Dell World. There aren’t many other brand-specific conferences bigger than this. Dell is obviously a company that needs no introduction. They’ve been a technology leader for decades, and that reputation continues to this very day. If anything, Dell continues to innovate with each passing year. That’s exactly why they’re still at the top.
Dell products go well beyond your laptop or desktop computer. What really gets us excited as an enterprise-level IT services provider is all of their IT offerings designed specifically for business. For years, we’ve relied on Dell solutions to give our clients an edge. Dell continues to rollout new solutions that make our clients’ day-to-day operations easier and more streamlined than ever, and it all starts at Dell World.
What Is Dell World?
Dell World is a technology conference created especially for Dell’s business-level clients and partners. At Dell World, Dell unveils their latest solutions designed to help these organizations do what they do more effectively and efficiently.
That said, Dell World is much more than an elaborate product unveiling ceremony. With tailored breakout sessions, massive keynotes and partner exhibitions, Dell World digs deep into how their solutions are actually being used. It’s a great opportunity for Dell clients and partners to brush up on best practices and industry trends.
It’s safe to say that a lot goes on at such a huge conference, but we thought we would include some highlights and personal experiences from the day-and-half we spent at the conference. Both Russell Parker and I attended. We attended the big events together, but took more of a divide and conquer strategy as the conference went on.
Michael Dell Keynote
How could you go to Dell World and not catch the keynote from Dell Founder and CEO, Michael Dell? Dell always delivers with his keynote speeches, and parts of this year’s speech was especially relevant to us and the needs of our clients.
Above: Michael Dell giving his keynote speech.
In his speech, Dell put a huge emphasis on VDI. The world of VDI is growing faster than ever with huge strides being made recently. Dell is making VDI possible in scenarios where it wasn’t possible before, giving more and more people the benefit and efficiency of VDI. VDI wasn’t the only topic Dell touched on. He also shared new insights on their partnerships with Nutanix, specialized workloads and bringing high performance to small and medium-sized businesses with flash-optimized storage.
Dell also went on to compare their company to other tech companies out there. He cited Dell’s consistency as a key to their success in contrast to the division that seems to plague other tech giants. Dell applauded their vendors and partners for their incredible cooperation with one another.
New Technology
There were plenty of technology announcements made at Dell World this year, but there two developments in particular caught our attention:
PowerEdge FX Architecture
Dell’s newest generation of PowerEdge servers are bringing together server, storage and networking into a single enclosure. PowerEdge servers are already a fantastic server solution for organizations, but these capabilities make it even more of an all-encompassing.
New EqualLogic 4210 Arrays
Dell really made a push towards targeting small and medium-sized businesses during this year’s Dell World. One way they’re trying to reach these clients is with cheaper, flash-optimized EqualLogic arrays. These may very well be a fantastic storage option for smaller organizations.
Breakout Sessions
Russell and I tried to attend a good number of sessions during the show. Instead of going into painstaking detail on each session, I’ll just share the highlights as a whole.
Most of the sessions we attended dealt directly with topics that our clients have asked us about over the past year. We focused heavily on VDI-centric sessions. Some of these sessions covered in-depth details while others focused on broader strategies. We even attended one session that featured new card reader technology. Keep an eye on that in the future.
Above: Checking out a VMware EVO:RAIL.
The most interesting and relevant session we went was put on by the CIO for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools in Tennessee. As one of the largest school districts in Tennessee, their IT needs were extensive. They spent $7 million on wireless infrastructure alone. One of their unique challenges was scaling IT resources affordably. They did a great job of illustrating how even a $50 change could equal a huge spike in cost when scaled across 10,000 users. It was great to see how a school district went about implementing Dell solutions creatively as we have many clients in education.
Seeing Familiar Faces
One of the coolest things about Dell World was that it was so oriented towards Dell clients. Sure, partners were there in force. The real stars of the show were clients who are actually gaining value from Dell’s diverse business solutions. At this year’s Dell World, we saw a few InterWorks clients in attendance, including LifeChruch.tv. Another client, SONIC, was featured on the background during Michael Dell’s keynote speech. It’s especially cool for us to see our clients involved and featured in Dell World, considering how we’ve had a hand in their success with Dell products.
Above: Michael Dell recognizing major clients, including SONIC.
What We Took Away
We’ve attended Dell World for the past three years now, and we learn all sorts of new things each year we attend. This year we learned quite a bit about Dell’s new VDI offerings and their desire to do more for small and medium-sized organizations. As far as the needs of our clients goes, VDI is in high demand. It’s good to see Dell meeting this demand head on. They really are listening to their client base and are taking action in the right direction.
We hope to take all that we’ve learned this year and pass it on directly to our clients. Given the impressive showing from this year’s Dell World, we’re certain that our clients will be incredibly satisfied with what Dell has in store for the next year.
Want to learn more about Dell’s latest innovations or Dell products in general? Contact us today! We can help you with you scoping, purchasing, implementation and more.
