As the world changes, having the flexibility and agility to respond to market demands more quickly than in the past are no longer a business advantage, they are a requirement. This according to Tony Wand, Dell’s solutions director for emerging countries.

To this end, the company has approached the enterprise storage sector with the clear goal of being able to address the data needs of businesses not only in the present, but to be able to address the future needs of companies as well.

Wand gave the example of an airport, which due to sudden global circumstances or events, might be compelled by legislation to be able to store their video footage for three weeks rather than one week, and how this would affect them from a storage point of view.  

He stressed that he urges clients to adopt a modular approach to capacity, and be in the position to add to their storage as the need arises, rather than try pre-empt what they might need in three years time and buy accordingly now.

One of the reasons for this approach is that if a company buys ten terabytes of storage today, but purchases too much for their needs, it would leave them with an underutilised investment, particularly as storage solutions become larger and less expensive over time.

Wand elaborated that in keeping with the emphasis on providing for business agility, the company is aiming to be able to provide enterprise customers with whichever services they may require, whether better performance or greater capacity, depending on the direction their business takes.

This is made possible through the acquisition of several companies, including virtualised storage solutions provider Compellent Technologies, and networking equipment manufacturer Force 10 Networks.

Notebooks, but also enterprise storage

One of the misconceptions faced by Dell is that it is a desktop and notebook company, and not a consideration for enterprise storage.

Wand’s plan for breaking down this misconception entails working with their partners to make potential customers aware of the technology on offer. He stressed that this did not mean that the company wouldn’t continue being competitive in the desktop and notebook space. Rather, he explained that the company planned to deliver an end-to-end solution, from the point at which data entered, typically a desktop, notebook or mobile device, to the point where data needed to be stored and archived.

While Wand affirmed his belief in making long term plans, he stressed that flexibility, agility and the ability to adapt to both bumps in the road and the opportunities that rapid changes could bring businesses were key.

The company’s concentration on the enterprise follows the launch of its largest business computing portfolio to date earlier this year. Dell SA currently offers a portfolio of storage products for large businesses, including  the EqualLogic series for network storage, Fusion-io ioDrive for direct attached storage and Dell DX object storage solutions.