Infrastructure, Cloud & DevOps

What a week. Now that I have had a day to recover, let’s discuss Dell Technologies World. What happened, what was interesting, and what does this mean for the future?

Now, let’s start by discussing the new product announcements, which were both numerous and impressive. For example: (more…)

With Dell Technologies World coming next week, now is the time to focus on what questions we want Dell to answer. And, what questions should they answer? Yes, we want to see new technology. We expect it at this point. And while I do have some technology questions for Dell Technologies, we also need to focus on the bigger picture, or the Bigger Truth as we say at Enterprise Strategy Group.

So, while I am excited for what Dell Technologies and its multiple divisions have in store for us, here are the questions that I want Dell to answer, and more importantly, I feel they need to answer.

1. Who is Dell Technologies? This may seem like a simple question, but it isn’t. Dell has enjoyed success in recent quarters. Hardly a day goes by without Dell’s advertisement appearing on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Dell’s success, however, is always described in the context of its multiple divisions, each targeting multiple separate segments. My question for Dell Technologies is, will the company stay content to innovate as multiple separate divisions, or will the technologies cross pollinate? Dell’s breadth of innovation offers a rare opportunity to deliver something new, something different. Yes, its current level of innovation is impressive and, as I noted earlier, has been very successful. While I recognize that I am, fairly or unfairly, moving the goalposts on Dell Technologies, I want to see the company combine more of its technologies to make 1 + 1 deliver 3 to IT organizations desperate for solutions.
2. What is the response to the public cloud? I could have chosen any one of several use cases, but the cloud is top of mind almost everywhere. According to recent ESG research, 86% of IT organizations leverage some form of public cloud services. Hybrid cloud is the norm, and it isn’t easy. Nearly one in four (24%) IT decision makers identified the need to leverage both the data center and off-premises public cloud infrastructure as a factor driving increased IT complexity. To some extent, this is an example of where my previous question applies. One area (of many) where Dell Technologies could/should do something new is with the hybrid cloud. Microsoft has Azure Stack. AWS has Outposts. Google just announced Anthos. The major public cloud providers are in the data center. Dell Technologies has the portfolio either to partner with those solutions or to compete with them, or to do both. Next week will hopefully offer some insight into how Dell plans to tackle the ever-increasing cloud opportunity, as individual divisions or as a cohesive team.

Are you heading to Dell technologies world? What do you want to hear? Let me know.

With the dust just settling from Google Next ’19, let me just say, there is a lot to unpack. If you had a chance to read my preview blog last week, you will have seen that I had two questions going into Google Next, and wow, did they ever answer them.

Before the event I wanted to know if Google was helping its customers transform digitally, and not simply giving them a solution once the transformation was complete. Well, enter Google Anthos. (more…)

Next week is Google Cloud Next. Are you ready? Before we get inundated with all the cloud news over the next few days, I thought I would take a moment and share the two questions that are framing my expectations for the event next week in San Francisco.

• What steps is Google taking to lead the IT and Business transformation? The cloud and innovative data services offered by Google are changing what is possible for businesses to achieve with their data. What is on the plate for 2019? And what should businesses be doing to position themselves to maximize what Google has to offer? How is Google helping them? (more…)

This week, Pure Storage announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Compuverde. According to Pure Storage, the addition of Compuverde will expand Pure’s file-based storage capabilities, as well as its ability to support hybrid cloud deployments. Those are the basics, so let’s look at what all this means.

This is a move in the right direction, but only time will tell whether it is the right move for Pure.

There are very few things I know for certain. The future is often unpredictable. If there were two things, though, that I would be willing to bet almost any amount of money on, it would be: (more…)

Today, Lenovo announced Lenovo TruScale, a new IT subscription service with a wealth of benefits for businesses seeking to offload the complexity of IT, thereby freeing resources to focus on higher-value activities. In other words, Lenovo takes care of the day-to-day minutia, and IT can free up the resources to focus on maximizing the value of their data and competing in the newly proclaimed digital economy.

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It’s that time of year again. As we enter 2019, let’s take a moment to slow down, look ahead, and predict some of the IT- and data storage-related trends that will emerge the next 12 months.

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