Welcome to the big switch. Once, it was all about IT infrastructure. Now IT services are top of the agenda for forward-thinking CIOs. Yet what does this paradigm shift from infrastructure-centric to service-centric IT really mean to organizations—and users? And, what’s the impact on today’s stretched IT budgets?
It’s all about how cloud computing is transforming IT. For many organizations, deploying a dedicated private cloud lets them empower customers and employees with the right service levels. They can also scale capacity on demand as needed, to accommodate growth or meet temporary spikes in demand. In short, they have the freedom to be more agile. That’s great for faster times to market, and for boosting business outcomes (and very bad news for competitors).
We’ve created a snapshot of six inspiring and very diverse customers below. What were the typical challenges they faced? And how did cloud solutions from Dell help solve those challenges? Above all, how could your organization benefit by becoming cloud-, and therefore IT-service empowered? For the full stories, see our handy eBook.
Research institute grows capacity and shrinks IT maintenance
The Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research (CISER) processes huge volumes of data for about 2,500 scientists who don’t like to be kept waiting. It had aged servers that were at full capacity, and a system administrator who worked overtime on maintenance. Through a Dell Services Microsoft Private Cloud Accelerator engagement, Dell helped the institute build a dynamically optimized private cloud solution based on Microsoft Hyper-V. Now it can easily grow to accommodate an annual increase of 20 percent more users, while cutting rack space in half and reducing monthly maintenance by two-thirds.
Technology services provider offers high-performance computing (HPC) on tap
Award-winning global software company, GreenButton™, provides a cloud platform for the development and delivery of software and services. GreenButton delivers HPC bursting for customers. Now compute-intensive workloads run in the Dell Cloud—a public infrastructure-as-a service (IaaS) cloud based on VMware vCloud technology—instead of on expensive local server farms. Performance is available on-demand, and customers pay only for what they use, so the cloud forms the basis for an attractive and successful business model.
Car rental company accelerates customer service
Europcar in South Africa wanted to get ahead in the competitive rental market by developing more flexible, reliable IT that would allow staff to deliver customer services on the fly. The company built a private cloud with Dell PowerEdge servers, EqualLogic and PowerVault storage, and Microsoft Windows 2012. Highly responsive cloud-based IT has helped employees be more efficient. Customers gain improved services availability too, with systems back up in two minutes after outages.
Government agency sees service and savings soar
The government agency SICTIAM, helps keep France’s civil servants productive by providing IT as a service. Dell Deployment Services installed a private cloud solution that includes Dell PowerEdge servers, Dell storage and Dell Networking powered by VMware virtualization software. Now personnel have greater mobile access to resources, and new services can rapidly be developed and rolled out to meet the needs of clients. The infrastructure-as-a-service solution also maximizes value to tax payers.
Emerging technologies team fast-forwards innovation
The Dell IT Emerging Technologies and User Experience team was on the lookout for flexible and agile technology for its new Innovation Lab, which is built on Dell servers, software tools, storage and networking. Here users have the freedom to define and implement just the services they need in the cloud, so new research projects can take off faster. Featuring Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the solution also highlights the flexibility of OpenStack for cloud management.
Comparison site offers smart new shopping experience in cloud
Whether they’re looking for fashion or furniture, customers in 14 European countries head to shopping portal LeGuide.com. The company worked with Dell Services to build a private cloud platform based on Dell PowerEdge servers, EqualLogic storage, and VMware software. It has successfully lowered IT costs and, thanks to Dell Managed Services and the platform’s hybrid cloud capabilities, it can boost capacity at peak periods.
Begin your journey to cloud freedom at dell.com/privatecloud
See what other companies have achieved with cloud solutions from Dell, and be inspired to start your own success story with our eBook.
To learn about other Dell Customer Stories, follow #DellStory on Twitter.
