News & Press Releases

Industry leading Dell Technologies reveals its plan to split off its 81-percent stake in VMware stock, making Dell and VMware individual companies. Davenport Group President and Co-Founder, Paul Clifford, and other partners share their excitement for this transition.

“It’s finally happened,” Clifford shares. “People have been talking about this for years. The two are completely different companies. At the core, they are now trying to unleash VMware to be VMware and Dell Technologies to be Dell Technologies, and at the same time free up cash.”

Dell has big goals for 2030! As part of the newly announced “Progress Made Real” initiative the industry leader plans to make women 50% of its global workforce. A goal Davenport Group as a women-owned business and exclusive Dell Technologies partner fully supports.

Paul Clifford, President and Co-Founder of Davenport Group, shares “Solution providers, like other companies, have been forced to overhaul their approaches to sales and marketing as a result of stay-at-home orders and other travel restrictions. For salespeople, the pandemic has meant a “dramatic shift. Even as lockdowns are beginning to ease, video communication—including for sales—is certain to remain higher than it once was.”

Industry leading, Dell Technologies moves Dell Technology World conference scheduled for May 2020 in Las Vegas, NV to virtual event due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Davenport Group’s President, Paul Clifford and other channel partners share their thoughts on the recently announced decision.

“There are a lot of working parts,” said Paul Clifford, President of Davenport Group. “It’s fair. I think it’s the right decision, and I’m glad they told us as soon as they could.”

Jim DeFoe, Senior Vice President of Global Distribution, recently announced his retirement from Dell Technologies after 23 years. Hear from Michael Dell, Sonia St. Charles and channel partners about the impact Jim has made in his tenure.

“Jim played a key role in shaping Dell’s channel and working through all the problem areas in the program’s early years while Dell was learning how to be channel-friendly,” said Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group. “During those formative years, he definitely earned his stripes as he mediated all types of conflicts between the partner community and Dell’s field team, as well as encouraging Dell’s leadership team to consider the partner’s feedback regarding the program design. Jim is a super nice guy that knows how to navigate within the vast Dell organization and get things done. He is definitely going to be missed.”

IT industry leader Kyle Coke joins the Davenport Group team as the new Vice President of Sales. “Kyle’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. We are excited to have his knowledge and his proven track record of success to help us build and execute our growth strategy over the coming years,” shares Sonia St. Charles, CEO.

Dell has big goals for 2030! As part of the newly announced “Progress Made Real” initiative the industry leader plans to make women 50% of its global workforce. A goal Davenport Group as a women-owned business and exclusive Dell Technologies partner fully supports.

Sonia St. Charles, CEO of Davenport Group, states “Certainly there are more women in IT now than ever, but there is still not enough. Michael Dell’s commitment to hiring more women is yet another example of his leadership in our industry.”

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal dives into CRN’s annual list of the 150 fastest growing companies to feature the five local Minnesota based organizations and their accomplishments.

“Davenport Group, based out of Shoreview, finished at #71 with a growth rate of 75.99 percent.”

Since 2007, Dell EMC’s channel strategy has come a long way. As an all-in Dell partner for the last decade, Sonia St. Charles shares her thoughts on the journey and Michael Dell’s vision for the future.

“When we became an all-in Dell partner, it was a big bet. But since then, Michael’s earned our trust. The company has earned our trust,” she said. “His steady hands and his long-term vision coupled with the patience to let things evolve and take the appropriate time is important. He’s done it right rather than rushed it.”

Dell EMC has two outstanding storage lines in its Unity and SC families, said Paul Clifford, President of Davenport Group. “Continuing to work on both existing families while preparing the next generation of midrange arrays makes sense because the next generation will probably be revolutionary, not evolutionary,” he said.

Dan McCormick said the joint engineering between the two companies will not only help partners win sales in the market, but provides customers with a more consistent and seamless IT experience. He said that although both Dell and VMware will have their own individual business and build partnerships with vendors who may compete against other individual families within Dell Technologies, the assurance of a tightly coupled Dell-VMware solution can’t be matched.