On the cusp of Dell World 2011, Dell today announced continued customer and partner momentum for its enterprise and end-point solutions, as well as a broad array of new products and services designed to help customers unlock innovation. Organizations today face new and unique challenges and unprecedented opportunities defined by the Virtual Era, which has accelerated the move to dynamic data center environments and cloud computing architectures. Dell is one of the only companies in the world that can help customers navigate this broad range of IT needs – from the end-point to the data center – and deliver the right solutions to meet businesses’ IT requirements today and with confidence for the future.

“Earlier this year we announced a $1 billion investment commitment to customers, extending the company’s global reach into data center, mobile and cloud environments,” said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, Dell. “Now, more than ever, these investments are delivering value to customers who demand an end-to-end solutions provider to unlock innovation across their organizations. We’re committed to continuing to listen to our customers and deliver solutions that truly address the problems they are trying to solve each day.”

Dell helps customers free critical IT dollars from maintenance to innovation by offering open, capable and affordable solutions that provide CIOs with the flexibility to invest in technologies that address today’s business needs and deliver the peace of mind to accommodate tomorrow’s unknown requirements. Today’s series of announcements builds on the $1 billion investment commitment Dell made to its customers earlier this year and extends the company’s reach into data center and cloud environments.

Delivering Data Center Innovation

IT organizations are under immense pressure to improve flexibility and scalability of their data centers and ensure employees can access the applications and information they need, no matter location, time or device. Dell has an industry-leading position in data center technologies – the #1 worldwide position in iSCSI SAN storage, for the first half of 2011, Dell was #1 in x86 server shipments in North America and the addition of award-winning Dell Force10 networking capabilities – and today’s series of announcements extends this position. Dell is also a leader in data center energy efficiency and recently announced that within a five-year time frame, server performance per watt improved 31X on its PowerEdge servers.

Virtual Integrated System Architecture

Dell is unveiling new product enhancements to its Virtual Integrated System (VIS) Architecture to help customers drive enterprise efficiency. VIS extends the benefits of virtualization by reducing the tools, tasks and time required for daily data center activities, automating and increasing the efficiency of an organization’s entire IT infrastructure. And since it’s built on an open architecture, VIS works with a customer’s existing hardware and software investments. New products available today include:

• Integrating Acquired Technology into Dell vStart Configurations - Dell vStart is a virtualization solution which allows customers to easily build out virtual infrastructures. The solutions are pre-sized, pre-racked, pre-wired and pre-tested to ease deployment concerns. vStart offerings come in specific configurations that allow organizations to choose the size of their virtualization instance. Dell today announced that Dell Compellent storage and Dell Force10 networking capabilities will be made available in vStart configurations in 2012.
• Dell Advanced Infrastructure Manager (AIM) Integration - Dell has certified its Dell AIM technology to work with Microsoft System Center Orchestrator and BMC Atrium Orchestrator, in addition to its current support for VMware ESX servers and VMware vCenter Server.
• VIS Creator - Dell today released a new version of VIS Creator which enables businesses to provision extra compute resource from public cloud facilities. VIS Creator’s delivery and management capabilities now extend to physical workloads and its governance capacity to the cloud, giving enterprises the same control over their public cloud resources as they do for the private cloud.

New Dell Storage Compression and De-Duplication Technology

As the amount of data maintained by organizations continues to rise at unprecedented rates, Dell remains focused on delivering technologies that enable easier management of data while increasing efficiency and lowering the total cost for storage. New compression and de-duplication capabilities, obtained through the Ocarina Networks acquisition, play significant roles in Dell’s Fluid Data Architecture and enable customers to better manage and archive meaningful amounts of data with potential cost savings. Dell today announced availability of its first compression capabilities for the Dell DX Object Storage Platform with additional compression and de-duplication solutions for backup and recovery storage expected early next year:

• Dell DX6000G Storage Compression Node - New data storage compression capabilities help customers drastically reduce data file sizes and the footprint of archival and cloud infrastructure storage. Utilizing industry-leading technology from the Ocarina Networks acquisition, Dell can provide new levels of data size reduction on its DX Object Storage Platform, compressing stored data up to 90 percent depending on file types. With new DX Storage Compression Software, customers can free up space at local and remote sites to significantly reduce their budget for storing infrequently accessed data. The Dell DX6000G Storage Compression Node will be available Oct. 18.

Dell Data Centers Deliver Real Business Value; Solution Centers Enable Customer Innovation

Dell is making substantial investments in its cloud computing infrastructure and services to help customers more quickly realize the benefits of and deploy private, public and hybrid cloud environments. Dell is introducing:

• New Data Centers – Dell announced the opening of two data centers to deliver on its promise of cloud computing. Dell announced the opening of its first data center in London where Unified Clinical Archiving will be one of the first vertical solutions supported by the data center. In addition, the company will open a Quincy, WA, facility in the United States which is anticipated to become one of the world’s most efficient and environmentally responsible data centers by utilizing Dell’s extensive knowledge of large-scale data center build-outs captured through its Data Center Solutions (DCS) business.
• Since April 2011, Dell has opened nine Solution Centers in all three major geographies, with three more to follow in the next six months. Demand for meetings at the Solutions Centers has exceeded expectations and customers and partners are already realizing efficiency gains through accessibility to Dell expertise.

Dell Extends Commitment to End User Computing

The Client business represents Dell’s heritage and the company is more committed than ever to investing and supporting customers’ diverse computing needs. IDC expects worldwide total commercial PC shipments to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4% through 2015[4]. Dell understands customers’ desires to match trends such as consumerization and desktop virtualization with the current realities of endpoint security and management. To answer these needs, Dell delivers solutions that span technology usage and interaction, tailored services and an overall experience that combines professional tools with consumer appeal. Dell is uniquely positioned to address these concerns and help customers maximize productivity for end users without sacrificing the control, efficiency and security IT manager’s need. Dell introduced a series of new solutions and services including:

• Dell Desktop Virtualization - Dell announced the availability of Virtual Desktop as-a-Service, the cloud-based delivery model for the Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions (DDVS) portfolio. The new solution brings enterprise computing to nearly any end-user computing device, anytime, anywhere a network is available -- improving employee productivity, while reducing IT management complexity. Virtual Desktop as-a-Service is operated and maintained via the Dell Cloud from highly secure Dell data centers. IT organizations can enjoy the benefits of a fully managed virtual desktop without sacrificing control and security. New employee and contractor desktops can be quickly provisioned or de-provisioned using new or existing clients to become productive sooner.
• Dell Data Protection | Encryption – End-user devices present one of the greatest data security obstacles to organizations looking for ways to decrease risk associated with lost, stolen or compromised devices and external media. To address these concerns, Dell today added new offerings to its Dell Data Protection | Encryption portfolio that provide organizations with simple, comprehensive and flexible encryption solutions. The new encryption protection features include Full Volume Encryption with Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 Level 3 certification for customers who require military-grade security, one of the highest certifications commercially available for full disk encryption solutions, and Microsoft BitLocker Manager. These solutions round out the portfolio that also includes detachable storage protection with External Media Edition and intelligent system drive protection for Microsoft Windows with Data-Centric Encryption.
• Dell KACE Global Expansion – Dell is expanding the availability of its rapidly growing line of Dell KACE Systems Management Appliances in EMEA and APJ. Dell KACE’s comprehensive and affordable systems management solutions have rapidly gained market share in North America and English-speaking countries around the world. Dell is now making the easy-to-use appliances available in select countries overseas in German, French, Chinese, Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese. Designed to save IT administrators time and money, the appliances help ensure organizations can easily deploy and manage remote client systems globally.