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Companies must innovate to stay relevant in a changing world: that’s Dell’s gospel. It doesn’t matter whether this happens in the cloud, on-premises or at the edge. Koen
Companies must innovate to stay relevant in a changing world: that’s Dell’s gospel. It doesn’t matter whether this happens in the cloud, on-premises or at the edge.
Koen Segers wakes us up immediately. “The costs of doing business are rising, and both small and large companies are feeling this. Despite economic uncertainty, you must continue to innovate. 37 percent of companies fear that they will no longer be relevant in five years. However, most Belgian companies are currently lagging behind. Innovators are successful because they think differently: they learn from their mistakes and use new technologies in accordance with the goals of the entire organization. Innovation is a team sport: no one can do it alone.” It is a special day for Segers: As the newly appointed managing director of the Belux division, he has the honor of opening the Dell Technologies Forum in Brussels for the first time.
The common thread throughout the meeting, not surprisingly, is innovation and dealing with a changing world. To convey this message, Dell invites its executives. None other than Michael Dell addresses the audience in a video message. One person who has physically traveled to our country is EMEA CEO Adrian McDonald. “The world is changing so quickly today that I have to constantly adapt the content of my lectures,” he opens his keynote with a joke.
Innovation is a team sport: no one can do it alone.
Koen Segers, Managing Director Dell Technologies Belux
In particular, McDonald sees technology that will cause a seismic shift. You can probably guess it: generative AI. “It has often been said that technology will change everything. Technology can change a lot, but rarely everything. Well, I think generative AI is really going to change everything.”
McDonald makes no secret of his enthusiasm for generative AI. He even calls technology a “superpower.” “Generative AI creates content and actions. It helps you see the future of your business. Technology doesn’t just support your strategy, it drives it.” The message is clear: “You have to participate and win.”
The word “change” also applies to Dell. The company is still known to the general public primarily for its PCs, but it has long since developed into an all-rounder in the IT sector, with software as well as hardware in its portfolio. Dell still sees the laptop as an important anchor today, emphasizes Segers.
“The PC is still relevant, I dare say that PCs are more relevant than ever.” A laptop is always part of the constant equipment of the average office worker. But to get the most out of PCs, companies need to rethink their purchasing policies. Segers believes that giving everyone within the organization the same device is a way of thinking from prehistoric times.
He clarifies his point: “You need to look at what profiles you have in your organization. A device must be tailored to the employee’s role: a sales representative needs a different type of laptop than a field representative. This goes beyond a laptop: the peripheral accessories also have to be custom-made. The entire PC configuration is adjusted per profile.”
This is also changing the way Dell sells its devices. “We are now focusing more on lifecycle management and the integration of software and hardware. “With the help of partners, we are integrating the PC into a broader as-a-service consumption model,” says Segers. A bridge to AI is quickly created again. The PC market may be in a prolonged slump, but AI is expected to turn things around. “Today, AI is already integrated into PC software, for example to analyze which applications you use frequently and, on this basis, to distribute memory better.” Many more AI applications for PCs will be added in the coming years.”
The promises of big technology companies about AI sound great on paper, but in practice it is still a search for the holy grail for many companies. Not everyone is prepared for the AI boom, notes Segers. “Transforming data into insights is one of the biggest barriers to innovation. This starts with the infrastructure: it must be scalable and able to cope with data growth. Intelligence needs to be built into your infrastructure.”
Dell has made it his personal battle to protect companies from vendor lock-in. As a customer, you should avoid tying your data to a single cloud provider and ensure you have control, advises McDonald. “Vendor lock-in is expensive and also very risky for your company. It’s important to find the fastest path to the digital value of all your assets.”
To be clear: McDonald and Dell have nothing against the public cloud. “We find that while our customers are fans of the public cloud model, they are concerned about hidden costs and other issues. With Dell Apex, we extract workloads from the cloud on demand, but also add value to your public cloud.”
Retaining a supplier is expensive and also very risky for your company.
Adrian McDonald, Vice President EMEA Dell Technologies
What Dell is doing is bringing the public cloud “to the ground,” says Segers. Dell not only connects your public cloud and your on-prem infrastructure, but also takes into account a third factor that should not be underestimated: edge computing. “The Edge is one of our most important growth pillars. The computing power needs to be where the data is, and that is often at the edge. There are many use cases that require local computing capacity: your use case ultimately determines everything.”
“For me, the debate between cloud or edge is completely over: multi-cloud is now the norm,” Segers continued. “The challenge now is to equip edge locations with the right IT and make them work with your cloud(s) in an orchestrated way. Since companies rarely have the resources to do this themselves, they turn to the provider to do this. We do both ground-to-the-cloud, where software is separated from the hardware and put into the cloud, and cloud-to-the-ground. Dell is one of the few providers that integrates everything end-to-end.” With Dell, you don’t book a one-way trip between the edge and the cloud, but rather a round-trip ticket.
The cloud or edge debate is finally over: multicloud is now the norm. The computing power must be where the data is.
Koen Segers, Managing Director Dell Technologies Belux
Three main themes of the Dell Technologies Forum were addressed: Future of work, modern data infrastructure And Multicloud. The fourth topic Security plays no supporting role at all. Segers: “Security is one of the crucial pillars of a data strategy, but also a stumbling block for many companies. In addition to standard disaster recovery, we also focus on “cyber recovery”. We can isolate a copy of the “crown jewels” of a customer’s data in a cybervault. We then use AI to determine what the last clean copy of the data is so that we can immediately restore the data in the event of a cyberattack.”
Dell did not choose these four main topics at random. These are the four pillars that drive Dell’s drive for innovation. Segers hopes that he can pass on this urge: “Innovation is important to survive these uncertain times. Companies that focus on innovation simply perform better.”
This editorial article was created in collaboration with Dell.
Source: IT Daily
As an experienced journalist and author, Mary has been reporting on the latest news and trends for over 5 years. With a passion for uncovering the stories behind the headlines, Mary has earned a reputation as a trusted voice in the world of journalism. Her writing style is insightful, engaging and thought-provoking, as she takes a deep dive into the most pressing issues of our time.
