Dell Partner Program Gains Sustainability, ESG Competency

Dell Technologies is expanding its partner program to include new competencies focused on sustainability and ESG; edge solutions; and data science and AI, according to a blog from Chief Partner Officer Denise Millard.

The new competencies are part of a Dell's overall 2024 Partner Program expansion plan. Dell's fiscal year 2024 started in February.

The Sustainability and ESG Competency, according to Millard, "assists partners in addressing customer needs through sustainability training, enablement, tools and resources. Additionally, we offer Circular Business Solutions for convenient recycling and retirement of IT technology, with incentives for reselling."

Moreover, Dell is extending its 7% rebate for recovery services to include storage. she noted. The rebate already covers Asset Recovery Services for client and server.

Specific details about the Sustainability and ESG Competencies were not publicly disclosed in the blog. But deeper information is available in the Dell Partner Portal (registration required).

Related: Search our Sustainability Partner Programs Database.

Dell's Motivations: Empowering Partners to Address CIO Needs

Aligning the Sustainability and ESG Competency with the AI Competency could be particularly important, Sustainable Tech Partner believes. The key issue: Many IT industry leaders are concerned about AI workloads consuming far more energy than traditional data center and cloud applications.

Moreover, CIOs are seeking technology partners to assist their sustainability strategies. Among the reasons:

• By 2025, 50% of CIOs will have specific performance metrics tied to energy consumption, according to Gartner.
• And by 2027, 75% of organizations will have implemented a data center infrastructure sustainability program, up from less than 5% in 2022, Gartner predicted.
• Moreover, the green technology and sustainability market is expected to reach $51.09 billion by 2029, up from $13.76 billion in 2022, according to Fortune Business Insights. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.6%.

Amid that backdrop, numerous technology companies -- names like Cisco Systems, HP Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), IBM, Lenovo and Pure Storage, just to name a few -- are rapidly injecting sustainability and green IT services into their partner programs.

And in the public cloud services provider (CSP) market, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure each are shifting to renewable energy sources while also introducing sustainability applications for customers and partners.

Dell Technologies World 2024: Green IT Partnerships Coming?

So what's next from Dell on the sustainability front? Keep an eye on Dell Technologies World 2024 (May 20-23, Las Vegas) for potential answers. We'll be watching to see if Dell partners with specific ESG and carbon accounting software companies to help customers track and reduce their carbon footprints.

Moreover, we'll be watching to see if Dell aligns its IT as a Service programs (known as Dell Apex) with sustainability efforts. 

Meanwhile, some partners -- including multi-cloud MSP Rackspace -- already tout Dell as a key sustainable IT partner. And Dell has launched a Sustainable Devices landing page with Intel. We'll be watching to see where that leads.

Dell Net Zero Goals; Scope 1, 2 and 3 Targets

Within Dell's own business, the company is committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2050.

That journey includes these climate-related targets for 2030, according to Dell Climate Solutions Architect John Pflueger:

• Reduce absolute GHG emissions (scope 1 and 2) by 50%
• Reduce absolute GHG emissions from purchased goods and services (scope 3, category 1) by 45%
• Reduce absolute GHG emissions associated with the use of sold products (scope 3, category 11) by 30%.

On the energy front, the company is seeking to source 75% of electricity from renewable sources – such as wind or solar – across all global Dell facilities by 2030 and 100% by 2040, Pflueger wrote in a blog.