5 Issues I'd Like to See Addressed at Dell Technologies World
As Dell now has a complete stack for the on-premises datacenter, this event should have a little something for everyone.
Although Dell Technologies World will not be the biggest IT event of 2018, it will have one of the biggest impacts due to its scope. All the key components of the newly formed Dell Technologies -- Dell, EMC, Pivotal, RSA, SecureWorks, Virtustream and VMware -- will gather this year to show off their wares and discuss their technologies in Las Vegas April 30-May 3 at the Venetian Hotel. As Dell now has a complete stack for the on-premises datacenter, this event should have a little something for everyone. While there's a lot to look forward to, here are five issues that I'd like to see addressed at Dell Technologies World this year.
TAKE 1
Cloud.In my introduction I stated that "Dell now has a complete stack for the on-premises datacenter," and the key word here is "on-premises." What Dell is missing is its own public cloud. Yes, Dell Technologies has set up excellent relationships with AMS, Google, Azure and other public cloud providers, but relationships do not have the same impact as running a service or providing a product yourself and I'd like this conference to address this issue.
TAKE 2
VMware.This year has been crazy for VMware, and a few rumors have surfaced surrounding potential future shifts in the relationship between Dell and VMware, including that Dell will allow itself to be acquired by VMware and return to public ownership, Dell will buy back the stock of VMware that it does not already own, or Dell will slowly sell off the VMware stock that it has. I'm hoping that these rumors, among others, will finally be put to rest at this event and give Dell customers an official glimpse of what is to become of VMware.
TAKE 3
Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI).The HCI market was the fastest-growing on-premises sector in the datacenter last year. Reports show that HCI last year increased 68 percent and generated more than $1 billion in revenue, and Dell was able to garner the No. 1 spot within HCI sales last year. Dell needs to maintain its lead in this category, and I expect that it will make announcements on how the company's HCI portfolio will expand to incorporate its other storage technologies in this fast-growing market.
TAKE 4
Frenemies.Although Dell has a complete stack of software and hardware, it also has a huge ecosystem that provides services for the niches that it does not service. I fully expect that Dell will make announcements at this event that will alienate some of its long-standing ecosystem partners by announcing either competitive products or features in existing products that will compete with some of its ecosystem's providers.
TAKE 5
The Future.I believe that most attendees come to events such as this one to get a glimpse of the future of IT and to use that information to spot trends and gear of which their company and/or careers can take advantage. As Dell is a huge player in the IT field it can, and has, set the direction of IT. At this event, I would like to see Dell set a clear direction for what the datacenter will look like in the next five years, and most important, what technology it will be supplying to enable that vision.
About the Author
Tom Fenton has a wealth of hands-on IT experience gained over the past 30 years in a variety of technologies, with the past 20 years focusing on virtualization and storage. He currently works as a Technical Marketing Manager for ControlUp. He previously worked at VMware in Staff and Senior level positions. He has also worked as a Senior Validation Engineer with The Taneja Group, where he headed the Validation Service Lab and was instrumental in starting up its vSphere Virtual Volumes practice. He's on X @vDoppler.