Dell Seeks to Improve Services Through Support Hubs
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SEPTEMBER 13, 2004  - Dell Inc. is pushing ahead with plans to open a series of IT support hubs worldwide in an effort to improve its ability to serve customers, especially corporate users.
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While earlier efforts by Dell to sell Linux-based hardware may not have been a big success, the company is heeding the advice of IT users and trying it again.
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Dell has teamed up with cluster-management app-maker Platform Computing Inc. to create a small but powerful rack-mounted server complete with open-source cluster-management tools.
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Dell and Microsoft have launched a joint development project to improve the management of Dell servers with Microsoft software. The two companies said Monday that they have integrated their respective management
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Industry giants AMD, Intel, Dell, Microsoft and Sun have thrown their weight behind a web services specification that could provide a common way for systems to access and exchange management information.
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(InfoWorld) - Dell has announced the availability of virtualisation services that aim to help enterprises draw up and implement their virtualisation plans -- and it'll help you choose from its own hardware and software portfolio too of course. The process starts with Dell's Virtualisation Readiness Assessment (VRA). The VRA provides companies with a way to evaluate the impact a virtual infrastructure will have on its data center, according to the company. Dell reckoned that the service indicates the potential financial savings of a virtual infrastructure and explains how a virtualized environment could improve server management, maximize uptime and streamline deployment, and enable a company to simplify and scale operations to meet present and future demands. Dell's partners in the initiative include VMware, Microsoft, Red Hat, and Novell/SuSE. Dell said it provides a number of other virtualisation services including 'health checks', infrastructure and migration workshops, as well as design and implementation services that include proof of concept testing prior to deployment. The aim, said Dell is to provide a single source for a tested and vendor-validated virtualized solution. The Texas company said its services division aims to provide an end-to end virtualisation solution that simplifies IT and helps its customers design, configure, test, migrate, and maintain their systems, as well as reap the benefits of virtualisation. Dell quoted four reference sites for its services. The first is Deelgemeente Ijsselmonde, a local authority in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The system Dell helped set up helps to deliver key community services to its surrounding population, via a consolidated server environment. The second reference site, said Dell, is Belgian consultancy ARCADIS which has implemented a SAN with a virtualized system that makes disaster recovery simpler and represents a step towards an efficient disaster recovery plan. Third, AZ Vesalius, a hospital in Belgium, is using a virtual server infrastructure to improve scalability to support the hospital's growth, according to Dell. And lastly, when the Marienhaus Klinikum Hospital in Germany needed a dependable IT Infrastructure for its 24/7 medical services, incorporating a back-up strategy for business continuity, it did so with the help of Dell's virtualisation services. "Increasingly, companies are looking for ways to make themselves more agile and competitive as well as create the most efficient IT infrastructure within the organization," said Dell's infrastructure consulting director Francois Argouges. "By managing and scaling resources as needed, organizations can continually refresh their IT infrastructure to support their dynamic business needs. Dell is committed to working with its customers and partners in order to deliver the most enhanced virtualisation solution on the market, backed up by industry leading support and services." The company also announced that it'll be unveiling a Vista migration service in autumn 2007.
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Dell yesterday announced three new storage systems across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) designed to help change the economics of storage by bringing enterprise-class capabilities to SMB customers, allowing them to scale their operations as storage needs increase.
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(InfoWorld) - Dell Inc. is reaching out to small businesses worldwide with five new servers that it says perform better, consume less power and are easier to set up and manage than their predecessors. The new servers -- Dell PowerEdge 1900, 860, 840, SC1430 and SC440 -- feature dual-core Intel Corp. Xeon processors, which allow them to run multiple applications like file serving, e-mail and databases. They also come pre-installed with software like Microsoft Corp.'s Small Business Server R2 and with management tools to simplify their operation and administration, Dell officials said during a conference call on Wednesday. Small businesses typically lack the in-house IT resources of larger companies, so they prefer hardware that requires minimal tuning and maintenance. "Small business owners want affordable technology products that are easy to deploy, manage and support," said Frank Muehleman, vice president of Dell's U.S. Small Business division. There are about 6.2 million small businesses in the U.S. and they are expected to spend about US$98 billion in IT products and services this year, said Laurie McCabe, an analyst with AMI Research who participated in the call. "They are increasingly relying on IT and the Internet to help them run and manage their businesses," she said. Megan Duckett, owner of theatrical drapery manufacturer Sew What Inc. in Los Angeles, beta tested the PowerEdge 860 and found it to be "impressive in performance" and "very reliable" in supporting the company's 11-PC network, she said during the call. She plans to use it to host her company's Web site in house. The new servers, which are available worldwide, are also aimed at remote offices of large companies. The PowerEdge 1900 is a dual-socket tower server featuring dual-core Intel Xeon 5100 series processors, and is optimized for database, messaging, file and print sharing and remote location deployments, said Jay Parker, director of Dell's PowerEdge servers. It starts at US$1,399. He described the PowerEdge 840 as a "general-purpose tower server" with Intel Xeon 3000 series processors. It is designed for remote offices, retail stores and small businesses, and starts at $749. The PowerEdge 860 is a 1U rack-mountable server with dual-core Intel Xeon 3000 series processors. Starting at $949, it is intended for edge-of-the-network, infrastructure or Web applications. The PowerEdge SC440 is an entry-level tower server with dual-core Intel Xeon 3000 series processors, and can be used for file and print sharing in a small business setting or in a small workgroup, as well as for e-mail, Web or standard applications. It starts at $599. Finally, the PowerEdge SC1430, starting at $1,049, features dual-core Intel Xeon 5100 series processors and is ideal for file and print sharing, e-mail messaging and small Web server applications. Every server ships with the Dell Server Assistant, a CD-ROM for setting up and configuring the PowerEdge system components and software. Dell has been in a slump for months. Its financial results for the first six months of the year have been disappointing. It had to recall millions of defective laptop batteries because they can overheat and catch fire. Moreover, it is being investigated by both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for possible accounting and financial reporting irregularities. Â
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Pair extend shared tech support services to dozens of markets.
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At a time when economists and politicians fret over the future of American manufacturing, Dell isn't just defying a global trend, it's helping to set the standard.
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New initiatives aim to help businesses create server clusters for high-performance computing tasks.
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The company will introduce two services aimed at improving local support for enterprise customers by improving turnaround times.
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Dell is patching up its mashed-up enterprise support model by retooling some elements.
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Microsoft and Dell launched a new initiative program for their enterprise consumers that promise to be productive and cost efficient.
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Dell on Tuesday said it was ditching its predefined support model and introducing a more customizable program that can be tailored depending on products and services support that a customer needs.The ProSupport portfolio will enable enterprises and small and medium businesses to buy specific support modules to set up and fix hardware and critical applications. The model is not for the consumer market, said Steve Meyer, vice president of global services at Dell.Dell used to offer the &quot;medal&quot; model for services -- platinum, gold, silver, and bronze -- that bought customers a predefined set of support services. Under the new plan -- now available to SMBs and not just large enterprises -- customers will be able to buy specific services and a timetable within which issues are addressed, Meyer said.For example, small businesses with remote offices can buy into services that enable quicker response times and support for point-of-sale software like Microsoft&#39;s Small Business Server, Meyer said.&quot;We&#39;re in the process of enhancing capabilities and adding experts and agents in specific areas,&quot; like operating systems and storage, said Cary Gumbert, lead product manager for Dell ProSupport.Dell will also provide advice on software applications including Norton AntiVirus, Microsoft Office, Intuit QuickBooks, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Acrobat. In addition to training its own staff, Dell is partnering with vendors including Microsoft, Oracle, and EMC to provide support.The support services offered will be standard worldwide, Meyer said.Dell found that customers want a personalized support experience based on who they are, Meyer said. IT professionals at large enterprises may need fewer services compared to small businesses that don&#39;t have IT departments, and which may need more hand-holding and rapid response to enable server uptime.Analysts weren&#39;t sure if the new offering is a radical difference from the support model already being offered by Dell. The new support model from Dell is just old wine in a new bottle, said Ron Silliman, principal analyst at Gartner.&quot;It&#39;s not so terribly different from the original model they had. It&#39;s a return to that, as the model had gotten away from its strengths,&quot; Silliman said.Wading through a complicated support process, Dell customers didn&#39;t always get the support they were seeking, Silliman said. The reorganized decision tree is neater and the modular approach will make it easier to solve problems, he said. The earlier model was a neat package that was incrementally mashed up with messy ideas over time, Silliman said.&quot;The best way to describe it -- When you get a brand-new sweater and see it at the back of the closet three years later, you can see it&#39;s fuzzy. Time does those things,&quot; Silliman said.The support model has more global consistency than the earlier model, which is good for global organizations, Silliman said. It also provides an educated approach to support by better understanding the customer, not the hardware, Silliman said.Understanding customers&#39; needs will ultimately help Dell deliver better services to consumers too, said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. However, while Dell has been criticized for a weak consumer support function, the new support model is targeted only at enterprise customers for now. It is possible that this support model will be delivered to customers in the future, Dell said.Pricing for support varies based on system and options selected, a Dell spokesman said. For example, in the U.S., Dell ProSupport for a PowerEdge server starts around $399 per system for three years of service, and can range up to a few thousand dollars for critical support. Dell ProSupport for Optiplex desktops starts around $79 per system for three years of service.
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Dell Inc. DELL.O Chairman Michael   Dell on Tuesday threw his support behind Chief Executive Kevin   Rollins, while promising the computer maker was "working   diligently" to resolve its mounting problems.
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Microsoft is set to change the way that organisations handle upgrades. The company has teamed up with Dell and Vintela in an attempt to cut the people-hours that are spent on software support.