The second-largest computer maker in the world is in the news again, this time with Round Rock-based Dell Inc. (DELL) announcing plans to invest $1 billion in cloud data centers to aid customers in the build, validation and architecture of cloud computing.
As a new kid in the market of cloud computing, Dell is teamed up with Microsoft Corp. in a three-year agreement to help users manage and deploy cloud technologies. Whether Dell will be able to keep pace with the likes of IBM Corp. or Hewlett-Packard Co. remains to be seen.
Dell already provides cloud services to big companies such as Facebook and Salesforce.com, but competition is fierce among providers.
Emphasis on the data centers includes hosted cloud services for customers, and centers for Dell clients to design and build their own systems.
“We’re really interested in helping customers build private clouds. We’re really not trying to go after the hosting companies that do infrastructure as a service,” said Steve Schuckenbrock, president of Dell Services, in a statement to clarify Dell’s intentions. “The data centers will largely be modular and oriented toward cloud capabilities, whether it’s desktop as a service or private and public cloud capabilities.We’ve announced plans to host Azure clouds, VMware Clouds, as well as OpenStack clouds. We’re going to have cloud platforms that customers demand.”
According to Dell’s press release, the new data centers will be a global venture throughout the next two years with a planned launch of 12 data centers in 2011, and an additional 10 more in the next 18 months. The first 12 global solution centers will showcase technologies to users in Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Northern California; Brazil; Shanghai; Singapore; Tokyo; Sydney; Limerick, Ireland; Frankfurt, and Paris.
Dell has shown itself as a major player in several acquisitions in 2010 that span the globe. In the cloud alone, Dell secured several buys and appears to have shifted strategies from lower profit margins in PCs to a move into the more lucrative data storage space. Even Michael Dell, CEO of the computer magnate, is on record claiming that most of the company’s margins and profits don’t come from PCs today.
Through the last few months, Dell has positioned itself to make a major grab at the cloud computing market through acquisitions from Plano-based Perot Systems, systems management appliances maker KACE, storage vendor Exanet, data center automation specialist Scalent Systems, software-as-a-service provider Boomi, storage optimization company Ocanira Networks, and data and storage provider Compellent Technologies Inc.
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