Dell Selects New VMware And Channel Sales Leader

Dell Technologies’ new vice president of channel strategy and VMware channel sales, Lukas Bedi, says he plans on ‘strengthening’ Dell’s partner relationships.

Dell Technologies has a new vice president of channel strategy and VMware channel sales with the promotion of Lukas Bedi, who plans on “strengthening” partner relationships and ensuring the channel has the “tools” needed to be successful.

“With a solid strategy, a strong relationship with VMware and partners operating at their maximum potential, we’ll guide customers on their transformation journeys together, delivering business outcomes with impact,” said Bedi in an email to CRN.

Bedi is now responsible for setting Dell’s overall channel strategy to maximize growth opportunities, designing Dell Technologies Partner Program incentives, competencies and requirements, as well as accelerating Dell’s solid VMware channel business. Bedi’s focus in his new role will be on the operational and strategic momentum of Dell partners.

Bedi, who first joined Dell in 2007, said he’s proud of the “strong” relationships Dell has built with partners across its ecosystem. “I’m looking forward to strengthening those relationships further while also honing our channel strategy to ensure that our partners have the tools they need to succeed,” he said.

[Related: VMware’s Channel Chief On Dell Partnership And Cloud Marketplace ‘Disruption’]

For Dell’s recent third fiscal quarter, VMware order revenue through the channel was up 22 percent year-over-year.

In November, Dell spun off its majority stake in VMware to Dell Technologies shareholders, making VMware an independent company for the first time since 2004.

In an interview with CRN this month, Sandy Hogan, VMware’s global channel chief, said “Dell is going to continue to be a very strategic partner” for VMware.

“We will also grow that strategic ecosystem because it’s also opening up the opportunity for new conversations. But it’s really more of an answer of ‘and’ because we plan to continue our [Dell] partnership,” said Hogan. “This ecosystem is now incredibly complex. So it’s not just about Dell and VMware. It’s about Dell, VMware and multiple partners, who are going to play various roles throughout that [customer] life cycle.”

Bedi is now responsible for what Dell’s former vice president of global channel sales, Saket Pradhan, was covering as well as a broader responsibility for Dell’s overall channel strategy. Pradhan recently left Dell after 10 years to become HashiCorp’s new vice president of global go-to-market strategy and planning.

Bedi will report directly to Dell’s global channel chief, Rola Dagher.

“Lukas has a long track record of success,” said Dell in a statement to CRN.

In his 15 years with the Round Rock, Texas-based infrastructure and PC giant, Bedi led teams that focused on sales operations, global M&A, and Dell’s sales and transformation strategy in EMEA. Most recently, he was senior director of global channel strategy and partner programs for Dell.

Both Dell and VMware launched new channel partner programs this month for fiscal year 2023.

Some of the biggest changes and enhancements to Dell’s new partner program for fiscal year 2023 includes expanding its partner ecosystem for cloud service providers and OEMs, doubling down on storage incentives, focusing on driving as-a-service sales and investing more channel dollars in fiscal year 2023 compared with last year.

“We have a robust reseller ecosystem operating in a traditional Capex model who have impeccable momentum right now. We have emerging and evolving partners co-engineering around OEM, edge and telecom. These partners have positioned us for the future,” said Dagher in an interview with CRN. “We have partners who have been providing managed services with Dell infrastructure long before as-a-service was cool. And those are the partners we’re seeing providing so much more value than just shift-and-lift. We have distributors who are growing to double-digit rates and they’re helping us deliver for our partners every day. Our unmatched scale and reach allow us to listen, learn and lead.”