Dell’s Future-Ready Cloud promise to customers brings hybrid cloud to life

Customers adopting cloud have clearly spoken—and we are listening and innovating. As I have pointed out in prior posts, we know that customers get the full value of cloud only from the flexibility and freedom that multiple cloud models deliver so they can follow their journey at their own pace. The Dell Global Technology Adoption Index (GTAI 2015), released just last week, validates this, showing that 55 percent of organizations globally are now using more than one type of cloud.

We know that the key to successful cloud strategies is to move rapidly from private or public only clouds to hybrid cloud systems or solutions that work both today and will work tomorrow- Dell’s Future Ready Hybrid Cloud strategy. As we detailed over the summer, when asked what is essential to the success of a “future-ready enterprise,” 9 out of 10 IT decision-makers point to a hybrid cloud end state.

But we also see that there remain barriers impeding efforts of IT leaders to truly capitalize on the opportunity and promise of cloud. These barriers exist because of the perception that hybrid cloud not only has the risk factors of both public off-premises and private on-premises cloud. These perceived barriers include cloud implementations costs and risks, potential increased complexity and the perceived loss of control.

Dell’s commitment to a hybrid cloud future


Today at Dell World, we are once again demonstrating both market and technology leadership with new solutions and services that let customers break past these barriers on their path to hybrid cloud. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, joined Michael Dell on the main stage this morning to proudly announce the Dell Hybrid Cloud Solution for Microsoft. This future ready, unique solution delivers on the customer needs for a unified, consistent private and public cloud experience while breaking down the barriers of costs, complexity and control. Co-engineered with Microsoft, this industry first system gets you from “crate to  hybrid cloud” in less than three hours. It minimizes risks and downtime with unified, non-disruptive updates that are fully automated. Dell Cloud Manager, is the industry’s ONLY single-console heterogeneous cloud management system, and is integrated into the Dell Hybrid Cloud Solution for Microsoft for out-of-the-box provisioning of single or multiple cloud environments from one management console.

The Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft is supported by another industry first: a ground-breaking financing option called “Cloud Flex Pay” that virtually eliminates cost and risks. Part of Dell’s Scale Ready Payment Solutions, Cloud Flex Pay gives you the strategic option to start adopting and using your hybrid cloud system, and gain priceless experience with your own particular implementation, without making a long-term commitment. After six months, you can extend your trial, pay in full, finance, or return your system.

But these are only the brightest stars in a constellation of announcements and releases that happened today. We are also showcasing this week:

  • The Dell hybrid cloud platform reference architecture with VMware gives customers the power to onboard, configure, and deploy new cloud infrastructures in under 3 minutes of hands-on administrator time.
  • Dell Foglight for Virtualization 8.3 gives organizations the power to manage performance from the virtual and physical server layer, and optimize the performance of private cloud environments running on Dell servers, all from a single-pane-of-glass view.
  • New Dell Administrator for Office 365 enables secure, effective control of Office 365, SharePoint and OneDrive for business through a consolidated, intuitive console that empowers IT administrators to better manage, report on, and utilize existing collaboration platforms to improve ROI of the Microsoft stack across the business.

 

Dell: Your partner on your path to cloud 

All this goes to show how our fundamental principles and solutions design tenets of customer focused and inspired, flexible, modular, heterogeneous choice, best-of-breed innovations, and a truly comprehensive end-to-end lifecycle perspective provides you, our customers and partners, with the keys to your greatest value and success. With Dell at your side, you can achieve the business outcomes and results that matter to you. But you have to overcome the barriers that now stand in your way. You have to bring cloud out of the shadows and assert guidance and governance on all cloud environments wherever they lie and however they are instantiated. Only through IT control and future readiness can organizations like yours realize the full agility, efficiency and business benefits of cloud. With the announcement today of our Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft announcement and it’s immediately availability, you can confidently commence now.  At Dell, we are excited to be your cloud solutions and systems partner in this endeavor, wherever you may be on your path to a future-ready hybrid cloud.

About the Author: Jim Ganthier

Jim Ganthier is a global technology executive with over 20 years of experience delivering business results in multinational technology, products and solutions companies.