Dell announced today it was awarded a contract for a Department
of Justice unclassified virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
deployment. The $28 million partnership includes new Dell XC Series of
Web-scale Converged Appliances, powered by Nutanix
software, as well as Dell
Networking and Dell
AppAssure data protection software. Supporting up to 55,000 named
users, specifically within the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
the deal includes more than 600 Dell XC Series appliances and represents
one of the largest VDI deployments the U.S. government has undertaken.
The foundation of this solution is the Dell
XC Series appliances, hyper-converged systems that combine compute,
storage and virtualization resources in one solution built on
preconfigured, industry-leading Dell PowerEdge 13th
generation servers. These appliances are integrated with
industry-leading software from Nutanix,
the hyper-converged market leader according to IDC.
The FBI will be able to take advantage of a truly comprehensive IT
solution that offers simple deployment and management and also
scales-out incrementally, one node at a time, and seamlessly as demands
increase. Moreover, these appliances excel in supporting desktop
virtualization, while also providing lower
total cost of ownership and faster time to value when compared to a
traditional VDI solution approach. With this addition, the FBI will be
able to better empower its field agents and administrators, as well as
dramatically expand its operations across its global footprint.
Furthermore, the FBI will be able to leverage Dell’s world-class global
support–all while working with one technology partner to satisfy these
multiple needs.
This new Dell solution will allow the FBI to create a flexible and
easy-to-manage virtual desktop infrastructure that can easily scale as
needed. The XC Series deployment will scale to more than 600 nodes and
support VMware Horizon 6 desktop virtualization software. The addition
of these hyper-converged appliances offers FBI users the opportunity to
reduce the number of elements managed in the IT environment, increase
overall savings and decrease time-to-value. The infrastructure also
enables users to securely access agency data and applications at any
time across any device.
“As a trusted technology provider to federal agencies for more than 20
years, Dell is committed to providing its government customers with the
tools they need to solve complex problems with efficient and effective
IT solutions,” said Steve Harris, vice president and general manager,
Dell Federal. “We’re very excited to have the opportunity to help a key
government customer better accomplish their mission, and we are always
looking for any way we can work with customers like this to best
leverage their IT.”