The week-long inaugural Dell Storage Forum, a first for Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), is expected to attract almost 250 of Dell’s top storage partners and more than 300 customers. Although expressing positive successes and taking the opportunity to bring together partners picked up through the EqualLogic and Compellent acquisitions, many mixed signals were communicated by the company. Channel Buzz reports that although Dell has been strengthening its channel ties recently, the company’s storage business actually fell 13 percent.
“According to IDC data, Dell held 11.4 per cent of the storage market, Davis said, and the company is looking for a bigger slice. ‘We want our unfair share of the market.’ It’s not about more partners, says Davis, but more partners who are trained, in sales and engineering.”