Tag: enterprise

Dell hires ex-AMD man

Posted on March 23, 2015 by - News

AMD, SunnyvaleHardware and software vendor Dell said it has hired two people to key positions in its enterprise sales and technology departments.

Rory Read, who was the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, will be the chief operating offier and president of worldwide commercial sales. He will have overall responsibility for market initiation and all channel sales planning

Paul Perez formerly worked at Cisco where he was VP and genera manager of the firm’s computing systems product group. In his role at Dell, Perez will be the chief technical advisor for its enterprise solutions group.

Perez starts at Dell’s HQ today, while Read will join the company on April 6th next.

Both will report to Marius Haas,who is the chief commercial officer at Dell.

Michael Dell was wheeled out to welcome Read and Perez to the good ship Dell. He said they will add enterprise IT expertise and depth to Dell’s management team.

Read said: “Dell is one of the most exciting companies in the industry right.” He said Dell is the only credible end to end IT company.

HP shows small signs of turnaround

Posted on November 27, 2013 by - News

HPGiant vendor Hewlett Packard turned in a profit of $1.4 billion on revenues of $29.1 billion, compared to a loss of $6.9 billion in the same fourth quarter a year back.

But although its enterprise group showed growth of two percent, its other divisions – personal systems, printing, enterprse services and software showed declines from the same period last year. Enterprise services fell nine percent, as did software.

All in all, HP’s revenues showed a 2.8 percent decline – and it expects further small declines in revenue.

The enterprise group managed to sell more storage and servers, with a two percent rise in sales. That follows CEO Meg Whitman’s decision a few months ago to shake up the unit.

Whitman thinks that HP needs to spend more money on research and development.

HP announces open SDN app store

Posted on September 30, 2013 by - News

HPHP has announced what it calls the first enterprise class software-defined networking (SDN) open ecosystem, with the HP SDN Developer Kit (SDK) and the HP SDN App Store.

HP boasts the emergence of SDN should do away with fiddling around with legacy network gear and epic customisation projects, instead automating network operations. But an open SDN ecosystem, HP argues, will encourage collobration and innovation to improve the technology, compared to closed, proprietary SDN.

The HP SDN dev kit is up for grabs in November this year, and includes all the necessary stuff for building SDN apps. HP hopes this will bolster its position in the market as well as complement support services. On the app store, customers can browse, search, buy and download SDN apps onto their virtual application networks SDN controller.

HP partners and indie software developers will be able to develop, simulate and validate enterprise level SDN apps to then sell on HP’s app store. Developers will have access to API documentation, developer guides and sample code, as well as the ability to test app functionality and interoperability that can simulate user conditions, using the SDN sim suite and HP SDN Virtual Lab.

Partners registered for HP SDN developer kit include Citrix, F5, Infoblox, Intel, Microsoft, Mitel, Riverbed, Shoretel, Samsung, SAP, Tech Mahindra, VMware, Websense, and more.

The company wheeled out IDC network infrastructure veep Rohit Mehra, who pointed out it will be the apps that will bring SDN technology to the forefront of mainstream networking.

“The catch 22 is that to innovate through applications requires a large investment in infrastructure to develope, which becomes prohibitive,” Mehra said. “The advent of an SDN app store and developer kit makes this an accessible alternative for developers”.

Clearly there is value for HP, too, which has a wide range of products and software that fit in with SDN. In addition, the company added OpenFlow support to 10 new routers in HP FlexNetwork.

SDN certification will be available December 2013, while the SDN app store should be ready in the first half of 2014, along with apps services and support, and services and support for HP OpenFlow. Developer support is available in November this year.

As part of the HP ExpertOne program, those interested in learning more can sign up to the cheerily named “SDN Learning Journey” course.

Senior veep and GM for networking at HP, Bethany Mayer, said the networking industry should leap on the disruptions offered by SDN.

“HP has created the industry’s most comprehensive SDN product portfolio as well as an open SDN ecosystem, which offers an environment for enterprises and partners to rapidly tune the network to their business and application needs,” Mayer said.

SME email falters

Posted on September 19, 2013 by - News

pc-sales-slumpAlthough SMEs want the best enterprise class tech available to them, many are struggling with mundane yet profoundly annoying problems such as email outages, according to a survey.

At least 60 percent of respondents had suffered from an email outage over a three month period, the report found.

Imerja, an IT infrastructure company that conducted the survey, warned that the importance of effective communication channels, including email, can’t be overlooked. Even a small outage can negatively impact business and hit revenues.

As SMEs are being told they’re the way out of economic misery and as part of the recovery, they should probably make sure their basic communication networks are secured, Imperja warned.

Managing director Ian Jackson said: “Investing in the right IT can add significant value to a business, but companies won’t be able to reap the rewards of technology fully if they’re still having problems with essential business systems like email”.

A way forward can be outsourcing business critical IT, whether that is for email, infrastructure hosting, or videoconferencing as a service. This “takes away risk and reduces the overhead of running an in house system, often with added security benefits too,” Jackson said.

“Managed services for IT can really boost productivity because any problems that arise are identified quickly and dealt with before they have the chance to escalate and cause problems,” Jackson said.

Dell’Oro predicts further growth in WLAN

Posted on July 25, 2013 by - News

onedollarNetworking and telco analyst house the Dell’Oro Group believes Wireless LAN market revenues could be worth as much as $12 billion in 2017.

The figure is 50 percent larger than revenues for 2012. Key drivers will be deployment of Service Provider Wi-Fi, 802.11ac, cloud managed WLAN, plus additional growth in consumer video using wi-fi and Bring Your Own Device.

Companies such as Cisco, understanding that new LTE networks may be under a great deal of strain in the near future, are also strongly pushing wi-fi to ease the burden.

Dell’Oro group veep Chris DePuy noted that enterprises understand wireless LAN access is critical, however, in the past they have been installing wireless as an overly network, separate from the ethernet network.

When faster 802.11ac wireless systems are installed, DePuy expects there will be an increased understanding that the interaction between ethernet edge switches and enterprise WLAN is worth looking at. So there’s cash to be made for enterprise edge vendors.

The claims are from a recent Dell’Oro report, which also looks specifically at future revenues for cloud managed equipment and services.

IBM shows off zEnterprise BC12

Posted on July 23, 2013 by - News

ibm-officeIBM has announced the zEnterprise BC12 – the zBC12 mainframe, built with analytics, cloud, and mobile computing in mind.

Big Blue claims this server, priced at a cool $75,000, is one of the most secure and technologically advanced of its kind. It’s got a 4.2 GHz processor and twice the memory of its predecessor, the z114. IBM boasts it’s cheaper at the acquisition point than the closest competitor.

The zBC12 can handle 40 virtual servers per core or 520 in a single footprint, possibly for as little as $1 per day per server.

There will be a Linux-only version, too, called the Enterprise Linux Server. It includes hardware, a z/VM Hypervisor, three years of maintenance, and can be extended with ELS for Analytics and Cloud-Ready for Linux on System z. IBM says it can run a portfolio of more than 3,000 Linux applications.

IBM has included new hardware functions on the zBC12, such as providing CPU and storage savings by compressing data on the server. Management, IBM says, is simplified through z/OSMF.

The z/OS 2.1 operating system has improvements in performance and scalability. The OS now sports what IBM calls Crypto as a Service, meaning Linux applications can use z/OS to encrypt data.

General manager of IMB System z, Patrick Toole, said analytics, cloud and mobile are changing the way businesses operate.

“IBM’s zEnterprise technologies address these challenges by providing clients with a powerful and highly secure platform to manage new and emerging workloads,” Toole said, “helping speed time to market, reduce costs and stimulate business growth by making stronger connections with customers.”

 

Dell offers enterprise sweetener

Posted on May 13, 2013 by - News

dellsigDell has announced a partner discount for its enterprise range to coincide with the launch of Online Solutions Configurator, a web sales tool, announced today.

The idea behind Online Solutions Configurator is to help partners sell Dell kit online, customised or pre-configured. It’s integrated with deal registration as well, so partners can keep track of and close deals through the tool.

Online Solutions Configurator will enable quick access to pre-configured Dell products. The company hopes it will allow partners to price deals more easily to help simplify their tender process.

Laurent Binetti, GM EMEA channel, Dell, said in a statement that the tool was developed with partner feedback in mind, offering a collaborative sales tool that should make selling Dell’s Enterprise portfolio easier. The discount fund is an additional incentive.

The Configurator launches in the UK and Germany today. It should reach the Netherlands and France later this month.

Discounts will be available to registered, preferred and premier partners in the PartnerDirect scheeme in Europe. However, each discount is based on how much the partner has spent on Dell kit over the last five years. Partners have until 30 June to get their discount in, and applies to Dell PowerEdge, Dell Compellent, Dell EqualLogic, Dell PowerVault, Dell PowerConnect and Dell Force10.

iPad thrashes Android tablets in enterprise

Posted on February 27, 2013 by - News, Products

ipad-enterpriseAlthough Apple is losing tablet market share to cheaper Android tablets, the iPad is still the clear leader in corporations.

According to a report from mobile device management outfit Good Technology, the iPad accounted for 93.2 percent of tablet activations across its business oriented consumer base. Android ended up with just 6.8 percent.

Mind you, Good Technology serves one in two Fortune 100 companies, which means its clients are not Facebook addicted teens.

However, Google is making up ground. A year ago, Google’s share of tablet activations was a mere 2.7 percent and it more than doubled in under a year. At this rate it will barely creep into double digit territory by the end of 2013.

Good Technology attributes Apple’s massive lead in business to a combination of factors, such as BYOD, the sheer popularity and user base of the iPad and the consumerization of IT. Then there is the ecosystem. Apple still enjoys a clear lead in iOS productivity apps and tablet centric apps in general.

Oddly enough, Apple’s lead extends to smartphones as well. The business crowd is usually associated with boring BlackBerry devices, but Good’s figures reveal that the iPhone accounted for 77 percent of activations across its user base and its share is still growing. It was 71 percent in Q4 2011. The ecosystem gap between iOS and Android is not as significant in phones as it is in the tablet space, so it is more than likely that business users are choosing it for the sake of compatibility, or superior build quality.

Now it’s Microsoft’s turn to take on the iPad in enterprise, with Windows RT and Windows 8 tablets. And fail.

Markitx offers buying and selling of used IT equipment

Posted on February 26, 2013 by - News

Hands across the waterA Chicago based startup offering the opportunity to buy and sell used IT equipment within the enterprise sector has been launched.

However some resellers have stressed that the new model could account for a demise in sales from traditional channels as well as encourage the buying and selling of stolen goods.

MarkITx claims to enable enterprises to make more money from their used equipment through a buying and selling site where a pair who agree on a transaction remain anonymous to each other.

It said that this could help sellers make more money from items which are traditionally traded in or sold at rock bottom prices as company’s are in a rush to get rid of this stock.

The exchange is said to work by buyers posting what they want and what they are prepared to pay for a particular item and sellers respond with a post about what they have and the quality the product is in.

MarkITx said it also acts as a mediator, recommending prices that the stock should be sold at to ensure buyers get a fair deal.

However resellers aren’t convinced.

One told ChannelEye: “I’m not entirely sure how this works but from first glance it looks to me like its just another way to drive resellers out of the market further.

“This marketplace will clearly offer cheaper priced items, whether second hand or not, which can be sold on to consumers and businesses at a cheaper price than many of us could offer.”

Another added: “Nice idea but it sounds to me like an excuse to pick up knock off gear. Is there certification of where this came from?”

Dell: we’re serious about enterprise

Posted on January 31, 2013 by - News

haas330Dell CEO Michael Dell, so the rumours go, notoriously hates his company being referred to as a box-shifter.

While speculation about him personally taking the company off the market to exert more control increases, European bigwigs here at Dell’s Technology Camp, Amsterdam, took to the stage promising a packed room of analysts and reporters that Dell is on an aggressive push into enterprise, but that it is very much established there already.

Dell believes it will find opportunity in a world plagued with recession, and heavy hitters such as Marius Haas, president for Dell Enterprise Solutions, are fighting the company’s corner.

Opening the presentation was Aongus Hegarty, president, Dell EMEA. He insisted that Dell’s position is as an established software company, and that its many recent acquisitions – recently herded into one umbrella group as Dell Software, are paying off. Recurring themes from all the speakers were the company’s broad intellectual property and a vast stockpile of patents, swelling with each acquisition.

Crucially, Aongus pointed out that Dell is unique to the competition. Showing a slide that presented the company in a very favourable light within the enterprise, his statement was backed up by HP veteran Marius Haas. Haas said that over the last 10 or so years, people have been mostly thinking about performance and value – but the trend has shifted onto how also to provide operational efficiency across the board.

Haas pointed out that systems can be expensive to maintain, and flagged the Itanium as an example. Although these systems can provide some operational efficiencies, costs are there because they don’t provide the full package, according to Haas. Even with cheaper Chinese vendors (naming no names), though capital costs may be at bargain prices, operational costs can be higher because there are other factors to think in – and they still must be maintained. This is where Dell differs, he said.

Scalability is another key point. Being able to deliver services from the SMBs to enterprise level means more opportunity and flexibility. Haas mentioned an initiative by the British government to store all data from every study in a digital format: this leads on to conversations from high computational requirements through to what is possible with tape storage, or the cheapest options to protect and keep that data.

Although there has been a slow down in business spending, Dell fully expects the second half of this year to pick up. We will have to wait and see. What is clear, is that Dell is serious about further entrenching its brand as an enterprise company and its execs were quite convincing. Can a further shift away from shaky consumer territory be on the cards?