Recently, Enterprise Tech Provider had the opportunity to speak with Sylvia Seybel, Vice President of Client Solutions Group Marketing at Dell Technologies. Sylvia is responsible for overseeing the planning, development, and implementation of product messaging, creative, sales enablement and training for Dell’s PC solution portfolio as well as the development and implementation of customer engagement strategies. In this short interview, we heard thoughts from Sylvia on market trends in the hybrid workplace and the resulting opportunities being created for Partners.
What trends do you see in the commercial PC market?
Hybrid work is here to stay. A recent Forrester report found that 61 percent of employees want a combination of office and remote work (1). IT teams must now think about the type of work an employee does rather than where they do it. With employees calling their homes, coffee shops, corporate offices or even beaches their workspace each day, deployment, security, management, and support are harder than ever for IT teams.
And the challenge is not limited to the PC. Employees have high – and fair – expectations that things “just work” seamlessly across laptop, mobile phone, external monitors, etc.
How can IT teams keep costs low while keeping employees empowered and engaged with such a distributed fleet of technology? With dual monitors increasing productivity by up to 21 percent are multiple workstations the answer (2)?
These are just a few of the trends we’re helping customers navigate alongside our partner community.
The workplace of 2022 looks a lot different than the workplace of 2019 – how can partners work with Dell to help customers address the needs of this new world?
More than a year after the global pandemic started, 86 percent of IT decisions makers in a Vanson Bourne study agreed that all organizations should be adopting a “remote-first” mindset (3).
Then and now, there’s a disconnect between agreeing that’s the way forward and successfully making the shift. IT teams must modernize to support the needs of a distributed workforce – it’s the only way forward.
With deployment, security, management and support needs, IT teams must account for a lot on their modernization journey. Critical for all modernization are commercial grade PCs that are both secure and intelligent – without the right PCs, other modernization efforts will fail. Partners, familiarize yourselves with the Commercial Client section of the Partner Portal. With built-in features like Dell SafeBIOS, SafeScreen and Optimizer, your customers’ teams can enjoy a transformed remote work experience – securely.
Did you know Dell Optimizer uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically enhance Dell’s commercial PCs for better app performance, battery optimization and sound quality? These are just a few of Optimizer’s capabilities and there are many more coming this year – stay tuned!
Beyond familiarizing yourselves with our commercial PC lineup, I encourage all partners to also learn more about a rapidly growing market segment called Device as-a-Service (DaaS). In a survey conducted by IDC, 60 percent of organizations said they accelerated their DaaS efforts in 2020 (4). The cost structure of DaaS is a draw since it’s one predictable recurring payment with no upfront cash required.
With offers like Dell’s PC as-a-Service, the benefits of having deployment and support services wrapped in is also appealing to overstretched IT teams. Our PC as-a-Service offer includes hardware, software and services for one predictable monthly fee. Organizations who shift to PC as-a-Service can see up to a 20 percent reduction in device lifecycle service costs and employees enjoy devices that are on an average two years newer (5). The result is fewer device breakdowns and better device experiences for employees according a study by Forrester (6). Beyond decreased cost and improved employee experience, implementing PC as-a-Service for customers frees up partners and their customers to focus on strategic IT needs while Dell handles day-to-day maintenance.
What key opportunities should partners know about in 2022?
Partners drove incredible growth in 2021 and we’re eager to work together to keep that momentum going this year! In Q3 alone, global orders revenue through the channel grew 41 percent for client solutions year-over-year.
For partners with a focus on client solutions, get familiar with our commercial PC lineup and also our PC as-a-Service offer. There’s a lot of room in the offer for partners to provide value-added services. Also keep driving the mid-range portfolio. In today’s hybrid work world, there’s a lot of opportunity for volume conversations that cover both customers’ client and infrastructure needs.
Get all the latest information on the Commercial Client section of the Partner Portal.
Learn more about Sylvia Seybel’s bio here
(1) Forrester recently published a report focused on the employee experience and anywhere work. They emphasized that “Employees desire a hybrid workplace. A majority of employees — 61% [bfi.uchicago.edu] — favor some kind of hybrid workplace post-pandemic, with half of them preferring two or three days a week in the office.” Source: “Hot Desks Or Ice-Cold Employee Experiences”, Forrester, May 26, 2021
(2) Source: Based on Principled Technologies Report commissioned by Dell. Actual results will vary. Full report: https://www.principledtechnologies.com/Dell/P2419H_monitor_productivity_...
(3) Based on a recent study commissioned by Intel, VMware and Dell, "VB Hybrid Work Global eBook: Empowering the future of work ", May 2021. Results based on survey of 2000 ITDMs from organizations across public and private sectors with specific focus on financial and educational organizations, conducted by Vanson Bourne, between May and June of 2021. Actual Results will vary. Full Report: https://www.delltechnologies.com/asset/en-us/solutions/business-solution...
(4) IDC, 2021 Device as a Service MCS, August 2021. Results based on a global survey of 2,700 IT decision makers. Consult study owner for more information.
(5) Based on a Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Study commissioned by Dell “The Total Economic Impact™ Of Dell’s PC As A Service” November 2020. Results derived from customer interviews and survey data. Estimated savings in U.S. Dollars, calculated over 3 years for 4,000 users. Actual results will vary. Full report: https://www.delltechnologies.com/resources/en-us/asset/analyst-reports/s....
(6) Based on a Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Study commissioned by Dell “The Total Economic Impact™ Of Dell’s PC As A Service” November 2020. Results derived from customer interviews and survey data. Estimated savings in U.S. Dollars, calculated over 3 years for 4,000 users. Actual results will vary. Full report: https://www.delltechnologies.com/resources/en-us/asset/analyst-reports/s....
