Dell: Scalent Deal Targets Virtualization Opportunities
In its latest step towards virtualized data centers, Dell is acquiring Scalent Technology. But what exactly does Scalent bring to Dell’s table? And will Dell PartnerDirect VARs also benefit? Here are some quick observations.
According to Dell, Scalent allows customers to “fully realize” benefits of a virtualized data-center. Dell plans on merging this technology with their existing “Advanced Infrastructure Manager” (AIM) offering. The acquisition is expected to close in fiscal Q2, Dell adds.
For the uninitiated, Dell AIM simplifies data-center management by allowing one single administrator t0 “dynamically allocate compute, storage and network resources for physical and virtual application workloads…”
In short, re-purposing the network, tweaking traffic and dynamically deploying things becomes much easier and with built-in high-availability, companies can deal with a potential infrastructure failure without fear of disruption. Dell also touts their solution to work with industry standard servers, switches, Ethernet, and fiber, allowing for ease of integration since there’s no proprietary technology.
All of this will be rolled into Dell’s ongoing foray into the virutalization world with Dell’s “Virtual Integrated Systems” looking to unite all hardware in the data-center. Lastly, Dell slipped in this little remark which seems to be a jab at Cisco and HP…
Dell’s solution is a distinct alternative to the closed nature of competitors’ proprietary and vertically integrated stacks.
Is Dell setting itself up to grow bigger? And where do PartnerDirect channel partners fit in this picture? In recent months, Dell Channel Chief Greg Davis has told us numerous times that the most successful PartnerDirect solutions providers are focused on servers, storage and virtualization to simplify and consolidate data centers. We therefore suspect Dell will promote Scalent to channel partners — but we’re double-checking our hunch with Dell’s channel team.
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