Interviewed by Larry Janis, Managing Partner, Integrated Search Solutions
LJ: Most of our readers will know Dell, what is your role in the firm?
DL: I am Vice President of sales, marketing and strategy at Dell Services. I oversee global sales and marketing in all geographies and across all of our lines of business (Support & Deployment, Infrastructure & Cloud Computing, Applications & BPO, and Security). I also lead the strategy function for Dell Services and am part of the Dell Services senior leadership team.
LJ: Given the current economic environment, do you see companies approaching applications or business process outsourcing any differently? Please elaborate.
DL: Companies are always looking for ways to do things better, faster and in a more cost-effective manner, and tough economic conditions amplify that need. What we see today are customers looking for innovative business solutions delivered through, or in reaction to, the forces of cloud, mobility, social media and big data. This is leading to changes in business processes like customer engagement to capitalize on new channels of mobility and using technology to enhance the end customer’s experience. Harnessing the power of cloud, mobility and social media can create an abundance of data. The key is turning data into true business insights. Companies able to implement a common data architecture and drive meaningful business intelligence using both structured and unstructured data will be able to deliver an enhanced customer experience. Finally, there is a premium on application modernization to support rendering of applications through the cloud.
LJ: Are there geographic regions and/or vertical industry segments that seem to be moving forward faster than others?
DL: I’d like to take liberty with the question and respond through the lens of Dell Services’ strategic priorities. Dell’s Support & Deployment business is a powerful global franchise, supporting customers in more than 140 countries and tightly aligned to the sale of Dell Products and Solutions worldwide. For our other Services lines that typically involve more complex services, we are expanding globally from a strong base in the U.S. with a two-prong strategy. First, we are focusing on the largest IT Services markets today – the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia/New Zealand and Japan.
While these mature markets are growing relatively slower (1-6 percent) than some emerging economies, tremendous opportunities remain as companies look for help in modernizing legacy investments and next-generation solutions to improve agility and efficiency. Second, we also are investing in the large, fast-growing emerging China, India, Brazil and Mexico markets. These emerging markets currently see IT Services growth of more than 15 percent. The challenges in these markets are frequently how to best support rapid growth with the scalable solutions of tomorrow. Together, these markets represent about 80 percent of IT Services spend today.
We expect most vertical industries to grow between four and six percent CAGR. The exception is the public sector, which has seen growth slow due to the fiscal and economic crisis. By design, a number of our Services lines focus on broad horizontal, multi-industry value propositions. This is true for our Support offerings, but also extends to our industry-leading Security capabilities, and other business segments such as Consulting, Cloud or Infrastructure Management. For certain verticals, we are refining industry wrappers around these core capabilities to address specific requirements. A good example is healthcare, which is experiencing a fair amount of change and where Dell has market leading capability.
LJ: Do some of your opportunities come from the third party advisory firms? When they are involved does it make the process easier?
DL: The Sourcing Advisor (SA) Channel is an integral and important segment of Dell’s pipeline development program. A significant number of prospective IT services customers use these objective advisors to either manage the entire selection and contracting process or bring specialized skills for select portions of the overall engagement. As the number of IT suppliers has grown in recent times, many customers are looking to SA firms for their experience and broader market view of suppliers. Additionally, SA firms also can bring an objective perspective on the themes mentioned earlier – cloud computing, social media and big data.
Services providers generally appreciate SA-led deals, as the overall success rate to contract is usually higher versus non-advisor deals. The process and structure that an advisor brings into a deal is very beneficial and keeps all parties focused on the important issues of the engagement. Additionally, in today’s economic environment, a customer’s willingness to hire an advisor provides a strong signal to the provider market that the customer is serious about exploring change.
LJ: What is your opinion of the emerging locations, such as the Latin American countries as near shore hubs for US-driven outsourcing engagements?
DL: We see Latin America emerging as a strong destination for near-shore delivery for outsourcing engagements, especially when viewed in conjunction with the local demand for technology services in these countries. It is a great market for high tech skills and for recruiting the best candidates in almost all of our technical areas.
LJ: Let’s discuss the concept of success from two perspectives. First, what defines a successful candidate, what characteristics and skills do you look for?
DL: Successful Dell Services candidates are, by definition, curious self-starters who are passionate about their work, driven to succeed and have knowledge of the IT services industry. They must be ready to learn more about the industry as it applies to their role and must be intellectually curious about how their roles and other roles come together to form an ecosystem in a customer-driven services organization. They also need to have demonstrated success that highlights the skills needed for their respective job, whether it’s in marketing or sales.
LJ: What has enabled your success?
DL: I believe my success has largely been the result of a willingness and ability to put myself in other peoples’ shoes … a customer, a team member, a supplier, a competitor or a colleague … treating others with respect and appreciation. Other factors have been my drive to always continue learning and my philosophy of leading with integrity, honesty and optimism.
David Lee is chief sales officer for Dell Services leading sales, services strategy, sales operations, marketing, communications, training, reporting, customer experience /NPS, business consulting, global opportunity intake, and strategic pursuits. Since joining Dell, David has been chartered with optimizing the Dell Services go-to-market model, increasing overall market awareness and brand perception, and enabling record Services sales growth.
Before Dell, David most recently served as a full-time consultant to the chief executive officer of BT’s global services unit. Prior to that, he served as vice president of worldwide sales for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services (formerly EDS), where he led worldwide sales through the integration of HP and EDS sales forces, tools and processes while generating more than $27 billion in annual sales. In a previous role with EDS, David was vice president of global transaction strategy, leading the global team responsible for shaping, structuring and negotiating EDS/HP’s largest and most complex transactions across all offerings, geographies and industries. David joined EDS in 1999 as a senior attorney after serving as an attorney with Hughes & Luce in Dallas (now K&L Gates).
David earned his law degree from the University of Denver College of Law, where he graduated first in his class, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin.