Is Dell planning to be a cloud provider by offering
servers and storage as a service?
Dell recently announced a substantial commitment to the cloud.
We have plans to invest USD 1 billion in multiple data centers
around the world to provide customers access to public and private
cloud technologies. We have acquired Boomi (a SaaS integration
leader) and announced vStart (a ready-to-run virtual
infrastructure). We are also investing in IP that can help
customers accelerate the adoption of cloud computing and SaaS.
Our strategy is to unify physical and virtual; evolutionary and
revolutionary; public and private -- an open, yet integrated, IT
solution. Additionally, Dell is building a set of more specific
cloud-based services, such as backup and archival in the cloud. In
some cases, specific industry based solutions (such as medical
archival and learning management) are being delivered via our
cloud. Also, for customers to take advantage of the cloud, it is
important to focus on the applications. Hence, we have development,
testing and integration expertise around Java and .Net
environments.
Does Dell believe in the concept of federated cloud
services?
Yes, we believe in the concept of federated cloud services. This
is where Dell would provide to its range of customers both Dell and
third-party based cloud services, matching the SLAs, costs and our
customers needs. It is inevitable that customers will have a mix of
SaaS applications from multiple vendors using multiple clouds. As
companies continue to adopt more business services outsourcing, a
lot of their critical information will reside in the systems and
clouds of those business services providers. A federated cloud
model ensures that IT can continue to provide the central values of
provisioning, securing, monitoring and managing the information of
the organization, even if the delivery infrastructure belongs to
someone else.
Please elaborate on Dell’s increased commitment in
the storage space and future strategies.
Dell sees storage as one of the key drivers in technology
industry today and is betting big on this space. Dell has invested
substantial resources in the last 12-18 months to build a
comprehensive portfolio.
Three years ago, Dell embarked on a mission to help change the
way our customers purchase, implement and deploy storage. The
successful acquisition and integration of EqualLogic in 2007 was
the first step in implementing this strategy. As we build on this
strategy, Dell will advance the optimization capabilities of the
platforms through the integration of Exanet’s
high-performance, scalable file system and Ocarina’s
content-aware optimization.
Also, the acquisition of Compellent fulfilled two strategic
objectives for Dell. One of these is obvious – an enterprise
scale storage platform. The second was to add new,
industry-leading IP to our portfolio. These include dynamic storage
tiering and thin provisioning, as well as a storage platform asset
that can be run as software on a standard Intel server.
How has rise in the popularity of smartphones/tablets
impacted Dell’s laptop/PC business?
Dell believes tablets and smartphones are complementary devices for
enterprise, small- and medium business users, and even consumers
who seek an ecosystem of devices to create and consume personal and
professional content. We believe more and more devices will come on
to a corporation’s network and the profile and number of
those devices will have different footprints and usage models (i.e.
consumption vs. creation of data, etc). But at the end of the day,
we think smartphones and tablets will complement existing
laptops/PCs. Dell’s mobility products are geared toward
prosumers who look at technology to combine their entertainment and
social connection with their business needs.
About Author
Vinita Gupta is Principal Correspondent at InformationWeek India. Vinita has over six years experience in IT reporting and has interviewed more than 500 business executives. She has a PG Diploma in Business Management from NMIMS and Post Graduate Degree in Communication and Journalism from Mumbai University
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