Dell Offers Partners 'Cloud Services & Solutions Certification'

The certification will become part of Dell’s PartnerDirect channel program so that partners can provide cloud services with Dell technology and with their own services.

Dell is aiming to have the certification help its partners efficiently create cloud solutions for their customers in a fast-evolving market, said Bob Skelley, executive director, Dell Global Certified Partner Program & Channel. “This has been a full year in the making,” Skelley said in an interview. “We invested the time and resources to fully understand the cloud solutions our partners need to provide in the market.”

[Related: Five Turning Points In Dell's Channel Evolution ]

Under the Cloud Services & Solutions Certification, partners will be classified according to three models of cloud services and solutions:

-- Cloud Builder partner, ready immediately, offers services to design and develop a cloud infrastructure for customers;

-- Cloud Provider partner, set for Q2, 2012, operates a cloud networking operating center (NOC) enabled with Dell technology to provide cloud services, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS);

-- Cloud Service Enabler partner, to be completed in the second half of 2012, acts as an aggregator or broker identifying, securing and integrating cloud technologies and services from multiple sources and operates the resulting cloud for their customers through a set of managed services.

These partners will receive Certified (Preferred or Premier) Partner level pricing and existing Preferred or Premier Partner benefits. In addition, partners when providing cloud services to customers will receive additional benefits, including:

-- Preferred access to Dell’s cloud services and solution offers;

-- Financing options to provide alternative acquisition options; participation in cloud-focused marketing campaigns and access to co-marketing funds;

-- Representation as a Certified Cloud Services & Solutions provider in the Find-A-Partner tool; and

-- Engagement by Dell account teams for co-selling/joint opportunities through the Find-A-Partner tool.

Dante Orsini, vice president business development of iland, a Houston, Texas-based Dell partner, said Dell’s Cloud Services & Solutions Certification will give partners a boost as they jockey to get into cloud services.

“We would be classified as a Cloud Provider,” he said. “We have four data centers in the U.S., two in London and we’re going to have another in Singapore. We’ve built our infrastructure on Dell technology and it has given us a significant advantage.”

Orsini said iland is working with other Dell cloud providers and with Dell customers who would like to move their IT departments to the cloud. “By taking advantage of Dell’s three classifications, you can create a lot of collaboration,” he said.