Dell VP Jim Kelly Takes Helm Of Multibillion Federal Business
Dell Technologies’ Jim Kelly is replacing longtime public sector general manager Steve Harris in running Dell’s U.S. federal sales.
Dell Technologies Vice President Jim Kelly, a rising star at the company, has replaced longtime public sector general manager Steve Harris in a changing of the guard in Dell’s multibillion-dollar business, Dell confirmed today.
In an email to CRN, Kelly (pictured above) said he was excited to be now leading federal sales for Dell and continue supporting the “important work our federal customers” do every day.
“Our customers look to us for the technology and expertise they need to transform and protect their data, and we are committed to their success,” said Kelly, a 20-year Dell veteran who has extensive experience in federal technology sales.
Kelly most recently led sales at Dell for the U.S. Department of Defense and global intelligence community customers. He first joined Dell in 1999 as an account manager and was promoted in 2005 to director of sales for the U.S. Army, according his LinkedIn profile. He then left Dell in 2013 for two short stints: a district sale manager for Symantec, followed by a larger role at software behemoth Microsoft as senior director for U.S. Army.
[Related: VMware’s New CEO: Dell Spin-Off Creates ‘Switzerland Of Multi-Cloud’]
Kelly will become part of the North America leadership team and report to Dell’s North America President John Byrne.
“The right leader for our federal business is of highest importance to our company,” said Byrne in an email to CRN. “Jim’s experience and drive make him an excellent leader to continue our strong momentum in this segment, and I know he will make a tremendous, positive impact as we support our federal customers in carrying out their mission-critical work across the country and around the world.”
John Griffin will remain leader of Dell’s Federal Channel and Systems Integrator Sales, reporting to Kelly.
After 23 years with the company, Steve Harris has decided to to leave to become chief revenue officer at higher education technology solution provider Ellucian, based in Reston, Va. He will start that job on May 21, according to Ellucian.
As senior vice president and general manager of Dell’s U.S. Public Sector business, Harris was responsible for the full portfolio of client solutions, enterprise systems, software, and services aimed at the U.S. federal customer, state and local governments, higher education, K-12 institutions, and public healthcare.
The $94 billion Round Rock, Texas-based infrastructure and PC giant is currently undergoing a major transformation both internally and externally.
Dell is spinning off its 81 percent stake in VMware later this year, while also selling its cloud platform business Boomi to a private equity firms in a deal valued at $4 billion. In late 2019, Dell also sold it cybersecurity business RSA for over $2 billion to private equity firm STG Partners.
Dell is focusing on fueling growth to modernize its core infrastructure and PC businesses and expanding in “high-priority areas” such as private and hybrid cloud and edge computing.
Additionally, Dell is changing its go-to-market sales model with Apex, the company’s new as-a-service portfolio.
“Apex is essentially the creation of the new Dell as we move forward,” said Sam Grocott, senior vice president of product marketing for Dell in an interview with CRN. “We’re transforming internally every facet of the business, as well as externally, as we drive this change to as-a-service consumption model for our entire portfolio.”