Dell Technologies unlocks new connections and streamlines work with Microsoft Viva Topics

Michael Gray, Presales Programs and Strategy at Dell Technologies, describes his role as “building coalitions” and “working to create little victories” for salespeople at Dell. “My job is to address some of our organization’s most difficult systemic challenges, which often involve knowledge management and collaboration,” he says. 

One of those challenges, and an area in need of a “little victory,” is the vast amount of Dell knowledge and content that its tens of thousands of salespeople around the world consider vital. “We have a repository of sales ordering guides, product configuration guides, tens of thousands of documents,” says Gray. “There’s no way a carbon-based life form can manage and organize all that knowledge.” 

Enter Microsoft Viva Topics, a knowledge management platform that uses AI to bring knowledge and content directly to employees in the Microsoft 365 apps where they already work. “We’re excited about using Viva Topics to help us access information that’s siloed throughout the business and make it easier for salespeople to find experts and answers much faster,” says Gray.

Making life easier for sellers: Dell brings information to salespeople where they already work

For Bruce Sánchez, Global Lead for Sales Learning and Development Technology at Dell Technologies, new technology underpins the organization’s ongoing transformation to create a culture of continuous learning. “We’ve transformed learning and development from a prescriptive model to a service model that focuses on the needs of our salespeople,” he says. Key to that transformation is making sure that sellers have access to information and resources directly in the flow of work.

When Sandra Murtagh, Vice President of Global Sales Learning and Development at Dell Technologies, and Karen Butcher, Head of the Global Sales Learning and Development Transformation Office at Dell Technologies, launched a transformation office within the Dell learning and development organization, the goal was to orient the sales function toward the future. “We’re always thinking about what’s next,” says Butcher. “How can we make the learning experience better? How can we make life easier for our sellers?” 

They focused on delivering great experiences and integrating their learning platform with Microsoft Teams, where sellers will be able to access training content at the moment of need. Viva Topics emerged as the next logical step. “Moving forward, we want to integrate more and more information in convenient places for sellers,” says Butcher. “That’s exactly what we’ve started to do with Viva Topics.”

The sales learning and development organization at Dell recognized AI as the most effective way to gather and present large amounts of information. “We’re using Viva Topics because it’s an AI-driven curation engine that pulls together both content and people associated with topics,” says Sánchez. And because Viva Topics will extend to partner apps, employees will gain a full picture of information gathered from Microsoft sources and beyond. “We’re always on the lookout for partner integrations,” adds Srikanth Ramaswamy, Global Lead for Modern Content and Collaboration Services, Dell Digital Team Member Experience at Dell Technologies. After the success of the pilot testing phase, Dell has recently expanded the use of Viva Topics and embraced a full-scale rollout across its global sales force.

Building relationships: Dell uses Viva Topics to reinforce a learning culture with new connections

Turning to Viva Topics to uncover knowledge from within the apps they use every day leads Dell sales employees to forge new connections with colleagues. “That’s probably one of the biggest benefits we’re experiencing,” says Murtagh. “Historically, we relied on legacy relationships, but with the combination of Microsoft Teams and Viva Topics, we’re opening up collaboration and relationships across all our functions.” 

Gray agrees, citing his experience with Dell’s Viva Topics pilot project. “Viva Topics organizes content and turns it into knowledge, and that knowledge turns into relationships,” he says. “You can look at a topic card and realize right away who the experts are. Now, if you don’t understand something, you know exactly who to ask.” 

The ability to effortlessly create connections is a boon for a global, highly dispersed sales force. “Dell has championed working from home for many years,” says Butcher. “And today, a hybrid approach is at the forefront of our organization.” Creating a flexible, highly mobile experience for sellers is one way the sales learning and development organization supports the hybrid approach for Dell’s sales team. “The ability to easily search for and uncover content natively in Teams and other applications was a big hit,” Butcher continues. “Especially because people have the same experience on mobile devices and desktops, no matter where they work from.” 

As hybrid work also becomes the norm for Dell’s customers, the company’s sales employees increasingly use Viva Topics to help improve their online customer engagements. “We’re getting our minds wrapped around a new go-to-market motion with multiple parties all joining from different locations,” says Gray. “We’re using Viva Topics to address the complexity of getting the right information together for these events. If a customer asks a question, we can quickly find the information via Viva Topics or use that insight to contact a subject matter expert who can help. That accelerated speed of response to customers is generating excitement.”

A human element in a hybrid world: Dell supports employee experience

As the sales learning and development organization expands its use of Viva Topics, it’s also exploring other Microsoft Viva modules, including Microsoft Viva Connections, Microsoft Viva Sales, and Microsoft Viva Insights. It’s an exciting moment. “I’ve been with Dell for 26 years,” says Murtagh. “Where we are now in terms of knowledge management and learning is a massive flip from where we were in the past. We’ve made Viva Topics a big part of our reimagination of what work looks like for our sellers.” 

For Gray, Viva Topics has had an unexpected impact on the daily work experience. “One of the side effects of using Viva Topics is that it makes work more fun,” he says. “Opening up a topic card for information can quickly lead to finding a new expert. You might say, ‘Oh, that person was in my new hire class. I didn’t know they were still at the company!’” Strengthening relationships and making work more efficient, even fun, through Viva Topics highlights Dell’s focus on supporting its people and using technology to further its learning and development goals.