaim the storage and server top spot, and the company has done exactly that. Dell now enjoys a solid market lead, so solid that major rival HPE has effectively given up the chase.
"When you look at what Dell Technologies is doing in the enterprise space, we are making tremendous headway in all of the major countries, we are growing sequentially in all of our major lines of business. Across storage, across server, across client and our VM business is record-breaking right now."
The fundamentals
The market right now is hot, according to Shields, and if some are not "winning" then she says they are getting the basics wrong.
"Those that aren't winning are doing something fundamentally wrong because we have a moment in time where we have multiple opportunities in the channel," she says. "We have the digital transformation, we have potential upcoming political instability, but everybody right now has the opportunity to do some really good business.
"I look at the financial statements of these big companies and you hear some of the growth rates that the partners are talking about, record years, record quarters, and for Dell technologies, it is exactly the same."
Brexit
It all sounds promising, but there is a big question mark hanging over Europe. The 29 March 2019 is fast approaching, the day the UK will exit the European Union. Although its impact on the channel is largely unknown, it is causing some nervousness.
"We are an international organisation, with a strong healthy business in the UK and across Europe. I think that as Brexit looms, whether its a 'hard' or 'soft' Brexit, deal or no-deal, I see it very much as business as usual. When we look at the feedback from customers and partners, nobody really knows what is going to happen, but right now, business is good.
"I think that there are pockets of the industry that are being affected and a nervousness that is creeping in, but if you play across all markets and all verticals, you balance out the nervousness in one area and excel in others and naturally it's business as usual. It would be good to see some clarity, but in the meantime, it's not stopping me."
Je parle Français, Español, Deutsch...
Dell is indeed an international company and it deals with many different partners from around the world, which often means speaking in different languages, something Shields is keen to learn.
"Rosetta Stone is doing well for me. I'm learning new languages that will hopefully resonate in the new countries. I'm learning French, German and Spanish and I'm looking for good, strong individuals to add to the team in the countries I don't have coverage to continue the good work we are doing."
