At the Microsoft Worldwide Partners Conference today in Washington, DC, Dell and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership that marks a major advancement in the evolution of cloud computing technology. The news is that Dell will deliver private and public cloud services using the Windows Azure platform appliance, which Microsoft announced earlier in the day.
The initial outcome is that Dell will use the Windows Azure platform appliance to host public and private clouds for our customers. We will work with Microsoft to develop a Dell-powered Windows Azure platform appliance that can be deployed in enterprise customers’ own datacenters; the appliance will be a turnkey cloud platform that includes Windows Azure, SQL Azure and a Microsoft-specified configuration of network, storage and server hardware. And, this appliance is optimized to scale out applications and datacenter efficiency across hundreds and even tens-of-thousands of servers.
From our work with customers – listening, consulting and delivering solutions – we know that enterprise IT organizations face the challenge of being more responsive to business needs while also driving greater efficiencies. Dell can solve this challenge for customers due to our real-world experience and IP, hardware infrastructure offerings, professional services, and as-a-service solutions (Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service and Software-as-a-Service).
Dell already is the leading provider of cloud infrastructure. We operate clouds today, have more than 10,000 SaaS customers, and we provide a full suite of services including cloud consulting. The Windows Azure platform appliance partnership with Microsoft is a significant expansion of our cloud capabilities and our capacity to address customer needs with next-generation solutions.
Whether customers want an evolutionary approach that makes their existing applications more efficient, or they want a revolutionary approach with new applications written for cloud scale, Dell can deliver. And we can provide the type of cloud solution a customer wants, whether on-premise or off-premise, and public or private cloud.
The new partnership is an important path for Dell, though it is not our only route for delivering cloud computing to customers. In accord with our open philosophy, we will offer customers flexibility through solutions that include Windows Azure, VMware Redwood/ Spring, EMC Atmos and BMC among others.
Our goal is to enable customers everywhere to succeed. Cloud computing is a critical element for bringing that goal to life, and the Windows Azure platform is an important element in our cloud-delivery strategy.
For more information or questions please email Services_Cloud_Program@dell.com.
Update: If you’d like to see more about our partnership with Microsoft on the Azure front, IT-as-a-Service and more take a look at the Dell’s presentation on SlideShare or watch this the video with me and Andy Rhoades sharing our perspective on Dell’s new partnership along with impressions of Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference: