As traditional enterprises shift investments to enable their Digital Transformation and cloud delivery models, they increasingly rely on modernized, flexible and agile service providers. When I say service providers, I mean all types: communications service providers; cable multiple system operators; hosting/co-location providers; public cloud providers; vertical market cloud specialists; and consumer webtech providers.
To adapt to this shift, most service providers already are embarking on a transformation journey requiring new architectures and technologies. They are building differentiation into how they manage and operate the cloud services sold to their customers and how they interface with upstream services, partners, advertisers and digital content. This change is rich with opportunity.
First, these investments will help service providers build out their own operations and capabilities, so they can increase agility and speed time-to-service delivery to increase customer satisfaction. It will also enhance flexibility to address their customers’ digital transformation needs. Finally, these changes will help service providers to better position for cloud and as-a-service consumption models.
Dell and the Dell Technologies family are investing to enable the modern service provider. We have deep experience with these models from our work with enterprises. We know what service providers need to evolve and what the future state should look like. This forms the basis of the expanded service provider partner program in the Dell Partner Program and the newly created Dell Service Provider Solutions Engineering Practice.
The Cloud Service Provider track in the 2017 Dell Partner Program features an expanded go-to-market engine. Participating partners can leverage the program to create differentiated cloud services, shorten time-to-market and accelerate time-to-revenue. Key investments include strengthened partner compensation benefits, enhanced rewards for cloud resale partnering and increased Dell sales and marketing investments.
The Dell Service Provider Solutions Engineering Practice offers a wide range of tested and validated systems for various service provider use cases. The new validated systems include industry-leading compute, storage and open networking solutions, providing industry-standard building blocks that virtualize and automate workloads. Initially, we are focused on network functions virtualization (NFV) solutions for communications service providers:
- For mobile operators
- Dell validated systems for virtual evolved packet core (vEPC) – delivered with Affirmed Networks to virtualize the functions required to converge voice and data on networks.
- Dell validated systems for virtual IP multimedia subsystem (vIMS) – delivered with MetaSwitch Networks to use IP for all packet communications – including email, fax, and direct messaging – over wireless and landlines.
- For enterprise networks
- Dell validated systems for virtual customer premise equipment (vCPE) – delivered with Versa Networks to modernize CPE at branch sites to deliver network services such as routing, firewall security and intrusion detection from one virtualized system.
- Dell validated systems for software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) – delivered with Versa Networks to blend legacy multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) with public internet connections, making it easier and more efficient to add sites to the virtual private network as traffic patterns change.
No matter where you are on your transformation journey, Dell can help. We have expertise in translating applications into infrastructure needs based on our deep institutional knowledge. Additionally, we can be prescriptive where requested with our validated systems or flexible with infrastructure and platforms within an ecosystem of service provider suppliers. Let us know how we can help you.