Going into Dell Technologies World, my greatest expectation was hearing a more unified message between VMware and the rest of the Dell Technologies family, especially Dell EMC. That expectation was absolutely met. Pat Gelsinger and Jeff Clarke on stage together announcing the Dell Technologies Cloud Platform was very well received and I would argue is the most united front between these two organizations that we’ve heard to date.
For hyperconverged infrastructure, we saw VxRail being touted as the foundational technology to enable a VMware-based hybrid and multi-cloud strategy. And it makes sense knowing its versatility in being able to support core data center and edge-based use cases. Dell EMC has simplified its HCI portfolio. Now, if an organization has standardized on VMware, VxRail is the answer, while organizations that require some flexibility in terms of hypervisor support or bare metal availability can go with VxFlex. And a new VxFlex appliance also launched.
Intelligence was the underlying theme with most of the announcements, showing how Dell Technologies is infusing next-generation technologies like AI and ML through its product lines, solutions, and services. A great example of this was the unveiling of ACE, which stands for analytical consulting engine, for VxRail. This cloud-based tool centrally collects and analyzes data with machine learning across the whole VxRail stack for prediction, forecasting, and self-optimization. And with ACE, Dell EMC is making progress in achieving the ultimate goal of an autonomous infrastructure, where not only will you get recommendations, but action will get taken too. This means IT can focus more on the data and the applications, rather than the infrastructure.
Going forward, I believe the greatest opportunity for Dell Technologies is extending the intelligence from its specific offerings to the Dell Technologies Cloud Platform, specifically around data orchestration and lifecycle management. Organizations will need guidance in understanding the best location to run a specific application or workload at a given moment, whether core, edge, or cloud, based on real-time requirements, including performance/latency, cost, resiliency, and security.
And please check my colleagues’ blogs for further insights:
Networking Getting Some Airtime at Dell Technologies World 2019
by Bob Laliberte
Dell Technologies Launches New Data Protection Solutions
by Christophe Bertrand
What’s Up with Microsoft and Dell at Dell Technologies World 2019?
by Mark Bowker
