12 Years and Counting: Gagan’s Career Journey at Dell Technologies

Gagan T. | Financing Sales Accounting Executive | Singapore

Originally Published: June 27, 2023

EARLY DAYS

In 2008 a placement consultant contacted me about a Dell Financial Services (DFS) role at EMC. I had never heard of EMC since I had always worked in financial services before that at ICICI Bank, RentWorks India, and LeasePlan India. The DFS role, at that time was called EMC Global Financial Services (GFS), and the role responsibilities entailed setting up the 3rd Party Funders in India to kick start EMC leasing business in India.

I took the job, and in those first few years, we completed several deals - the big ones in software (SW) financing. I was also able to build relationships with customers, partners, and most importantly EMC sales teams. 

MOVE TO SINGAPORE In 2012, I had the opportunity to move to Singapore to join the small EMC Global Financial Services (GFS) team in Southeast Asia. I started with supporting the Inside Sales Representative (ISR) team in Singapore, and then moved to support the Financial Statement Item (FSI) Enterprise team. My background in selling structured finance helped me pitch to Financial Services companies.

Since Singapore is the APJ headquarters for many customers, I was exposed to diverse customers and gained visibility to deals across the region including Thailand and Malaysia. I will never forget the teambuilding exercises we participated in with other business units like Pricing, Legal, and Business Operations.

DELL FINANCIAL SERVICES 

After being in a cost center for many years, once Dell acquired EMC, we had a real impact! 

• We used our own money in the United States and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
• We had our own contracts. 
• We could do various structures from leasing to SW financing to loans to consumption-based models. 
• We had a marketing team at headquarters (HQ) supporting the campaigns.
• We had our own credit & pricing teams! 

For EMC GFS folks, it was like the heavens had opened. Sure, there was more rigor, as you would expect with any financing company. 

i was nominated for DFS LEAD program and attended three sessions over 2017-2018. The training sessions in Austin helped me connect with the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) team. My LEAD course mates helped me get visibility to other business leaders and divisions, allowing me to reach out to the Canada DFS lead with my Talent Profile and individual development plan (IDP). One of the DFS reps in Canada was going on maternity leave, allowing me to apply for the role. I was fortunate I was selected for the role and moved to Canada in November 2018. Many thanks to Tina Green, my manager in Canada, for being one of the nicest people I have ever met.

While in my role in Canada, I learned about the importance of employee mental health and work-life balance. Throughout this entire process, I discovered Dell was keen on role rotation. In Canada, I started by supporting the legacy EMC business in the Financial Services division, mainly banks, insurance companies, and pension funds. I loved meeting Canadian customers, learning the nuances of the Canadian way of work, and being very close to the mothership (DFS US).

The scale and size of the opportunities in the US are huge. Anytime there was a winning mail, I would reach out to the DFS rep in US and UK and try to learn more about the opportunity – everything from value proposition, go to market (GTM) strategy, and deal flow. I would then try to see how I can leverage this information with my Canadian customers. My experience in Singapore FSI also helped me to bring some ideas for Canada deals.

BACK TO SINGAPORE

I planned to work in Canada and eventually see if I could move to the US. I love large complex deals and wanted to get that exposure. 

However, as John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.” My mom and my wife's mom were not doing well back in India and traveling from Canada to India was long and expensive. My wife and I both wanted to be closer to India, so we could spend more time with our parents. I call this Phase 2 of my life, where all our loved ones are getting old and will go in the next few years. I am fortunate to work for a flexible company like Dell that allowed me to move back to Singapore! The leadership team, Singapore hiring manager, and VP supported my move. Now, I am back in Singapore, and it feels like I never left!

Over the last 12-14 years, I have had the opportunity to work in India, Singapore, Canada, and now back in Singapore. The only constant for me has been Dell Technologies & DFS! Who knows where my life journey will take me next, but I do hope and pray that it is with Dell. After all, which company can boast a complete portfolio of tech products and solutions from Edge to Core to the Cloud? From personal computers to HPC and Market leading Storage solutions, we make technology that drives human progress, and I am proud to say I play a small part in it.

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