Chuck Whitten (Dell)
Dell is expanding its Dell APEX portfolio across cloud platforms, public cloud storage software, client devices and compute.
Additions announced at the Dell Technologies World conference in Las Vegas include a portfolio of what Dell described as "turn-key systems" developed in collaboration with cloud partners VMware, Red Hat and Microsoft to deliver consistent multicloud operations.
Dell also announced APEX block storage for AWS and Microsoft Azure and Dell APEX file storage for AWS to bring its software and enterprise data storage capabilities to public clouds.
APEX Compute delivers bare metal compute resources allowing businesses to scale securely while paying only for what they use.
APEX PCaaS (PC as-a-service) was also released to help companies simplify IT and deploy new client technology with predictable costs, freeing up capital and improving user experiences.
Dell said the additions to its multicloud portfolio would help businesses operate and innovate faster through improving the management and mobility of applications and data wherever they reside.
"Our customers continue to look for a simpler technology experience to easily manage and access their assets and applications with predictable costs and greater flexibility," said Chuck Whitten, co-chief operating officer of Dell Technologies.
APEX now spanned Dell's portfolio, from PCs and IT on-premises to public clouds and edge locations, giving customers greater freedom to use it to support their businesses as needed, he said.
The announcements amounted to a significant expansion of Dell's portfolio, creating a commonality between public cloud and on-premises environments to simplify workload placement, said Matthew Eastwood, senior vice president of IDC.
“Organisations are looking to streamline their IT environments so that data and applications can live in the right place to deliver the most value for their businesses,” he said.
The announcements follow a series of changes to Dell's APEX partner offer that included a simplified incentive structure via an APEX+ category for all incentive-eligible solutions. Rebates and earned marketing development funds were also applied across the full category for eligible partners.
Dell also extended global partner resell availability for the APEX portfolio to Australia and New Zealand last September, saying this would give partners the opportunity to include their own value-added capabilities in offerings to customers.
Dell APEX cloud platforms are a portfolio of systems integrating Dell infrastructure, software and cloud operating stacks to deliver consistent multicloud operations, extending cloud operating models to on-premises and edge environments, Dell said.
They allow workloads to be placed in the optimal location based on desired performance, cost and security requirements with data mobility across a common multicloud storage layer.
Customers will be able to move data easily between on-premise environments and Dell APEX Block Storage for Public Cloud deployments, for instance, Dell said.
The new systems and enhancements are also designed to accelerate IT and developer productivity using familiar management tools and software-driven automated deployment and lifecycle management.
APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure, for instance, enhances the hybrid experience on Azure with software integration across the stack, Dell said. Automated lifecycle management is delivered through Microsoft native management tools and engineering collaboration between the partners.
The platform could help users modernise their platforms and deliver faster time to value on Azure Arc-enabled infrastructure with consistent operations and governance across on-premises data centres, edge locations, and the Azure public cloud.
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Red Hat OpenShift simplifies container-based application development and management, wherever applications are developed and deployed.
The full stack software integration and automation platform is powered by Kubernetes so customers could run containers and virtual machines side by side and natively for a variety of workloads across any hybrid footprint.
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for VMware allows customers to deploy vSphere on a fully integrated system with highly scalable, high-performance software-defined storage. This joins Dell APEX Private Cloud and Dell APEX Hybrid Cloud to offer more choice for VMware customers pursuing multi-cloud architectures.
Also announced was Dell APEX Block Storage for AWS and Microsoft Azure, combining, Dell said, performance, scalability and cyber resilience with public cloud economics and services such as AI.
Dell APEX File Storage, meanwhile, delivers file performance and capabilities in the public cloud to support a variety of performance-intensive workloads including AI, machine learning, media and entertainment and life sciences.
These join APEX Protection Storage for Public Cloud as part of Dell’s portfolio of software-defined storage for public clouds.
Dell APEX Console enhancements include new management, deployment, data mobility and discovery SaaS offerings to make it easier for operations teams to maintain multicloud storage and Kubernetes clusters.
Rob O'Neill attended Dell Technologies World 2023 in Las Vegas as a guest of Dell.
