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Dell has taken the decision to go channel-first on its storage portfolio, significantly raising the volume of business that will go through the channel. The vendor has chosen a moment when the spotlight is firmly on data and generating insights through tools such as generative artificial intelligence, as customers across all verticals look to drive further digital transformation. Rob Tomlin, vice-president of UK channel at Dell Technologies, said what partner-first means in practical terms is incentives for the Dell sales team to push business to partners and an expectation that nearly all the storage business will now be going through the channel. “With this announcement, over 99% of Dell’s customers and potential customers will be considered partner-first,” he said. “Dell will be paying our sales reps more, which is the first time that’s ever happened, to sell storage through the channel, accelerating commission. “At the same time, we’ll also be protecting our partners, so when they bring customers to us, we have something ...