Dehradun partners upset with Dell policy

Dehradun: Partners in Dehradun are not very impressed with Dell's
channel policy as far as carrying out the DGS&D rate contracts are concerned.
There have been increasing instances wherein Dell has failed to give its
empaneled partners (system integrators) their due share of commission despite
committing the same to them. The DQ Week has mails from one of the affected
partners that shows the

communication between a Dell representative and the affected partner. The
mails clearly establish the fact that the said partner was committed a certain
percentage of ORC (commission) by Dell which was later denied to him.

Dealers who deal in DGS&D rate contracts, in the region claimed that the
company has been engaging in unethical business practices and taking undue
advantage of the tie up that they (Dell) had established with them.

Pointing towards the same, Arvind Mittal, CEO of Rans Electronics mentioned,
"There have been five to six cases wherein representatives of Dell requested us
to refer our clients to them on the condition that they would pay us the
commission for the same. However, once Dell closed the contract and collected
payments from the parties they never bothered to pay us our share of
commission."

Mittal further pointed out, "I had referred two cases to Dell and my total
outstanding ORC with the company is Rs 7,45,175. One of the clients was ITDA and
the other was IHM."

Referring to the ITDA case, in which Dell received payment in less than a
week's time Mittal elaborated that Dell failed to pay them the ORC even six
months after the closure of the contract. Further the vendor had verbally
approved an ORC of eight percent in Feb 2008 but reduced it to seven percent.

"In July last year Dell received 95 percent payment in the ITDA case, but the
local representative changed his statement later and said that the case was not
referred to them by us. I have mails that were exchanged with Dell which clearly
proves that I am involved in the case and that the order was being carried out
by Rans Electronics. In addition, Dell did not pay my ORC for PHQ, UJVNL and
ONGC cases either, instead they tried their level best to fool me. Under such
conditions who would like to work for Dell?" Mittal questioned.

Another partner facing the same problem is Himanshu Agarwal of Devansh IT
Solutions. "Dell promised to pay us a commission within the range of one to six
percent on the condition that we convert clients for them as far as the DGS&D
rate contracts are concerned. However, the moment they implement the contract on
our behalf and collected the payment from the client, they completely ignored
us. They never bothered to give us our due commission. We escalated the matter
to the top level of authorities within Dell but we never received any response
from them," said Agarwal.

To add insult to injury, these clients turn to partners for any post-sales
issues. "If these very clients face any post-sales issue they come to us since
we are a face to the company and they place their trust in us. Under such
situations we are unable to assist them," he added.

In one incident, Agarwal relayed that about a year back he had introduced a
contract of Excise Department of Uttrakhand to Dell. The vendor closed the deal
without Agarwal's knowledge and till date he is yet to receive his share of
commission for the same. "We have raised the issue with the Uttrakhand IT
association. Dell's representatives committed that they would pay us the amount,
but till now nothing has really happened to that effect. It's over five to six
months now and there is no one to pay heed to the situation. When a new brand
enters into the market we as partners make every effort to uplift it and promote
it, but this lackluster attitude from Dell has forced us to withdraw our support
to the brand. This has also resulted in a drop in the sale of Dell products, as
far as government contracts are concerned," elucidated Agarwal.

Yet another partner Harish Narang of Narang Computers and Electronic Services
pointed out, "We have been experiencing indifferent attitude from Dell over the
past one and a half year. I have personally witnessed three to four instances
wherein the company went direct and delivered products to client who had been
introduced to them by us. When we questioned them they denied it completely. I
raised one such case during a meeting organized by the Uttrakhand IT
association, in which Dell representatives (area sales manager and business
development manager) had participated. At that point in time they committed
before the body that they would pay me my commission but it has been over nine
months now and I am still waiting for it."

Puneet Kaura, CEO of Interface Corporations and an ex-office bearer of the
local association opined that Dell's actions were not being appreciated by the
channel in the region. "I have no claims or commission that are pending with
Dell but there have been growing concerns in the region as far as Dell's policy
is concerned. Dealers are not very impressed with the way Dell has been
operating, especially when it comes to DGS&D rate contracts. I was one of the
office bearers of the local association until a few months back when this issue
was escalated, so I am aware of the problems that Dell's empaneled partners have
been facing. But the company is yet to resolve the matter and revisit their
business strategy in this space."

Clarifying their stance, Alekhya Talapatra, Director, Dell India stated,
"Dell is committed to a robust partner program and follows strict rules in
ensuring partners do not suffer in any way, including timely payments of
commissions based on mutually agreed parameters. Dell does not do any direct DGS&D
business for laptops, desktops and servers but only through its empaneled SIs.
All payments of commissions are the responsibility of our DGS&D SI-Dell works
from the start to closure with one partner who in turn owns the responsibility
of closing, executing and payment realization. Dell has only one DGS&D RC
directly in Uttaranchal with due commissions paid as a part of our transparent
partner program."