Davenport Group

Events

We’d love the opportunity to meet you and learn more about your business. That’s why we host events and attend conferences all around the country. Take a look through our list of upcoming events to find out where you can meet us next. Then join in the fun by signing up for one of our seminars, lunches, or conferences in your area.

Upcoming Events

Data Protection Suite Campaign

October 2018
USA
Register Here

VxRail Test Drive

October 18, 2018
Orlando, FL
Register Here

NCLGISA

October 22-25, 2018
Asheville, NC
More Information

Cybersecurity: Tales from the Trenches Webinar with Arctic Wolf

November 1, 2018
12:00pm - 1:00pm CST
Register Here

VxRail Lunch and Learn

November 9, 2018
Tulsa, OK
Register Here

Media Hype

We work with a lot of brilliant minds. And that creates a lot of media buzz. Take a look at our recent news stories and press releases.

Dell Fires Back at Icahn: VMware Stock Swap 'In The Best Interests' of Shareholders

CRN - October 16, 2018 - "Dell Technologies, Dell EMC and VMware in particular, has demonstrated a commitment to align products, solutions, services and programs across brands, and I expect to see increasing collaboration going forward irrespective of which path Dell Technologies may take to re-emerge as a public company," said McCormick.

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Dell EMC's 'Golden Partner Opportunity': Enterprise Preferred Program

CRN - October 9, 2018

"It shows the seriousness that Dell EMC has about putting the channel front and center for some of the key businesses and key customers that they're trying to get," said Dan McCormick, Executive Vice President of Davenport Group.

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Davenport Group Named to CRN's Fast Growth 150 List

St. Paul, MN - August 6, 2018

The list is CRN’s annual ranking of North America-based technology integrators, solution providers, and IT consultants with gross sales of at least $1 million that have experienced significant economic growth over the past two years.

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Davenport Group Network Engineer Rick Rutherford Earns Prestigious CCNP Certification

St. Paul, MN - June 12, 2018

Davenport Group announced today that Rick Rutherford, Network Engineer, has earned the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certification. This certification is difficult to complete, requiring months of study and field work. With this training, Davenport Group will continue to extend their ability to integrate Dell EMC solutions into complex, diverse environments.

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Paul Clifford, Davenport Group President, Discusses Dell Tech World Highlights

CRN - Las Vegas, NV - May 1, 2018

Paul Clifford, Davenport Group President, shares his thoughts on the first day of Dell Technologies World. Watch his interview with CRN by clicking the link below.

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Fistfuls of Growth: Dell EMC's Expanded Product Portfolio Paves New Paths for Partners

CRN - January 31, 2018 - By Matt Brown

"This was a big year of change, and I think Dell has handled it really well," St. Charles said. "You're going to see a pretty significant leapfrog in improvements in 2018 that will allow us to capture more market share. You can feel the support for the channel. You can feel a tangible excitement level in the Dell teams to work with the channel and to grow that segment of the business."

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Davenport Group Announces Hire of Executive Vice President

St. Paul, MN - January 23, 2018

IT industry veteran Dan McCormick joins the Davenport Group team in the newly created role of Executive Vice President. “Dan’s unique combination of skills and experience will be critical for us as we expand our capabilities as a trusted innovation partner for our customers," says Sonia St. Charles, CEO.

2017

Davenport Group Welcomes Ferrin Hardy to Their Team of Customer Development Representatives

St. Paul, MN - December 6, 2017

“Ferrin’s ability to listen to customers, identify the right solution, and develop a lasting relationship will help Davenport Group continue to take care of our people,” said Brandon Cole, Director of Sales.

Micah Jorgensen Joins Davenport Group's Team of Customer Development Representatives

St. Paul, MN - November 30, 2017

“Micah’s skill set with Dell EMC products and services makes him a valuable asset to our new team of Customer Development Representatives,” said Brandon Cole, Director of Sales. “We’re thrilled to have his technical experience and his customer service expertise in our organization.”

Davenport Group Welcomes Kimberly Abrams as New Customer Development Representative

St. Paul, MN - November 28, 2017

“Kimberly’s technical certifications and extensive experience with Dell EMC means that she’ll be able to help out at Davenport Group right away,” said Brandon Cole, Director of Sales.

Davenport Group Hires Alison Williams as New Customer Development Representative

St. Paul, MN - November 14, 2017

“Alison’s extensive experience with Dell EMC teams and products will help us grow our productive relationship with our partner,” said Brandon Cole, Director of Sales.

Chris Baker Joins Davenport Group's Team of Senior Systems Engineers

St. Paul, MN - October 17, 2017

Mr. Baker will be a valuable addition to a growing team of Senior Systems Engineers. As Davenport Group adds capabilities with EMC solutions, Mr. Baker’s vast industry knowledge will be essential to the deployment, migration, and support of the infrastructure equipment at Davenport Group customer sites.

Davenport Group Welcomes Ryan McCleary to the Team as Their New Project Manager

St. Paul, MN - October 10, 2017

“Ryan’s project management skill set and industry knowledge will help Davenport Group stay on track as we work to bring the best solutions to our customers,” said Alex Bauer, Vice President of Operations and Engineering.

Davenport Group Hires David Stabler as New IT Systems Administrator

St. Paul, MN - September 25, 2017

His technical skills, comprehensive training, and hardware knowledge will make him a valuable asset. Mr. Stabler’s work will ensure that Davenport Group can continue to focus on going above and beyond to meet the needs of their customers.

Davenport Group Named to 2017 CRN Fast Growth 150 List

St. Paul, MN - August 8, 2017

“To be recognized by CRN is truly an honor,” said Sonia St. Charles, CEO, Davenport Group. “This is a confirmation of the commitment we have made to our customers and how we develop innovative solutions together."

Davenport Group Welcomes Alex Bauer, New Vice President of Engineering and Operations

St. Paul, MN - August 1, 2017

“We are looking to expand our portfolio of service offerings as we continue to grow the company,” said Sonia St. Charles, Chief Executive Officer of Davenport Group. “Alex’s proven record of driving superior business results and leading transformations make him the absolute right fit for this role. We are more than pleased to welcome him to Davenport Group.”

Sonia St. Charles on Trusting Your Instincts and the Myth of the Work-Life Balance

CRN - May 23, 2017 - By Matt Brown

"Sonia St. Charles grew up in a central Tennessee town so small that its residents were outnumbered by her first class at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. From there, though, St. Charles held a series of executive positions in human resources at companies like Deluxe Corp. and Paper Direct, and ran her own consulting firm before founding St. Paul, Minn.-based Davenport Group in 2001 with her husband, Paul Clifford.

The decision to form Davenport came from the couple's desire to get away from the constant travel their former jobs required, and St. Charles' desire to take ownership of her career. 'I was very successful in HR, but I got frustrated because I was executing other people's ideas. Davenport has been my petri dish of doing it the way I want to and seeing what the impact is."

Dell North America Sales Chief: 'Winning in Both Consumer and Commercial PCs' is Key'

CRN - May 10, 2017 - By Matt Brown

"We're data center focused, but last year our No. 1 product was client," St. Charles said. "We don't lead with client ever, but when a customer says, "Hey, can we buy our laptops from you?" We want them to keep thinking of us for that purchasing cycle. It's good for us, it's good for them, and it's become a significant part of our business."

Partners Marketing Push: Dell EMC Arms Partners with New MDF Resources

CRN - May 9, 2017 - By Matt Brown

"It's huge," said Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group, a national solution provider based in St. Paul, Minn. "By putting all of this into one place with quite a bit of collateral materials and resources, it makes it much easier for partners to go and find. It's a really smart strategy."

The institute "allows you to tap into their knowledge and really understand what best practices are," she said. "Whether it's me or a millennial, we all come at it very differently. It's good to have a standard approach to how we go about social media and get the benefit of Dell's experience over the years."

Michael Dell to Partners: "Enormous Cross-Selling Opportunities for You"

CRN - May 8, 2017 - By Matt Brown

"We're getting a lot of positive traction right now cross-selling," Johnson said. "The opportunity to start introducing products like Isilon, or Unity, that's where we are seeing the largest opportunity. Over the years, we've had the opportunity to bring on a lot of net-new clients. What this acquisition has meant for us is the ability to go back in and have a whole new discussion with them. That for us is a major, major push to stay with those clients and to introduce them to the EMC portfolio. It's about making sure our customers are aware of the breadth of services and products the organization brings together. "

Partners: Dell EMC Program Is A Channel Game-Changer, Puts Heat on Cisco, HPE

CRN - February 8, 2017 - By Matt Brown

Sonia St. Charles, CEO of the Davenport Group, a St. Paul, Minn.-based solution provider that sits on the vendor's partner advisory board, said she sees only upside to the new program even for smaller partners like Davenport Group. "We hadn't anticipated that the rebate program would be nearly this rich, and I hadn't conceived that they'd be able to level the playing field between a company my size and a much larger EMC solution provider."

Dell EMC Launches Historic New Integrated Partner Program

Dell EMC - February 8, 2017 - Julie Quattro

"The Dell EMC partner program is a win-win for partners and allows us to continue to focus on growing our business," said Sonia St. Charles, CEO, Davenport Group. "The transparency and accessibility to a host of products and services focused all around the data center allows us to address multiple customer challenges and increases our earning potential with multiple paths to achieve tier status."

Dell EMC Channel Unification Effort Gets Under Way

The Channel Insider - February 8, 2017 - By Mike Vizard

"Nevertheless, Dell EMC has included provisions in its program that make it easier for smaller partners to participate at higher levels of the channel program if they sell Dell EMC technologies exclusively."

"We were pleasantly surprised by that," said Sonia St. Charles, CEO of the Davenport Group. "We think there is a huge opportunity for Dell EMC in the market."

Simple. Predictable. Profitable. New Dell EMC Partner Program

Dell EMC - February 8, 2017 - By Laura Pevehouse

"The great thing is that it will not change our day-to-day operations. We will continue to focus on adding net new customers and helping our existing customers enable their businesses with great technology knowing that Dell EMC has our back," said Sonia St. Charles, CEO, Davenport Group.

Dell EMC Partner Program Officially Launches with Aggressive Incentives

The Var Guy - February 8, 2017 - By Kris Blackmon

The new program lives up to its marketing promises of being simple, predictable and profitable. A Dell partner since 2008, St. Charles said that while the previous Dell program was very robust and generously rewarded sales activity focused on their storage, server and network products, its level of complexity was frustrating.

"It was difficult to accurately predict your rebate level," she said. "Dell EMC did a great job of listening to their channel partners and designing a program that addressed all of our concerns."

CRN Exclusive: Dell EMC Commits $150M to Incentives, Stresses New Business, Exclusivity in New Program

CRN - January 24, 2017 - By Matt Brown

"What we heard this morning was positive – a positive move toward leveling the playing field. Overall, I'm optimistic," St. Charles said. "My concern is that this will be good for EMC partners and not have so much impact on the Dell partners. The size of partners that have come over from EMC versus traditional Dell, the math doesn't come out in our favor. It's going to be in the details. "

2016

Dell EMC Set to Downrank Partners Behind on Revenue Goals, Training & Certifications

CRN - December 19, 2016 - By Matt Brown

Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Dell EMC solution provider Davenport Group, St. Paul, Minn., applauded the move to put partners on notice that are not making the grade. That said, she stressed, it must be done fairly. "One of the mistakes companies make is to set out a program and then they don't stick to the rules. That's where companies lose their credibility, but if they deem that these criteria are important and they're going to measure partners against it, that's a fair move. I do agree with that, as long as it's fair and equitable. If there's no way a partner can hit their revenue goal for the full year, that would be a safe measure. We're planning to book more business than we've ever booked in this period," St. Charles said. "Something like that has potential to skew the results."

Dell Expands Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Prowess with New EMC, VMware, VCE Technology.

CRN - April 5, 2016 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"Having a wide range of offerings is important as customers are increasingly attracted to the hyper-converged infrastructure solutions, Clifford told CRN. We have a lot of solutions for our customers. One solution, however, is a one-size-fits-all solution. That's how this business works. But while SMB, mid-size, and enterprise customers all need hyper-converged infrastructure solutions, they have different needs. This just gives us more tools to use to work with customers."

Dell Partner Trades For Peer's Client Base, Sees Service Opportunity

CRN - January 26, 2016 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"For Davenport, the expanded customer base provides a huge new opportunity," St. Charles said. "DMS qualified as a premier Dell partner, but had that status because of all the servers it sold rather than services related to those servers. Dell needs a strong partner in that area, DMS didn't offer services. They just dropped boxes. They have Fortune 500 accounts and other high-end and mid-market customers. So we see the opportunity to go deeper with these customers."

2015

Dell On Its Networking Play: It's All About Converged Infrastructure

CRN - November 5, 2015 - By Matt Brown

"We think Dell is as good if not better than anything available in the market. Some large data centers are already running on Dell networking, and we're thinking this is an opportunity to really push in the networking space," St. Charles told CRN. "Part of Davenport Group's rationale for taking up the networking charge is that it sees significant opportunity to take share. Dell networking is just as good as Cisco, and Davenport Group can sell it for less."

Dell Compellent Vs. EMC VNX: History Shows Dell Can Manage Multiple Storage Platforms

CRN - October 22, 2015 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"I think Dell will provide end-to-end solutions, and will build common IP [intellectual property] across all the product architectures," St. Charles told CRN. "Dell successfully sold both the EqualLogic and Compellent storage lines for years, and can do so with EMC VNX."

Dell Ups Data Center Focus with New High - Performance Storage, Sub-Hyperscale Servers

CRN - October 20, 2015 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"It's more than just the addition of the G13 servers, Clifford told CRN. It's pushing massive IOPS. The upgraded hardware gives Dell a lot of running room for long-term enhancements. Dell is setting it up for Storage Center 7.0. It will have some [exceptional] features, and will need the extra performance. With the SC9000, Dell is showing its ability to innovate to make sure customers don't get left behind," Clifford said. "We're at that moment in time where the industry is shifting to hybrid flash and all-flash. Customers need the IOPS to make it happen, and the SC9000 provides it."

The Most Disruptive Technology? 6 Solution Providers, 5 Different Answers

CRN - July 31, 2015 by Joseph F. Kovar

"The dramatic growth in ones and zeros is the biggest disrupter today and into the future," said Paul Clifford. "I'm not talking about data growth alone. It's the ones and zeros. It's the eyeballs coming in. It's the users. And it's the stored data. The rate of growth continues to increase, and that's what's disruptive. It's not just that the volume is high. It's that we just graduated a class of young people who grew up in a digital world, so we're sitting on the edge of a tsunami of ones and zeros."

Dell Intros TLC 3D NAND Flash, Brings All-Flash SC4020 to $1.66/ GB Raw

CRN- July 20, 2015 By Joseph F. Kovar

"This new flash storage technology in many ways changes everything about storage," said Paul Clifford. "It's not so much the innovation of the new flash memory. It's the major impact it will have on spinning disks. We'll be able to get more performance with six of these new SSDs than we get with 72 15,000-rpm hard disks. The way we approach capacity and performance today needs a balancing act between flash and spinning disks. For companies with the money, they'll do what it takes to get the performance they need. For the rest, they want speed, but are concerned about capacity. The new technology lets us take care of both."

Dell Positions Enterprise Solutions Group For Battle With Legacy Vendors, Aggressive Data Center Growth

CRN - June 26, 2015 - By Matt Brown

"When Dell talks about working with the channel, we really are the poster child for it," said Sonia St. Charles. "The products stand alone. They've [Dell] got the best products on the market today."

Dell Direct Collaborated with Dell Channel Partner to Unseat EMC

SearchITChannel TechTarget.com - June 25, 2015

"Davenport Group wouldn't let EMC's sales team wedge them out of the deal and stayed close to IOMax. After about two weeks of discussions, IOMax made its decision," said Paul Clifford. In the end, it was support that swayed IOMax's decision. Although the products and pricing did play an important role in IOMax's decision-making process, Dell's technology combined with a Dell channel partner's level of support led IOMax to uproot its storage infrastructure and start fresh, stated Brian Bennett, IOMax network manager.

Dell Intros New Entry-Level Compellent Storage, High-Density EqualLogic Storage

CRN- May 6, 2015 By Joseph F. Kovar

"The SCv2000 provides a new lower entry point to the Compellent technology, which is a good move to help Dell's channel. The new lower-priced SAN now gives remote-office and branch-office users an alternative to higher-priced hyper-converged infrastructure offerings," Clifford said. "We now have multiple ways to reach such customers."

Dell Channel Exec Heads to Flash Storage Startup Infinio

CRN - April 22, 2015 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"Bob Skelley is an immensely talented person who will be missed in the Dell channel," Clifford said, adding that Skelley balances partner and vendor needs. "Davenport Group has been looking at working with another developer of storage performance technology that is competitive with Infinio’s and is sold via Dell. Now we'll consider looking at Infinio because of Bob. Where smart people go, we want to see what's happening."

Dell Lowers All-Flash Storage Barrier with New Enterprise Class Dell Storage Arrays

Dell.com- January 13, 2015

"Dell is the only manufacturer that utilizes both write intensive and read intensive SSD technologies in a single array and enables us to configure exactly the solution our customers need, not a "one size fits all" approach as other storage vendors offer," said Paul Clifford. "The flexibility is built-in so that as a customer’s needs change, which is inevitable, the system can be easily adapted. It is the reason that Dell Storage continues to lead the way in performance, flexibility, and price."

2014

10 Signs Dell Pulled Off A Successful Reboot

CRN - November 17, 2014 - By Tom Spring

"We call it 'Operation Gold Rush,'" said Sonia St. Charles. "Dell, after being born again as a private company, has a new fighting spirit backed up with the right product mix, vision for future growth and, more importantly, a commitment to work with its channel partners."

Dell Software is investing in the cloud, and IT pros weigh in on KACE as a service-based systems management offering.

TechTarget- November 12, 2014 - By Diana Hwang

"Within the last 12 to 18 months, regardless of KACE, we are seeing more understanding and acceptance of the cloud."

Dell Delivers Exceptional Channel Partner Revenue Growth and Customer Acquisition; Builds on Progress with New Programs and Incentives to Drive Customer and Partner Value

Dell.com - November 4, 2014 - By Susan Torbitt

"The past year we’ve seen tremendous growth in our Dell business and we expect even bigger growth this year, fueled by Dell’s ongoing commitment to investing in the partner program, particularly at a time when other vendors are going through a phase of uncertainty and change," said Sonia St. Charles, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Davenport Group. "We have been a proud and profitable channel partner of Dell for over 7 years and our relationship continues to get better and better."

Dell Channel Progress Report – The Partner Back to School Edition

Dell.com - September 23, 2014 - By Cheryl Cook

"When the new generation server is coupled with Dell Storage and Networking, the combination creates an environment where workloads automatically move to where they are needed, something every customer is clamoring for and no one but Dell can deliver."

Dell's Two-Part Plan: Merge Storage Platforms, Develop 'Blue Thunder' Software-Defined Storage

CRN - August 1, 2014 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"Dell will add feature sets that will work with Compellent storage, said Clifford, Dell will combine EqualLogic and Compellent, but those who want EqualLogic can still get EqualLogic."

Partners: Dell's Transformation As Private Company Is Impressive, But Channel Wrinkles Persist

CRN - June 20, 2014 - By Tom Spring

"We call it "Operation Gold Rush"," said Sonia St. Charles. "Dell, after being born again as a private company, has a new fighting spirit backed up with the right product mix, vision for future growth, and more importantly, a commitment to work with its channel partners."

2013

Dell Outlines Software- Defined Storage Strategy, With Compellent, Nexenta Playing Key Roles

CRN - June 20, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"Software-defined storage is becoming increasingly important as customers try to find ways to manage ever-growing data stores while driving down costs," Clifford said. "What Dell is trying to do is abstract storage technology from the hardware, and make it into a true virtualized environment."

Davenport Group's Sonia St. Charles Recognized as a "2014 Woman of the Channel and Power 50 Solution Provider" by CRN Magazine

Saint Paul, MN - June 3, 2014

Davenport Group announced today that company CEO, Sonia St. Charles, has been recognized by CRN Magazine as one of the 2014 Women of the Channel. This is the fifth year that St. Charles has been featured in CRN's annual list, and the first among the Power 50 Solution Providers.

2014 Women of the Channel List

Dell Fluid Cache Pools Multiple Servers' PCIe Flash For Fast App Performance

CRN - April 16, 2014 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"Dell is really the only vendor that can deliver a simple virtualized environment across eight servers, load them up with memory and cache, tie it to a Compellent storage array and move the data to where it needs to go."

10 Questions Dell World Must Answer For Partners

CRN - December 11, 2013 - By Tom Spring

"Michael is going to have to talk to the partner community and put some tangible actions around his promise that recent changes are going to be good for the channel," said Sonia St. Charles. "He is going to have to outline what's different about Dell and what those changes mean in the marketplace and for our customers."

Dell Takes Aim At Education Market With Chromebook 11

CRN - December 12, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"I think Dell has a winner with this one, the Dell Chromebook is obviously geared for the education market, an area that Davenport Group has targeted for growth," Clifford said. "With its price point of around $300, you're looking at a way to put these in the hands of schools that might not otherwise be able to use the technology."

Dell's Private: Now Comes The Hard Part

CRN - November 22, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"We had an infrastructure overhaul we were bidding on. We knew they were leaning toward HP," Clifford said. "We sent Frank an email and by the end of the day he was on the phone with our customer, its the personal touch that had the customer doing backflips."

Dell Compellent Auto-Tiers Data Between SLC, MLC Flash For High-Performance, Low-Cost Storage

CRN - October 08, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"It's all about data placement. What Compellent has always done with its architecture is put data in the right place at the right time," said Clifford. "And what no one else -- and I emphasize no one -- does is move the data when and where it's needed."

Channel Cheers Icahn's White Flag in Dell Leveraged Buyout Bid

CRN - September 09, 2013 - By Steven Burke

"Icahn never had channel partners' interests in mind," Clifford said. "With Icahn it was always about bringing shareholder value, and partners were an afterthought -- if that. This lifts the cloud that was hanging over Dell and gives Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell running room to execute on his vision for the company."

Dell Nips NetApp for Top Midrange Array Honors

Storage Magazine - September, 2013 - By Rich Castagna

"Dell prevailed with an overall 6.80 rating based on a consistent set of scores that was good enough to place first or second in each category."

Dell: No. 1 In Storage Capacity Shipped Despite Falling Storage Revenue

CRN - August 20, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"It's a pretty amazing revelation," states Paul Clifford. "The acceptance of Dell storage from our customers has been phenomenal. We just had a significant win with a large customer in the central U.S."

Partners Hope ISS Backing Gives Michael Dell The Edge Vs. Icahn

CRN - July 08, 2013 - By Tom Spring

St. Charles said that despite Icahn's business acumen, she believes Michael Dell knows his business better, has more skin in the game and will ultimately be a better transitional leader for Dell.

"Logistically there might not be much difference, but I believe Michael will be least disruptive when it comes to taking the company in a new direction." What's best for Dell is best for her bottom line, she said.

Icahn Has Funding To Keep Dell Public; Channel Hopes Dell Stays On Private Course

CRN - July 01, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

"I think it would be a shame if [Michael] Dell was not there to oversee the transformation" St. Charles said. "Not that Carl Icahn or someone else couldn't manage it. But, it would be slower. We believe Michael Dell is still the best person to oversee the transformation."

Dell Compellent: New Twist To Tiered Storage

CRN - June 05, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

Paul Clifford, president of Davenport Group, a St. Paul-based solution provider and Dell partner, said, "Dell has done well with the enhancements to its Compellent and EqualLogic storage acquisitions. This provides those of us selling solutions to offer more options, the granular approach to the storage architecture lets us design whatever the customers need."

Dell Intros PowerEdge VRTX: Converged Infrastructure for SMB, Remote Office

CRN - June 04, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

Paul Clifford, president of Davenport Group, a St. Paul-based solution provider and Dell partner, said "The PowerEdge VRTX appears to be way ahead of the market. That much simplicity and power in such a small footprint. I had four engineers sitting at my table this morning. After the keynote, they got together and were already talking about where they can use it."

New Dell-Oracle Alliance To Bring Engineered Systems to Dell Customers, Partners

CRN - June 04, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

Paul Clifford, president of Davenport Group, a St. Paul-based solution provider and Dell partner, said his company does not have an Oracle relationship, but it does have customers that utilize Oracle software. Clifford is unsure of the impact the Dell-Oracle relationship will have on the channel. "But Dell people don't have a lot of time on their hands," he said. "They're not building partnerships for partnership's sake."

Dell Enterprise Forum: VARs Look For Future Plans, Wish Michael Dell Was Coming

CRN - May 31, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

Paul Clifford, president of Davenport Group, a St. Paul-based solution provider and Dell partner, said he will miss hearing Michael Dell on stage but is not surprised he will not be at the event. "I don't think his not being there reflects on the importance of Dell Enterprise Forum," Clifford said. "And it shows he has talented people there running the event."

Taking the "Nordstrom's Approach" to Relationships in the Channel

Women's Entrepreneur Network, The Conversation- May 7, 2013

"We spend as much of our marketing budget and time on Dell as we do on our end users," says Sonia. "By nurturing our Dell relationship, we enable them to better serve the customers, resulting in a better overall customer experience."

Dell Renames Storage Forum Event to Emphasize Diverse Solutions

CRN - March 5, 2013 - By Joseph F. Kovar

Paul Clifford, president of Davenport Group, a St. Paul, Minn.-based solution provider and partner of Compellent from when that company was formed, called the name change to Dell Enterprise Forum a good choice for Dell. "In the past, the event was storage-centric, which was good," Clifford said. "But Dell now has a strong enterprise focus. And, the enterprise is centered on storage."

Dell Increases Sales Requirement of Premier Partners

CRN - March 4, 2013 - By Scott Campbell

Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group, a Dell Premier partner based in St. Paul, Minn., welcomed the increased volume requirement. "I believe the increase in minimum volume required to be a Premier Partner will maintain the integrity of the program, ensuring that being the highest level partner continues to mean something. Otherwise, the program becomes diluted."

Dell Going Private? VARs Like Idea As Company's Stock Jumps

CRN - January 14, 2013 - By Scott Campbell

Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group, a St. Paul, Minn.-based Dell partner, said the move to go private would be a "brilliant strategy" since the market continues to view Dell mostly as a PC maker. "Dell is doing all the right things, and going private will allow them to focus on integrating their acquisitions and concentrate on their long-term strategy, without having to manage the Street's quarterly expectations," St. Charles said.

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Honors and Accolades

Our innovative IT solutions and our commitment to our customers have earned us some awards over the years. We’re proud of our achievements, but we’re most proud of what customers just like you are able to accomplish with new technology. Click below to check out some of the honors and accolades we’re received in recent articles written about Davenport Group and our valued customers.

Davenport Group Named CRN Triple Crown Award Winner

St. Paul, MN, October 8, 2018 – Davenport Group announced today that CRN_®, a brand of The Channel Company, has recognized Davenport Group for earning it’s 2018 Triple Crown Award.

“We are grateful to be recognized by CRN for this achievement, and we are particularly honored by the trust that each of our customers has placed in us over the years,” said Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group.

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For the 6th Time, Davenport Group Named to Inc. 5000 List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies

New York, NY - August 15, 2018

Inc. magazine today revealed that Davenport Group is NO. 3443 on its 37th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies.

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Davenport Group Named to CRN’s 2018 Solution Provider 500 List

St. Paul (June 4, 2018) – Davenport Group announced today that CRN_®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Davenport Group to its 2018 Solution Provider 500 list.

“As much as technology is at the forefront, this achievement is really about the people throughout our organization and the organizations we serve. Our record growth reflects the trust and commitment between Davenport Group, our customers, and Dell Technologies," said Paul Clifford, Davenport Group President.

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Sonia St. Charles of Davenport Group Recognized as One of CRN’s 2018 Women of the Channel

St. Paul (May 15, 2018) – Davenport Group announced today that CRN_®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Sonia St. Charles, CEO, to its prestigious 2018 Women of the Channel list.

“Davenport Group has worked hard to help all of our customers transform their IT environments to meet the demands of our modern world,” said Sonia St. Charles. “I’m happy to be a part of such a meaningful and critical process for the companies, schools, and local governments we work with."

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Davenport Group Named One of 2018 Tech Elite Solution Providers by CRN_®

St. Paul (March 30, 2018) – Davenport Group announced today that CRN_®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Davenport Group to its 2018 Tech Elite 250 list.

“We at Davenport Group are truly honored to be recognized by CRN,” said Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group. “We have always worked to go above and beyond in our trainings and certifications. We want to bring the best solutions and services to our customers, and our extensive technical knowledge of the Dell EMC product portfolio guarantees that we do just that.”

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2017

For the 5th Time, Davenport Group Appears on the Inc. 5000 List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies!

New York (August 16, 2017) – Inc. magazine today ranked Davenport Group NO. 2154 on its 36th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies.

“It is exciting to be recognized for the 5th consecutive year for our rapid growth! Our business is built on the belief that when we serve our customers the way we would want to be treated, success will follow,” said Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group.

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CRN Women of the Channel names Sonia St. Charles, Davenport Group Co-Founder and CEO, Woman of the Day!

CRN (July 5, 2017) – Sonia St. Charles has led Davenport Group, a company she helped create back in 2001, to continuous success during her tenure as CEO. The double digit growth of this IT solution provider speaks to St. Charles' vision and dedication.

For young women considering careers in the technology industry, St. Charles advises: "Jump in, embrace the opportunity to learn the language and understand the opportunities to be a part of this exciting field. Everyone needs to have a fundamental understanding of technology to observe and shape the role technology plays in our life and the world at large. The technology industry needs more women and this is a great time to get involved."

Davenport Group Ranked Among CRN Magazine's Solution Provider 500 Honorees

Saint Paul, MN (June 5, 2017) - Davenport Group, a Dell EMC Titanium partner, is honored to announce today that CRN_® has named Davenport Group to its 2017 Solution Provider 500 list. The Solution Provider 500 is CRN’s annual ranking of the largest technology integrators, solution providers and IT consultants in North America by revenue. This is the first year that Davenport Group was named to the list, which signifies the rapid growth that the company has been experiencing.

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Davenport Group Named One of Inc. Magazine's Best Workplaces 2017

Saint Paul, MN (June 1, 2017) - Hitting newsstands today in the June 2017 issue, and as part of a prominent Inc.com feature, the list is the result of a wide-ranging and comprehensive measurement of private American companies who have created exceptional workplaces through vibrant cultures, deep employee engagement, and stellar benefits. Out of thousands of applicants, Inc. singled out just over 200 winning companies. Built in partnership with employee engagement and work culture experts Quantum Workplace of Omaha, Nebraska, Inc.’s Best Workplaces list is a magnifying glass on how innovative companies can truly raise the bar in hiring and retaining the best talent.

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2016

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2012 - 2008

Davenport Group Named North Central Partner of the Year by Dell

Saint Paul, MN (December 10, 2012) - Davenport Group, a Dell Premier Partner specializing in storage solutions, today announced it has been named North Central Partner of the Year in Dell’s PartnerDirect channel program Partner of the Year Awards.

Davenport Group's Sonia St. Charles Named a "Power 100 Woman of the Channel" by CRN Magazine

Saint Paul, MN (July 23, 2012) - Davenport Group announced today that company CEO and founder, Sonia St. Charles, has been recognized by CRN Magazine as one of the Power 100 Women of the Channel. This is the fourth consecutive year that St. Charles has been featured in CRN's annual list.

Davenport Group's Sonia St. Charles Recognized by Everything Channel's CRN Magazine as One of the Top 100 Women in the Channel

Saint Paul, MN (July 26, 2011) - Davenport Group announced today that company CEO and founder, Sonia St. Charles, has been recognized by Everything Channel's CRN Magazine as one of the Power 100 Women of the Channel. This is the third consecutive year that St. Charles has been featured in CRN's annual list.

Davenport Group's Sonia St. Charles and Insight's Terry McGrath Recognized by Everything Channel's CRN Magazine as Two of the Top Women in the Channel

Eden Prairie, MN (August 4, 2010) - Compellent (NYSE: CML) today announced that two of its value-added resellers (VARs), Sonia St. Charles of Davenport Group, and Terry McGrath of Insight, have been recognized by Everything Channel's CRN Magazine as two of the top Women of the Channel. CRN's annual list recognizes female executives across vendors' channel organizations, distributors and solution providers for their accomplishments over the past year and the far-reaching impact they are having on the technology industry going forward.

100 Strong: The Most Powerful Women of the Channel

St. Paul, MN (August 24, 2009) – Davenport Group, a network storage vendor, today announced that CEO and founder Sonia St. Charles has been recognized by Everything Channel’s CRN Magazine as one of the Top 100 Women in the Channel.

CRN's Fast Growth 100

St. Paul, MN (Aug. 21, 2009) – The general economy is in a slowdown, no doubt, but there are a number of companies -- 100 -- that proved their mettle with outstanding growth between 2006 and 2008. Davenport Group was 29th on the Fast Growth 100 List.

Compellent Awarded Gold "Best of VMWorld 2008" in "Hardware for Virtualization" Category from SearchServerVirtualization.com

Eden Prairie, MN (September 19, 2008) - Compellent Technologies Inc. - By combining Compellent and VMWare enterprise data center managers experience reduced costs, automated disaster recovery and greener facilities. As result Compellent receives the Gold "Best of VMWorld 2008" Award in the "Hardware for Virtualization" category.

Davenport Group CEO, Sonia St. Charles, named a "Woman to Watch" by Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal

Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal (July 14, 2008) - Sonia St. Charles - "Our business is...helping our customers gain control over their data," said Sonia St. Charles.

Davenport Group Experts

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Media Hype

Dell Fires Back at Icahn: VMware Stock Swap 'In The Best Interests' of Shareholders

Dell EMC's 'Golden Partner Opportunity': Enterprise Preferred Program

Davenport Group Named to CRN's Fast Growth 150 List

Davenport Group Network Engineer Rick Rutherford Earns Prestigious CCNP Certification

Paul Clifford, Davenport Group President, Discusses Dell Tech World Highlights

Fistfuls of Growth: Dell EMC's Expanded Product Portfolio Paves New Paths for Partners

Davenport Group Announces Hire of Executive Vice President

2017

Davenport Group Welcomes Ferrin Hardy to Their Team of Customer Development Representatives

Micah Jorgensen Joins Davenport Group's Team of Customer Development Representatives

Davenport Group Welcomes Kimberly Abrams as New Customer Development Representative

Davenport Group Hires Alison Williams as New Customer Development Representative

Chris Baker Joins Davenport Group's Team of Senior Systems Engineers

Davenport Group Welcomes Ryan McCleary to the Team as Their New Project Manager

Davenport Group Hires David Stabler as New IT Systems Administrator

Davenport Group Named to 2017 CRN Fast Growth 150 List

Davenport Group Welcomes Alex Bauer, New Vice President of Engineering and Operations

Sonia St. Charles on Trusting Your Instincts and the Myth of the Work-Life Balance

Dell North America Sales Chief: 'Winning in Both Consumer and Commercial PCs' is Key'

Partners Marketing Push: Dell EMC Arms Partners with New MDF Resources

Michael Dell to Partners: "Enormous Cross-Selling Opportunities for You"

Partners: Dell EMC Program Is A Channel Game-Changer, Puts Heat on Cisco, HPE

Dell EMC Launches Historic New Integrated Partner Program

Dell EMC Channel Unification Effort Gets Under Way

Simple. Predictable. Profitable. New Dell EMC Partner Program

Dell EMC Partner Program Officially Launches with Aggressive Incentives

CRN Exclusive: Dell EMC Commits $150M to Incentives, Stresses New Business, Exclusivity in New Program

2016

Dell EMC Set to Downrank Partners Behind on Revenue Goals, Training & Certifications

Dell Expands Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Prowess with New EMC, VMware, VCE Technology.

Dell Partner Trades For Peer's Client Base, Sees Service Opportunity

2015

Dell On Its Networking Play: It's All About Converged Infrastructure

Dell Compellent Vs. EMC VNX: History Shows Dell Can Manage Multiple Storage Platforms

Dell Ups Data Center Focus with New High - Performance Storage, Sub-Hyperscale Servers

The Most Disruptive Technology? 6 Solution Providers, 5 Different Answers

Dell Intros TLC 3D NAND Flash, Brings All-Flash SC4020 to $1.66/ GB Raw

Dell Positions Enterprise Solutions Group For Battle With Legacy Vendors, Aggressive Data Center Growth

Dell Direct Collaborated with Dell Channel Partner to Unseat EMC

Dell Intros New Entry-Level Compellent Storage, High-Density EqualLogic Storage

Dell Channel Exec Heads to Flash Storage Startup Infinio

Dell Lowers All-Flash Storage Barrier with New Enterprise Class Dell Storage Arrays

2014

10 Signs Dell Pulled Off A Successful Reboot

Dell Software is investing in the cloud, and IT pros weigh in on KACE as a service-based systems management offering.

Dell Delivers Exceptional Channel Partner Revenue Growth and Customer Acquisition; Builds on Progress with New Programs and Incentives to Drive Customer and Partner Value

Dell Channel Progress Report – The Partner Back to School Edition

Dell's Two-Part Plan: Merge Storage Platforms, Develop 'Blue Thunder' Software-Defined Storage

Partners: Dell's Transformation As Private Company Is Impressive, But Channel Wrinkles Persist

2013

Dell Outlines Software- Defined Storage Strategy, With Compellent, Nexenta Playing Key Roles

Davenport Group's Sonia St. Charles Recognized as a "2014 Woman of the Channel and Power 50 Solution Provider" by CRN Magazine

Dell Fluid Cache Pools Multiple Servers' PCIe Flash For Fast App Performance

10 Questions Dell World Must Answer For Partners

Dell Takes Aim At Education Market With Chromebook 11

Dell's Private: Now Comes The Hard Part

Dell Compellent Auto-Tiers Data Between SLC, MLC Flash For High-Performance, Low-Cost Storage

Channel Cheers Icahn's White Flag in Dell Leveraged Buyout Bid

Dell Nips NetApp for Top Midrange Array Honors

Dell: No. 1 In Storage Capacity Shipped Despite Falling Storage Revenue

Partners Hope ISS Backing Gives Michael Dell The Edge Vs. Icahn

Icahn Has Funding To Keep Dell Public; Channel Hopes Dell Stays On Private Course

Dell Compellent: New Twist To Tiered Storage

Dell Intros PowerEdge VRTX: Converged Infrastructure for SMB, Remote Office

New Dell-Oracle Alliance To Bring Engineered Systems to Dell Customers, Partners

Dell Enterprise Forum: VARs Look For Future Plans, Wish Michael Dell Was Coming

Taking the "Nordstrom's Approach" to Relationships in the Channel

Dell Renames Storage Forum Event to Emphasize Diverse Solutions

Dell Increases Sales Requirement of Premier Partners

Dell Going Private? VARs Like Idea As Company's Stock Jumps

Honors and Accolades

Davenport Group Named CRN Triple Crown Award Winner

For the 6th Time, Davenport Group Named to Inc. 5000 List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies

Davenport Group Named to CRN’s 2018 Solution Provider 500 List

Sonia St. Charles of Davenport Group Recognized as One of CRN’s 2018 Women of the Channel

Davenport Group Named One of 2018 Tech Elite Solution Providers by CRN®

2017

Davenport Group Named One of 2018 Tech Elite Solution Providers by CRN_®