Spring brings things you expect – tax day (in the US), storms and showers (in much of the Northern hemisphere), and some variant of Dell/EMC/Dell Technologies World (in whatever Las Vegas is!). But this Spring brought something unexpected too – at Dell Technologies World the discussion for the closing general session panel centered on “optimism and happiness in the digital age.” So there!
It was actually a fascinating discussion and capped a week where such ostensibly non-techy fare - at least in the manner of announcement and spec sheet competition – was mentioned more than once and more than in passing. Talk of priorities and possibilities rather than just products and portfolios was of course very refreshing…although it’s probably not just Dell's “heart” (!?) that was on display; big systems-tech vendors are so broad that trying to find a way to tie everything together is perhaps the inevitable endgame? And perhaps corporate attitudes are as good a way as any to promote differentiation and user loyalty, when the more traditional product battles are wrapped in the convenient, and essential, flag of cross-vendor-collaboration!?
Anyhow, despite Dell (both the company and the man) talking about “technology as a force for good,” there was still a lot going on under the philosophical covers! Here’s a 7 minute video where my colleagues and I try to capture some of the key news, with insights and meaning:
As you heard in the video, the foundational drumbeat all week was that of “Cloud.” As a general IT market mantra, that’s hardly new, but the gusto with which Dell now embraces it is; whether talking up its own “how to do it” approach – which I shall steadfastly call ‘VMEverywhere’ until they rebrand it! – or whether talking up its “how to buy it” relationships with all the mega cloud vendors, Dell was keen to show how it can be, more than ever, anything and everything to everybody. Even perhaps, that is, a purveyor whose actions can contribute to global optimism and happiness…..
