Dell Names EMC Channel Veteran To Software Channel Post

Pete Koliopoulos, a channel veteran who played a key role in EMC's early channel transformation, has been appointed vice president of global channels and alliances for Dell Software's systems and information management group.

The appointment comes with Dell Software refining its channel strategy as the company moves to complete its $67 billion acquisition of EMC -- the largest IT acquisition in history.

Dell said Koliopoulos will report to Dell Systems and Information Management General Manager Tom Joyce in the newly created position.

[Related: Report: EMC Eyes Sale Of Documentum As Dell Merger Approaches]

"Pete was a huge advocate for partners and channel enablement at a time when EMC was transitioning from a direct sales culture to a channel sales culture," said Jamie Shepard, senior vice president for health care and strategy at Lumenate, No. 145 on the CRN 2015 Solution Provider 500. "This is a great hire by Dell."

Koliopoulos played a key role in the evolution of the EMC channel model when many EMC insiders were skeptical of the EMC channel march, said Shepard. "Pete brought pride to the partners community," he said. "He made us all step up. He drove very strong brand awareness at EMC and he made us proud to be EMC partners."

The appointment comes with the blockbuster merger sparking reports that Dell is looking at selling off certain software assets, including security software maker SonicWall and IT management software provider Quest.

As part of the Dell-EMC merger, Dell reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last year that its software group posted a $30 million operating loss on sales of $1.49 billion for its fiscal year ended Jan. 30, 2015.

A three-time CRN Channel Chief, Koliopoulos spent five years as vice president of global channel marketing for EMC, from 2006 to 2011, and then a year as vice president of global partner marketing for EMC's VCE alliance with Cisco and VMware. For the past four years, Koliopoulos has been vice president of marketing for Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions North America.

One top executive for a Dell partner, who did not want to be identified, said the appointment is a "sign that Dell's channel model will be embracing the best of both the Dell and EMC channel strategies. Pete understands how EMC works, how VMware works, how Dell works and how distribution works."