Dell EMC recently began notifying partners that Quest software products would not be available through the Dell EMC channel program, but would be resold by Dell EMC direct sales teams. This set up what one partner called a "politically tricky" scenario where Dell EMC partners that sign on with Quest could find themselves competing with their primary vendor for that business and potentially souring relationships with both vendors.

Dell EMC has also told partners they won't get Q4 rebate payments on sales of products offered by the former Dell Software Group. Dell EMC closed the sale of its software unit to Francisco Partners and the private equity arm of activist hedge fund Elliott Management in early November.

The sale helped offset the cost of Dell's $58 billion acquisition of EMC and did away with software product overlap created by buying EMC, which sells some similar software lines including data protection solutions.

Dell EMC is aiming to launch a single, integrated channel program known simply as the Dell EMC Partner Program. Channel Chief John Byrne has promised the program will protect partner deal registration, set realistic sales targets, as well as simplify and automate the rebate process. He hasn't spoken publicly about rebate levels and other financial details.