Providing Customers Greater Flexibility with Managed Detection and Response

In today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape, organizations require options to increase threat detection capabilities across their business and IT environment. With more threat vectors and precise targeting by adversaries, customers need continuous monitoring response capabilities to protect their most precious assets. To meet the unique needs of each customer, Dell Services is expanding its management capabilities to include your choice of XDR platforms so you get the one that best fits your IT environment.

Comprehensive Coverage

Dell Managed Detection and Response (MDR) portfolio brings to the table robust managed detection and response capabilities and 360° security operations, ensuring that threats are not only identified but addressed swiftly and efficiently. Our MDR security operations center (SOC) can utilize the CrowdStrike Falcon XDR platform to monitor, detect, investigate and respond to threats across your environment including endpoints, data centers, cloud and edge. This integration covers the full spectrum of threat detection including applying analytics gleaned from threat data across thousands of customers. Our experts assist customers in deploying the Falcon sensors and integrating technologies across their data sources via the supported XDR Third-Party Integrations. When threats arise, our security analysts use XDR capabilities to automate remediation or collaborate with you to address threats uncovered during monitoring. We also take proactive measures to help prevent future attacks.

Advanced Threat Intelligence

One of the standout features of the CrowdStrike Falcon platform, which analyzes and correlates billions of events from across the globe, is real-time threat detection. When managed by our MDR service, businesses benefit from actionable intelligence, proactive threat hunts and expert analysis, allowing them to stay one step ahead of attackers. This combination ensures that defenses are constantly updated and informed by the latest global threat intelligence.

In the event of a threat, our analysts use all available tools and capabilities to address the threat. This gives us context-rich data for full visibility into the threat actor for a quicker, more efficient response, allowing our analysts to respond appropriately, providing a hands-free experience with detailed logs so the customer can see our actions. These real-time response actions by the Dell SOC can be incorporated into playbooks which allows for automated response actions based on customized alert conditions, resulting in seamless security orchestration and decreased response time.

Speed and Efficiency

According to the 2024 CrowdStrike Global Threat Report, cyberattacks are faster, more sophisticated, and stealthier than ever. Dell’s MDR team provides 24/7 monitoring and expert response, and the integration of CrowdStrike’s lightweight agent that uses advanced algorithms and machine learning, threats are neutralized quickly, reducing the risk of significant damage or data loss. If a breach occurs, Dell MDR includes incident response and remediation hours which allows us to collaborate with our customers and bring business operations back online. Using CrowdStrike Falcon Forensics which collects historical data on the endpoint, the Dell Incident Response (IR) team can determine root cause and timeline to address the attack with surgical precision, leading to less interruption to end user productivity.

Simplified Management

Managing cybersecurity can be a complex and resource-intensive task. Organizations are challenged and are constantly in reactive mode as they are forced to do more with less as the cybersecurity skills gap grows. The integrated solution simplifies security management, offering a single, unified platform for threat detection, investigation and response across on premise and cloud domains. With Dell’s expertise in managed services and CrowdStrike’s advanced technology, organizations can alleviate the burden on their internal teams, allowing them to focus on strategic business initiatives and improving overall cybersecurity posture.

Source: dell.com

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Shift Device Refresh to a Hardware Lifecycle Management Leader

The increased digitization of goods and services has positioned PCs as the lifeblood of every modern business. And keeping pace with the latest updates to BIOS, drivers, Windows operating systems and applications is putting a strain on IT operations. Some factors at play include:

• Return to office. While hybrid workforces are here to stay, a recent IDC study shows many workers (78%) have already returned to the office permanently. Those devices that were deployed when workers went remote in 2020 are nearing their end-of-life date.
• AI. IDC forecasts artificial intelligence PCs to account for nearly 60% of all PC shipments by 2027. As you refresh your PC fleet, you will want to incorporate NPU-enabled configurations for the use cases that benefit from enhanced local AI.
• Windows OS transition. Windows 10 will go out of support on October 14, 2025, and the current version (22H2) will be the last version of Windows 10.

When I talk to customers about device refresh, I often hear they are burdened with bubble-like refresh events that are disruptive, cost more than they should, require IT to stop focusing on business-led initiatives and often result in a negative end user refresh experience. And with today’s hybrid environment, managing a decentralized workforce makes the refresh process even more complex, costly and disruptive.

Organizations struggling with these challenges should consider partnering with a global leader in PC refresh management to design and run an effective refresh program that encompasses:

• Automation of the entire refresh process, from system build to end user communication.
• Optimization of IT resources and a predictable refresh budget.
• A non-disruptive refresh experience for end users.

Bringing Together Dell’s Award-winning Hardware With its Hardware Lifecycle Management Expertise

Dell Managed Services for device refresh delivers a strategic PC refresh program that includes roll-out planning, procurement forecasting, end user communication and deployment automation.

Device refresh should not be disruptive to your business. Dell Technologies expertise brings planning tools and patented intellectual property to automate the refresh process. From strategic timing to efficient execution, you can hold Dell accountable to deliver exceptional refresh outcomes.

You can also rely on Dell for demand forecasting and control of end user device options to maintain clear refresh cost visibility over time. This enables a seamless supply chain, with timely and targeted availability, to keep your fleet refresh on track and in budget—all at a predictable cost per device.

Dell manages interactions and communications with end users throughout the refresh process, from request to deployment, inclusive of escalations and incident resolution. Our commitment ensures the refresh experience for your employees is productive and easy. For end users, getting a new PC should be like receiving a great gift— fun and exciting.

Managing the Device Lifecycle Beyond Day One

Once PCs are deployed and your end users are happy, there will be continued events that will occur over the span of the PC lifecycle where Dell can bring tremendous value. The Dell Lifecycle Hub ships new hire kits the same day or next business day of their request, facilitates whole unit exchange and can reclaim and recycle devices with NIST-level data wiping either onsite or remotely. Lifecycle Hub ensures your devices have more than one life by cascading reclaimed devices to end users in your organization. It also allows organizations to trade in their devices to get credits for the purchase of new Dell devices.

Time to Focus on Business-led IT Initiatives

As you consider your PC refresh needs and PC hardware lifecycle management needs, consider Dell Managed Services. Shift tedious and time-consuming work to us so you can focus on your business-led IT initiatives. 

Our PC hardware lifecycle management expertise spans the world, entails patented intellectual property and has been utilized by hundreds of customers for millions of device refreshes. Reach out to your Dell account representative today to learn more about how Dell can help you manage your upcoming PC refresh and your PC hardware lifecycle.

Source: dell.com

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Become the Enabler of Next Generation Data Monetization

Digital transformation has made the monetization of data grow substantially—and it’s not expected to stop soon. The game changer is that now, artificial intelligence (AI) becomes easily accessible to the enterprises and enables users to extract value from any data type. AI is the most powerful and important technological advancement of our generation. However, AI can expose organizations to new security risks and compliance issues that can be challenging to navigate. To overcome these challenges, Dell Technologies has partnered with Versa Networks to help service providers offer an efficient operational solution.

Data as an Economic Asset

We’ve all heard data is the new oil. The value of data is undisputable, and this is an intriguing concept because it’s a monumental shift of focus away from the technology toward the promise of impactful outcomes for business. Enterprises across industries are looking to data to help with increased profits, reduced risk, greater efficiency, higher customer and employee satisfaction and improved sustainability.

The ability to extract value from large sets of data can mean the difference between success or failure. Creating competitive advantages can come down to the speed and accuracy with which users can analyze data and react accordingly. The challenge is that securely and reliably transferring massive volumes of data can be expensive in terms of bandwidth, compute and security.

For example, data coming from Internet of Things (IoT) may be highly valuable when aggregated, but in its raw form generates massive volumes of data with relatively low information content. It may be beneficial from an analytics perspective to limit traffic by filtering only critical data. In terms of moving the data, WAN bandwidth can be limited by throughput or cost. Transmitting anything other than alerts can add traffic volume and contribute to increased latency on an already overloaded network.

These challenges result in the need to implement a system allowing for secure connectivity to transport the data from multiple sources located anywhere, while controlling the cost of the data transmission. To keep operations simple and support the massive growth of connection points, the network must be automated and self-configurable.

Why SD-WAN SASE?

Secure access service edge (SASE) is the modern network, converging security and networking into a single unified platform that delivers superior protection and performance compared to “bolted together” solutions. SASE enables organizations to securely connect branch offices, users, applications, devices and IoT systems regardless of their location. In addition to providing secure access, SASE enables fast, seamless and consistent application performance, via the cloud, on-premises or a combination of both, ensuring a positive user experience.

SASE includes many networking and network security services, but at the core requires Software Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Secure Web Gateways (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP). SASE services are tightly integrated within a single software stack without the requirement to connect multiple disparate functions, delivering the visibility and control needed to simplify how you connect to and protect your network. 

Simplify the Edge with the Power of Three

Dell Technologies has partnered with Versa Networks to deliver a flexible SD-WAN and SASE solution that allows service providers to monetize advanced data networking for their enterprise customers. With Dell and Versa, telecommunications service providers (TSP) and regional service providers can now propose solutions with a large scope of possible implementations to service businesses of all sizes no matter their requirements. The joint Dell and Versa architecture provides a highly flexible set of capabilities, ranging from the creation of a dedicated tenant utilizing cloud hosted shared components, to the ability to deploy dedicated resources on both service provider networks and the enterprise premises.

If the usage of public cloud is prohibited due to local regulations or enterprise security policies, service providers now have the possibility to deliver sovereign trusted SASE services with control on data path and data storage.

Broad device support is another strong value proposition. Nowadays, enterprise devices are not limited to worker laptops and include smartphones, tablets and IoT devices. Through integration with the mobile network and use of mobile SIM IDs, we enable the service provider to include all the mobile devices within an ecosystem as a part of the enterprise’s consolidated security and connectivity plan.

With Versa Networks, Dell Technologies has launched the Edge Network Security, SD-WAN SASE solution that allows service providers to deliver on next-generation data monetization and network services. For more information, please reach out to the Dell Solution Co-creation team.

Source: dell.com

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Secure Data, Wherever it Resides, with Proactive Strategies

In the fast-paced world of cyber threats, data breaches are a relentless force. Cloud environments, experiencing over 39% of breaches in 2022, are not immune. Regardless of location, typical adversaries target data through credential theft and lateral movement, followed by vulnerability exploitation.

Well-protected organizations are actively confronting these challenges by instituting good cyber hygiene, or a set of processes to maintain the security of users, devices, data and networks. Key capabilities include robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies, segmentation of networks and tightening of vulnerability management processes. These are foundational elements in a comprehensive approach to reduce the attack surface and protect data. As organizations navigate the intricacies of securing solutions in cloud environments like Microsoft Azure or Microsoft 365, adopting strategies that enhance cyber hygiene becomes imperative.

In today’s digital world, this is not just an option but essential to safeguard against myriad threats and to ultimately ensure the security and integrity of cloud workloads. Let’s examine how you can address these to secure your operations in a cloud environment with the shared responsibility model in mind.

Multi-layered Defense for a Resilient Cloud Strategy

Securing access privileges has long been a cornerstone of cybersecurity and remains the case in the cloud. This demands tightening IAM policies and procedures, which have historically been fragmented across various tools and platforms.

Indeed, many IT environments have traditionally operated in multiple silos, resulting in numerous sets of credentials and fragmented access controls. The result of this fragmentation has created opportunities for attackers to access an environment from its weakest point of control. To counter this threat, organizations must centralize IAM into a single, comprehensive tool for better control over access management across the organization. Centralizing IAM consolidates control, streamlines access management and reduces the number of credentials.

Furthermore, taking a centralized approach to IAM is a pivotal step to aligning with mature cybersecurity and Zero Trust. This approach can enable the use of principles such as Least Privileged Access, which focuses on providing the minimum viable access based on the IT and security needs of the user, application, or device.

Strengthening Network Segmentation

If an adversary does gain access to an environment via phishing or other means, their impact will be limited by the design of the network. A flat network structure allows bad actors to move laterally and cause extensive damage, as most IT assets reside on a single network. The best way to prevent this is commonly known as network segmentation. By having the different parts of the organization’s network walled off, the intruder’s potential lateral movement is limited.

In cloud environments, micro-segmentation can take security prevention to the next level by utilizing software to segment the network down to individual workloads. This granular approach significantly restricts unauthorized access and movement. Additionally, incorporating virtual networks and firewalls into your cloud environments creates a multi-layered network defense strategy. Virtual networks provide structured isolation, reducing the attack surface, while firewalls focus on safeguarding web applications and what can access them. This multi-layered approach vital for maintaining security for data in a multicloud world.

Evolving Toward Continuous Vulnerability Management

Traditionally, organizations have patched vulnerabilities based on maintenance window availability and in response to critical incidents. However, today’s approach requires a more proactive stance, fixing vulnerabilities on a continuous basis and strategically prioritizing and fortifying defenses against the most critical threats. In doing so, organizations proactively mitigate vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

A key aspect of proactive vulnerability management includes continuous scans for threats and known vulnerabilities through use of a vulnerability management tool. It’s not just to identify the vulnerabilities though but recommends prioritization of these vulnerabilities based on several factors such as potential impact, exploitability and significance of systems, data, and workloads. This continuous vigilance, coupled with an efficient remediation mechanism will enable organizations to swiftly address security vulnerabilities.

Taking a proactive stance toward vulnerability management will enable organizations to effectively mitigate security threats before they can be exploited—offering a solid foundation in safeguarding critical assets within IT, OT, IoT and cloud environments.

Remain Vigilant and Have a Plan in Place

A robust security strategy must not only operate as a guiding plan but should also remain flexible toward evolving threats. The three elements we’ve discussed—strong Identity and Access Management practices, network segmentation and regular patching of vulnerabilities—form the bedrock of a solid security foundation in the cloud.

Dell has recently announced a range of offers with Microsoft technologies to complement these security practices to help fortify organization. These new services include:

Identity & Endpoint Protection for MS Zero Trust

Implementation Services for Microsoft Azure Network Security

Implementation Services for Microsoft Defender for IoT and Cloud

With Dell Technologies Services, organizations can rely on us to help you with strategic and technology guidance and expertise, advisory and implementation best practices, and provide your organization with the skills you need to enhance your security posture and improve your cyber hygiene.

Source: dell.com

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Orchestrating Success: Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks as the Maestro

Imagine an orchestra without a maestro. Each musician playing their own tune and chaos reigning supreme. Now, imagine building a modern telecom cloud network without an engineered solution designed to meet today’s open standards or capable of setting the stage for tomorrow’s technological advancements. You’d be dealing with the equivalent of a symphonic mess.

Just as there are hurdles an orchestra encounters while striving to create the perfect performance, there are challenges communication service providers (CSPs) face building and deploying a modern cloud network. CSPs must contend with interoperability issues as they move toward a horizontal cloud stack. There are resource management challenges across infrastructure lifecycles and inefficiencies created for day zero through day two operations. Then there is the pressure of rapid technological changes and having the ability to quickly adopt the latest technologies into their infrastructure. This includes 5G, cloud-native technologies and open-source software that disaggregate network functions from the underlying hardware.

Orchestrating a telco cloud network efficiently across densely populated urban areas and out to far-lying rural landscapes, while keeping costs in check, is no small feat. That’s precisely where Dell Technologies and Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks step in to take center stage.

The Composers: Dell’s Engineering Team and Cloud Platform Partners

In this symphony of telecom innovation, the Dell Technologies engineering team takes on the role of the composer. They work in harmony with leading telecom cloud platform vendors, like Red Hat and Wind River, to craft the perfect score for the Telecom Infrastructure Blocks. Just as a composer creates a musical masterpiece, Dell’s engineers integrate, test and validate the Telecom Infrastructure Blocks to address specific 5G Core and vRAN/Open RAN (ORAN) workload requirements.

The Maestro and the Wand: Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks

This is where the magic happens. Telecom Infrastructure Blocks are pre-validated, integrated and engineered telco multicloud foundation building blocks. They consist of Dell PowerEdge servers along with software licenses for Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator, Bare Metal Orchestrator Modules and our cloud platform partner’s software.

This maestro is the heart and soul of the operation, directing every telecom infrastructure component’s move. Trying to deploy a modern telco cloud without it is like an orchestra without a conductor—a disorganized mess. To ensure everything operates harmoniously, Bare Metal Orchestrator Modules integrate with the cloud software to deliver a seamless deployment and lifecycle management experience of the entire cloud stack. The declarative automation capabilities of Bare Metal Orchestrator make it possible for CSPs to simply define the desired outcome of their infrastructure environment, and it does the rest. Bare Metal Orchestrator then translates that outcome into the steps needed to compose and deploy all necessary elements of the stack. Picture the conductor waving a wand and the servers’ memory, networking, storage and processors working together to meet the unique telecom workload requirements, like well-trained musicians.

The Performance Stage: Dell Factory Integration

This is where factory integration of the Dell PowerEdge servers and cloud platform software takes place. This reduces the time and cost of infrastructure deployment while helping to accelerate the onboarding of new technology. Integration in the Dell factory also minimizes the potential for configuration errors. Think of it as the moment before the curtain rises, where the orchestra fine-tunes their instruments, ensuring everything is in perfect harmony.

The Orchestra: Dell PowerEdge Servers Taking the Stage

Now, let’s talk about the orchestra: the compute servers, which each take up a vital role in creating the symphony of telecom services. Like different sections of an orchestra, these servers handle memory, networking, storage and processors with acceleration capabilities.

◉ Memory. The strings section, providing a foundational base for the network’s performance.

◉ Networking. Think of it as the woodwinds section, facilitating the smooth flow of data and communication.

◉ Storage. The brass section, offering robust support and structure.

◉ 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Processors. The percussionists, adding power and speed to the overall performance.

The Backstage Crew: Dell Services and Support Teams

In the world of telecom, Dell Services and Support Teams are the backstage crew of our orchestra. They ensure smooth performance and assistance when needed. Imagine the panic if a musician’s instrument breaks during a concert. Just as an instrument repair technician is on hand to support the orchestra, so is Dell’s support team. They stand at the ready to provide support in case of issues, guaranteeing the performance meets the highest telco standards, including rapid response times and service restoration.

The Concert: Bringing it all Together

Just as an orchestra relies on the conductor and sheet music to create beautiful music, CSPs can depend on Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for a well-orchestrated foundation. These building blocks streamline the design, configuration, lifecycle management and automation of the telecom cloud infrastructure, ensuring the right notes are played at the right time—consistently and efficiently.

◉ Simplify operations. Telecom Infrastructure Blocks are pre-integrated and validated systems that simplify operations for CSPs, minimizing integration requirements and automating manual tasks. They break down infrastructure silos and allow for the deployment of a flexible, cloud-native network without constraints.

◉ Reduce risks. Telecom Infrastructure Blocks ensure a consistent telco-grade deployment, or upgrade, of the cloud platform, reducing operational risks. Dell’s unified support model meets telecom industry standards, providing peace of mind.

◉ Increase agility. Telecom Infrastructure Blocks accelerate the introduction of new technology with continuous integration testing and validation. This can help CSPs reduce costs, improve customer experiences and meet business objectives.

Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks serve as the maestro, orchestrating the telecom network’s success. They ensure all the hardware and cloud software components play in perfect harmony, so CSPs can achieve optimal operational cost structures, meet stringent SLAs and quickly adopt and deploy new technologies. It’s the symphony of modernization, played with simplicity, efficiency, speed and confidence. Don’t leave your network without a conductor—choose Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for a symphonic performance in the telecom world.

Source: dell.com

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Unlock the Potential of Microsoft 365 Copilot

We are witnessing the beginning of the next big leap in productivity. Generative AI is primed to significantly accelerate our creation and synthesis of content, freeing time to focus on more creative, thoughtful and impactful work.

As the de facto standard among productivity suites, the ubiquity of Microsoft 365 places Microsoft 365 Copilot in a unique position to bring GenAI capabilities to employees directly within their existing workflows faster, and with built-in governance and security features that homegrown options may lack.

However, getting your environment ready and enabling your teams to benefit from Microsoft 365 Copilot will still require planning and a thoughtful rollout. Dell Technologies is a longtime Microsoft partner, and we are uniquely equipped to help organizations unlock the potential of Microsoft 365 Copilot, with a strategy to:

• Prepare your data, including security and compliance considerations
• Enable the right set of users
• Measure what matters, establishing productivity baselines before you begin

Get Your Data Ready

Beyond meeting the prerequisites and technical guidelines released by Microsoft, which outline specific needs in terms of licensing, data privacy and security, data hygiene and tenant management, you will need to prepare your data to be accessed by Microsoft 365 Copilot, ensuring secure but broad access to business information.

The more information Microsoft 365 Copilot can reference, the more useful it will be. The quality of outputs will be better if Microsoft 365 Copilot can tap into the data and signals between all your Microsoft services, including data residing in SharePoint and OneDrive repositories.

The centerpiece of these signals is the Microsoft Graph, a unified interface and map for accessing the wide range of interconnected data and services within the Microsoft 365 suite. Your organization can give Microsoft Graph a strong foundation by structuring content optimally and ensuring your most important and relevant content is moved to the Microsoft cloud. This evaluation should include ensuring stale content is archived and incomplete drafts are organized in a way that can be easily excluded from Microsoft 365 Copilot visibility.

Data permissions and security will also be critical to Microsoft 365 Copilot readiness. Businesses will need to closely evaluate permissions to make sure users have access to the “right” amount of content, preventing sensitive company data from being inadvertently made available to the wrong audiences.

Taking a carefully balanced approach to managing permissions—not too much, but not too little—will boost results while mitigating the risks of excessive access. Compliance tools, such as Microsoft Purview, can be used to assess your data and control visibility using labels, policies and tags.

Put Microsoft 365 Copilot Into the Hands of the Right People

We believe GenAI can have a meaningful impact on the entire workforce. Some roles, however, will realize greater productivity gains from Microsoft 365 Copilot. It is important to identify which users and work styles within the organization will benefit most and prioritize these employee personas for access to Microsoft 365 Copilot.

As general guidance, employees that create and synthesize content will likely benefit most in the initial use cases of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Marketing and product teams, for example, can use it to accelerate creation of artifacts and discover insights and correlations much more rapidly.

After identifying your priority users and their needs, one of the most significant aspects of Microsoft 365 Copilot effectiveness will be ensuring they are equipped with the knowledge and ability to effectively use it within their applications. A thoughtful communication and training plan, tailored to user roles and inclusive of prompt engineering concepts, is necessary as a part of a larger adoption and change management program. We also recommend creating a champions network to facilitate peer collaboration.

Measure the Effectiveness of Your Investment

As with every major technology investment, organizations need a way to track and measure the impact of GenAI. Since Microsoft 365 Copilot is designed to improve productivity, businesses need to establish a productivity baseline as a key point of reference before implementation.

To effectively measure such a nuanced concept as productivity, businesses should consider both quantitative and qualitative measurements. Formal experience measurement programs yield the best results from the quantitative side, since they align initial vision with desired outcomes.

The native tools within Microsoft 365 are a good starting point for basic insight. Microsoft’s adoption score and usage analytics, for example, can help quantify how your organization performs work across pre-defined productivity categories and technical experiences. Microsoft Viva Insights is another solution that can provide useful productivity metrics.

However, measuring sheer output will not by itself yield a meaningful baseline. Qualitative analysis is important and can be addressed with sentiment measurement, which typically involves non-intrusive survey tools that ask users simple questions post-rollout.

This analysis can help determine how much time Microsoft 365 Copilot has saved employees when creating new presentations, for example, or how helpful the technology has been to reduce time spent reading and responding to emails. My recommendation is that even sentiment questions should be quantitative in nature—ask how much time was saved instead of if time was saved.

To help businesses with this process, Dell provides Digital Employee Experience services to establish baseline measurements and monitor the impact of technology change on their organization.

Are You Ready for Microsoft 365 Copilot?

As organizations consider investing in Microsoft 365 Copilot, we advise beginning readiness activities early in order to hit the ground running with this game-changing technology.

Dell Technologies is an end-to-end solutions provider ready to assist with Microsoft 365 Copilot readiness, including licensing agreements for Microsoft 365 Copilot and other Microsoft software products. Once licensed, Dell Services is here to help prepare both your environment and employees for generative AI and Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Source: dell.com

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Delivering on the Promise of Carrier Grade Support

No one wants unplanned downtime. Yet, it’s an unfortunate reality for which all communications service providers (CSPs) must prepare. Consider a catastrophic natural disaster that causes widespread, inescapable damage and disruption. Amidst the destruction, network interruptions are virtually expected. While these events don’t occur every day, it’s the day-to-day downtime due to power outages, environmental factors, cyberattacks or even human error that—while unavoidable—is the most prevalent, and often the most frustrating and unforgiving, among end users.

Prepare for Anything

When the inevitable happens, CSPs must have the right level of support to promptly identify the issue, resolve the outage quickly and implement processes to mitigate the risk of downtime again, while keeping costs as low as possible. A key part of this is having maximum comprehensive support to enable service continuity for critical applications and end users with access to designated industry experts that monitor the network and resolve issues in designated timelines.

That’s precisely what Dell Technologies delivers with our carrier-grade support. It provides full hardware, software and solution-level support specifically for CSPs, topped off with agile and streamlined access to telecom experts to enable customers to maximize uptime and minimize downtime. It also covers end-to-end network assets for all locations from the core to near and far edge for Dell and third-party products including Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Wind River, Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat and Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator.

A key benefit of Dell’s carrier grade support is the service level agreements (SLAs) with financial risk that ensure a timely return to operation after issue detection and reporting. These penalty-backed SLAs include predefined response, restoration and resolution timelines with automated case creation and customer-facing reports to track SLA adherence and provide actionable insights on root cause. In the event of a critical incident, all Dell functional teams collaborate in real time to ensure customers are productive within the defined SLA period. With this, customers can feel confident their issue will be resolved quickly and transparently.

Dell further tailors our traditional support for CSPs with enhanced account management and reporting provided by industry-trained experts. Customers have immediate access through a single call to dedicated telecom experts including a service account manager (SAMT), technical account manager (TAMT) and customer success executive (CSET) who ensure customers obtain value in line with their goals and desired outcomes. After issue resolution, the SAMT implements recurring, scalable systems maintenance to ensure the network is consistently up to date with the latest firmware and BIOS that improve performance and availability on an ongoing basis.

Our carrier-grade support also includes proactive, predictive monitoring and enables connectivity through AI/ML capabilities that continuously oversee the environment and mitigate risk with Dell Secure Connect Gateway. Through gathered real-time connectivity information, the designated SAMT can then provide tailored intelligence and recommendations unique to each customer environment. These technologies are a foundational part of our support and enable us to continuously monitor the environment so customers can focus on network operations.

The Right Level of Support

Organizations must do all they can to maintain business continuity and minimize the chance of lost revenue or reputational damage in the future. We understand the significance of continuous service delivery to uphold end user expectations and drive revenue. With our carrier grade support, CSPs can be confident Dell is consistently monitoring their network infrastructure and keeping it continuously up to date. Our specialized account management understands their environment and unique requirements, and if things go wrong, we’ll get their network back up and running in a timely manner.

Unplanned downtime will happen, but when the inevitable occurs, Dell Carrier Grade Support with ProSupport Plus makes issue resolution and mitigation simple and much more manageable. It is highly scalable and provides the ability to extend elevated support across critical network assets from the core to the far edge. Leveraging Dell’s global scale, technical expertise and advanced tools, we offer the very pinnacle of support for CSPs to remedy their challenges quickly, efficiently and with as little disruption as possible.

Source: dell.com

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How Are Smart Homes and PC Support Alike?

Running a business is like running a household. There just aren’t enough hours in a day to complete everything we want to get done. For most, the goal is to minimize the time we spend on mundane day-to-day tasks so we can maximize the remaining time.

When the “Internet of things” came on the scene, my family turned to home automation to help us streamline certain areas of our personal lives. We started with a doorbell and then got a smart thermostat. We could see who was at the door and program our A/C from afar – which was cool, but I didn’t feel the full impact until we took the time to fully connect these smart solutions and utilize all the things they could do.

As we added more smart devices, our home automation really took off. We had fun with it. I made more ice remotely (handy when my son had marching band practice outside in the Texas heat), and I rang the remote dinner bell at mealtime (a family favorite). But the true automation began when I set up our household routines like turning down the thermostat at night, locking the doors and setting alarms. And even better – when the devices recognized my regular habit patterns, the system prompted me to see if I wanted to automate additional routines I hadn’t even considered.

Though somewhat trivial, these repetitive tasks took time. And as our home got smarter, it made me realize how many of those “just a minute” minutes were adding up in my day.

In my work life, I’m a product manager for ProSupport Plus for PCs, Dell Technologies’ flagship support service for businesses. I’ve noticed that when I talk to IT leaders and support desk managers, they often feel that same kind of ongoing burden maintaining and supporting PCs for hundreds or thousands of employees. Those repetitive tasks – checking for outdated drivers and pushing updates, getting system data, maintaining ongoing security and more – bog down the IT staff and the end users. And doing so for all their devices compounds the time it takes.

That’s why we added automation into our support capabilities. In addition to expert break/fix repair, issue alerting and the ever-popular accident coverage, our ProSupport Plus service plan helps with proactive and predictive issue resolution. IT admins can connect to our technology, SupportAssist for Business PCs, to automate tasks across their PC fleets via a cloud console – significantly reducing the administrative time for IT managers.

In a recent report from Principled Technologies, hands-on testing found device driver and firmware updates could be pushed to an entire fleet in as little as 37 seconds using the automation capabilities of ProSupport Plus for PCs. And additionally, organizations could save up to 641 hours of admin time annually on recurring tasks for a 1000-device fleet. That’s a lot of time that could be reallocated toward working on other projects. Why would you want more time in your day? Said no one, ever.

Beyond the time savings aspect, the automation benefits of our PC support are remarkably like the ones my family enjoys at home too – productivity, safety, ongoing security, awareness, convenience of remotely keeping tabs on things from anywhere.

Automation – both at home and at work – helps free us up from an endless cycle of tasks, saving time and giving us peace of mind. Often, the technology is already there in the product and we just need to tap into it. Your account rep or Service Account Manager can help you take advantage of automation with ProSupport Plus for PCs. Make your day better with automation.

Source: dell.com

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The Core Appeal of Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks

Building a 5G core is a big deal with a lot of little, moving parts: access and mobility management functions (AMFs), session management functions (SMFs), proxy-call session control functions (P-CSCFs), charging functions (CHFs) – and the list goes on. Add the fact that 5G cores require a completely new kind of network architecture based on the cloud, and it’s easy to understand how communications service providers (CSPs) can be overwhelmed by the idea of moving their vendor-locked legacy architecture to an open, multi-vendor, best-of-breed 5G cloud architecture.

Taking the “overwhelm” out of 5G network transformation is the core appeal of Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks. By pre-loading, pre-integrating and pre-validating cloud platform software on Dell hardware and delivering it as a 5G-ready system, Telecom Infrastructure Blocks allow CSPs to easily build their 5G networks, block by block. There’s no agonizing about what works with what or even who to call when something goes wrong. It’s one procurement source, one unified architecture and one number to call for support.

Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat

At Dell, we believe Infrastructure Blocks are how telecom networks should be built for the future. To that end, we’re working with the leading cloud platform software providers for telecom to create customized Infrastructure Blocks for 5G core networks, 5G RANs and beyond. Last year, we announced Infrastructure Blocks for virtualized/Open RAN (vRAN/O-RAN) networks with Wind River. Today, we are announcing our latest addition to the Infrastructure Blocks family, Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat.

Dell Technologies and Red Hat co-engineered Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat to provide the cloud foundation for 5G Core workloads running Red Hat OpenShift on bare metal. All hardware and software are tested, validated and integrated in Dell’s factories to deliver a turnkey, engineered system.

With Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat, CSPs utilize automation that allows them to pool infrastructure resources and quickly reconfigure hardware and software to meet changing workload requirements. Dell also introduced today new lab services that can validate the operation and performance of 5G Core workloads on Telecom Infrastructure Blocks. Currently, most mobile core networks are built on software stacks defined by the network function provider. These vertical network architectures reduce infrastructure utilization rates leading to higher infrastructure costs and increased power consumption. With Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat and our new lab services, CSPs can quickly and easily migrate their existing “vertical” network architectures into a single, unified, horizontal cloud architecture with one management interface to improve infrastructure utilization rates, reduce costs and lower power consumption. According to ACG Research, CSPs can expect to see approximately a 15% improvement in infrastructure utilization rates by moving to a horizontal cloud architecture.

Validate, Automate, Integrate – Telecom Infrastructure Blocks Do It All

The primary benefits of Infrastructure Blocks can be summed up in three words: validate, automate and integrate. First, Dell and Red Hat work together to validate the full hardware and software stack for each Infrastructure Block, providing out-of-the-box operability. Next, we provide automation tools, such as Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, that can integrate with the cloud platform software to enable CSPs to easily deploy, configure and upgrade servers across their network with just a few keystrokes. Finally, we work with Red Hat to continuously integrate new software features to maintain the solution’s reliability and reduce the amount of ongoing integration testing the CSP needs to perform to support new patches and upgrades as they are released.

As Infrastructure Blocks are added to the 5G network, whether in the core or in the RAN, Dell Technologies remains the single service and support point of contact for CSPs. Dell services the full cloud stack, hardware and software, with 24/7 technical support that meets carrier-grade service level agreements (SLAs). There’s no finger-pointing as CSPs troubleshoot the system to see which vendor is responsible; within minutes, Dell service professionals are on the phone and working to help you resolve any issues.

Deploying 5G networks can be complicated and messy – but it doesn’t have to be. Dell’s Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat make it easier than ever before to build, deploy, manage and maintain 5G networks based on an open ecosystem of suppliers. Validation means you can count on telco-grade reliability. Automation means you can manage the entire lifecycle of your 5G solutions from a single screen with a few simple commands. And continuous integration and support from Dell means you can finally embrace open-source technology without fear of being left out in the cold.

Source: dell.com

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See What’s Cooking at OTEL: SoftBank Bake-Off

If you’ve ever watched Top Chef, Hell’s Kitchen or Nailed It, you’ll know that too many cooks in the kitchen can quickly turn into chaos. In the technology world, we have a similar scenario known as a “bake-off,” where companies can test various vendor solutions in a kind of technology test kitchen to see which solution performs the best. This can not only get messy, but it can also become very expensive, especially when you factor in things like buying the test hardware, hosting the secure DevOps environment and hiring the experienced people to run it all.

In order to cook up better solutions for the future without all that cost and complexity, Dell Technologies created its own state-of-the-art testing lab known as the Open Telecommunications Ecosystem Lab (or OTEL for short). OTEL provides a secure, hosted test kitchen for all manner of projects, from bake-offs and proofs of concept to solution integration testing. The goal of OTEL is to foster collaboration between operators and the vendor ecosystem to deliver the next generation of open telecommunications solutions, from Open RAN systems to 5G cloud networks.

SoftBank Kicks Off its 5G Cloud Bake-off

One of the more interesting projects that took place in OTEL is a core software providers bake-off for SoftBank’s 5G core cloud network. SoftBank invited some of the leading providers to participate in the performance testing and will ultimately select from this group to move forward with their 5G core cloud implementation. Traditionally, a project like this would take weeks to set up, require all-new hardware and present numerous challenges in terms of providing the security and integrity needed for multi-vendor performance assurance. Fortunately for SoftBank and its potential core software providers, OTEL was already set up for success from day one.

Despite its reputation as one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators, SoftBank recognizes competition for 5G services is fierce. Their 5G core cloud initiative is critical to SoftBank’s plans for 5G services, from private mobile networks to IoT applications. With OTEL, SoftBank can ensure they’re building that future on the right foundation. For the participating core software providers, OTEL allows them to showcase their solutions in a secure, multi-tenant, trusted environment while providing the necessary tools to deploy, manage and operate their cloud-native software on Dell’s telco-grade servers and VMware’s Telco Cloud Platform. VMware played a critical role in the joint program management and onboarding of the vendors for this engagement, which was crucial to helping SoftBank meet its objectives.

Leveraging a Proven Recipe for Success

Dell’s goal with OTEL is to open the future to more innovation by moving away from proprietary, single-vendor solutions. Telecommunications operators can test any mix of vendor solutions in OTEL – even solutions that feature non-Dell hardware and software. Because Dell partners with so many companies, we’re open to involvement from everyone. A prebuilt, open, state-of-the-art testing, integration and validation lab offers a variety of benefits to operators and vendors including:

◉ More flexibility for product development and integration

◉ A centralized cost structure that saves operators and vendors 40% on average

◉ Faster time-to-market for new solutions through a prebuilt lab environment

◉ Remote access to resources through a secure VPN connection

◉ Availability of OTEL’s Solution Integration Platform tools and automation to support a streamlined DevOps environment

For SoftBank, their 5G core cloud bake-off consisted of several phases. In the first phase, most of the providers onboarded their cloud-native functions on Dell hardware in the OTEL environment through secure ingestion mechanisms to conduct remote testing using secure VPN access. In the next phase, the vendors conducted resiliency testing. Subsequent phases included performance tweaks and improvements in solution code – all of which was done remotely without setting foot in OTEL’s physical environment using our hybrid lab connectivity capability.

Below is a typical high-level architecture of the multi-tenant testbeds:

“Dell OTEL services helped us to accelerate our 5G Core NEP qualification process by providing a vendor-neutral collaborative platform and access to advanced tool sets and expertise, which was made available to the partners. As the industry journeys further towards a disaggregated stack with individual ISVs offering their own cloud-native solutions, Dell OTEL services can serve as a collaborative platform hub, facilitating interoperability validation services and enabling CSPs to accelerate adoption of solutions, de-risk deployments and lower TCO.” – SoftBank executive

Come Into our Kitchen

At Dell Technologies, we’re committed to the open future of telecommunications, whether it’s 5G or the next generation of mobile solutions. In the last few years, the telecommunications industry has embraced open technologies from cloud network architectures and Kubernetes to Open RAN systems. But despite the opportunities for innovation and cost savings that open systems bring, there are very few companies that can bring it all together in a secure, partner-friendly environment. OTEL is truly a one-of-a-kind facility that is open to both telecommunications operators and network equipment providers for testing, validation, integration and more.

If flexibility and security are important to your future, we invite you to consider OTEL for your next PoC or bake-off, or to integrate your products with Dell’s growing family of telco-grade hardware and software. The opportunities are enormous. The barriers to entry shouldn’t be. Kickstart your future with Dell Technologies and find out how OTEL can help you get cooking on what’s next.

Source: dell.com

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Get Back to Business with APEX Managed Device Service

Small and medium business (SMB) leaders may view an in-house IT team as a luxury. However, IT is more than purchasing a few laptops and shipping them to employees, especially when setting the foundations for scaling a successful business. Fielding employee questions about technology can be overwhelming, ad hoc fixes can be costly surprises and employee downtime can have a big impact, especially for smaller teams.

Dell Runs Your IT So You Can Run Your Business

As businesses grow, technology needs typically follow. SMB leaders often ask: How can I predict or plan my IT budget? How can I use technology to keep my business secure? How can I answer my employees’ technical questions without investing hours digging through online tech forums? How can I manage all of this without a dedicated headcount? Entrepreneurs and leaders shouldn’t have to choose between driving business growth or supporting the tech needs for their teams.

To help businesses with little or no IT resources, we’re introducing a simple, all-inclusive monthly subscription with no long-term commitment so customers can shift day-to-day support and PC management to Dell and focus on their business.

With the Dell APEX Managed Device Service subscription, highly skilled Dell technology experts will be available 24/7 and will work to help keep devices more secure and up-to-date. They can handle all elements of hardware management – from device set up and software implementation, to supporting with device encryption, platform and device security, in addition to any hardware fixes. The offer contains a wealth of support services including accidental damage support and predictive issue detection. The subscription even features tech coaching for team members and access to valuable IT insight reports outlining device health, user experience and recommendations.

Dell Becomes Your IT Department

As SMBs often need to stay nimble and adaptable to external factors, Dell APEX Managed Device Service is available to buy as a month-to-month subscription at $70 per device. This frees customers from a lengthy commitment and ensures they are never paying more than they should. So, whether the business operates as a one-person powerhouse or is 300 employees strong and growing fast, the offer provides maximum flexibility for scaling.

“83% of small businesses are prioritizing outsourcing their device, security and overall IT management. At the same time, 62% of small businesses are increasing their use of as-a-Service technology adoption,” industry analyst Anurag Agrawal, founder and chief global analyst of Techaisle, recently commented. “With Dell APEX Managed Device Service, small businesses have peace of mind knowing their IT needs are handled with Dell’s industry-leading IT management and support capabilities. From PC management to device security to expert Dell support, all in a flexible monthly subscription, this newest addition to the Dell APEX lineup delivers the immediate value small businesses need to focus on growing their business, not managing IT.”

Dell APEX Managed Device Service at Work 

Last year, leaders from Trident Proposal Management were looking for a managed IT solution to support their growing business. The California-based consulting firm helps clients identify opportunities and prepare proposals for federal government contracts. For years, team members had to rely on consumer-grade email accounts, client issued assets or stand-alone devices operating without a managed enterprise.

With eight full-time employees and 30 freelancers, including two located internationally, Trident needed to find a comprehensive solution for a secure, managed system. They spent more than 120 hours reviewing the websites of PC retailers and managed service providers to source devices and tech support services. After six months, they still hadn’t found a solution – until they connected with a Dell representative. Trident Proposal Management was an ideal candidate for Dell’s pilot program. The pilot ran for a year and helped Dell to garner important feedback from multiple customers, spanning a total of more than 200 end users.

“We had been looking to step up our IT game, update our devices and consider cyber security best practices for a while, but we couldn’t find a managed service provider with the capabilities of supporting a small business like ours,” explains Ben Galendez, Trident’s IT manager and a capture and proposal manager. “The Dell pilot was great – we managed to migrate our team to new devices and having a direct line to IT experts has saved us a lot of time and prevented headaches.”

Dell provided IT assistance to help Trident implement a secure internal collaboration site, standardized licensing and more.

“Whenever I have a question, whether it’s about security, software or a device, I can contact Dell, and they’ll provide answers,” adds Galendez. “It’s reassuring to have a large, reputable brand like Dell meet all our technology needs – a one-stop-shop experience. We’re a small but mighty team, but we’re not technology specialists. It’s really a no-brainer for us to outsource our helpdesk with the Dell APEX Managed Device Service subscription.”

Source: dell.com

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Dell Partners Across Telecom Ecosystem to Solve Industry Challenges

Communication service providers (CSPs) embracing open technologies are poised to capture massive opportunities but face complex barriers to technology adoption. Dell Technologies is doubling down on its commitment to simplify today’s disaggregated telecom landscape and serve as a unifying force in the telecom industry through the introduction of the Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Community.

The community brings together telecom partners and CSPs, leveraging the Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab, to deliver open telecom solutions to market more quickly. The community will also develop and share telecom ecosystem knowledge, innovate new ideas to solve critical challenges and improve solution time-to-value as part of monetizing open networks.

“As a founding member of the leading open-source Open RAN solution now in high scale deployment globally, we believe it is important to bring together the ecosystem to engage in discussion and develop and share telecom knowledge,” said Paul Miller, chief technology officer, Wind River. “We are excited to join the Dell Technologies Open Telecom Ecosystem Community where telecom partners and Communication Service Providers can work together to drive innovation and actionable outcomes and make the open ecosystem a reality.”

Additionally, today we are announcing new collaborations across the open telecom ecosystem with our technology partners Amdocs, Juniper Networks, Nokia and Qualcomm.

Driving Accelerator Innovation to Deliver Open RAN Price Performance

CSPs want to use open solutions in their networks that enable them to leverage various combinations of hardware and software to meet the specific needs of their network services. The RAN portion of the network requires specific features from infrastructure and software to support this highly demanding, business-critical workload. In addition, CSP reliability requirements and the sheer scale of deployments mean these open architectures need to be highly dependable while delivering comparable price performance characteristics of traditional solutions.

Building on our work previously announced with Fujitsu and Marvell®, today we’re expanding our accelerator partner ecosystem. We’re announcing new partner collaborations that will continue to drive innovation and enable less costly and more efficient paths to open RAN, bringing CSPs more choice and the ability to deploy open networks with confidence:

◉ Nokia and Dell Technologies have formed an agreement to integrate and validate a solution combining Nokia’s 5G Cloud RAN software and Cloud RAN SmartNIC in-line Layer 1 accelerator card with Dell’s open infrastructure, including Dell PowerEdge servers. Dell and Nokia will share engineering and R&D resources to bring the vRAN solution to market. Dell will use its Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab as the center for testing and validation, while Nokia will focus work on the Nokia Open Cloud RAN E2E System Test Lab. 

◉ Qualcomm and Dell Technologies are collaborating to develop a next-generation, 5G virtualized distributed unit (vDU). Dell PowerEdge XR8000 and XR5610 servers purpose-built for telecom and enterprise edge use cases, combined with the Qualcomm X100 5G RAN Accelerator Card with commercial-grade Layer 1 software, offer a high-performing, cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for OEMs and network operators deploying virtualized and Open RAN technologies.

Accelerating Cloud-native 5G Network Deployments

Dell and Amdocs are working together to accelerate the deployment of 5G Stand-Alone (5G SA) core networks. By combining Dell PowerEdge R760 servers with Amdocs Policy and Charging capabilities, CSPs can accelerate a cloud-native 5G core policy and charging control solution in an on-premises cloud environment. With an automated and validated solution, CSPs can rapidly deploy a 5G standalone solution with partners across the open ecosystem, reduce time to market and deliver differentiated services on their networks.

Dell is collaborating with Juniper Networks on a certified solution that provides a simple and direct path to server consolidation and power reduction at cell sites. CSPs aim to reduce their carbon footprint and energy consumption while addressing the growing demand of a digitally connected world. Hybrid network infrastructure, comprised of physical routers, Juniper Cloud-Native Router software and Open RAN compliant Dell PowerEdge servers, helps CSPs work toward their power efficiency and sustainability goals.

Making the Promise of Open a Reality

These are only a few examples of how we’re working with partners across the industry to accelerate the adoption of open and 5G technologies. Combining the knowledge of Dell’s global sales force and our engineers in our Open Telecom Ecosystem Labs, with mobile operators and telecom partners from across the globe, the Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Community will drive continued innovation to solve key industry challenges with actionable outcomes.

Dell is deeply focused on rallying the industry to enable open and innovative technologies. Together with our partners across the industry, we’re ready to make the promise of the open telecom ecosystem a reality.

Source: dell.com

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Private Wireless Networks – Opportunities and Challenges for Enterprises

Exciting, high-growth Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) use cases will create new outcome opportunities for enterprises and communication service providers (CSPs). Various segments, including connected machinery, oil and gas, energy smart grids already rely on 4G and 5G private networks to securely provide these and other innovative services.

Read More: E20-526: XtremIO Solutions and Design Specialist Exam for Technology Architect (DECS-TA)

This enterprise innovation cycle will require focus, strategic planning and investments. Companies all over the world are looking at private wireless as part of their horizontal “innovation fabric.” They want it to be secure, reliable, easy to operate and future-proof to support new use cases to come.

Connecting every sensor and every device wirelessly has become the pre-condition to agile operations that enable high value-generating technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and distributed ledger.

CSPs: Transforming to Serve Enterprises

The bulk of CSPs’ revenue has historically come from massive voice and data services to end users. To serve enterprises at scale, CSPs will need to adapt the “Public Network” model, where one network delivers the same sort of services to millions of users, to one where every enterprise requires a particular set of attributes such as coverage, throughput, security and operational model. CSPs will need to transform, partner and evolve their operational processes to be able to capture the new outcomes from the enterprise space.

Requirements for a Future-proof Private Wireless Network 

Enterprises in different vertical segments plan to utilize private wireless networks to connect every sensor, device and user. Full data consolidation will allow them to augment the value of data to generate additional insights via analytics and AI. Below are some of the most relevant enterprises requirements for private wireless deployments:

◉ Horizontal platform for innovation. Private Wireless networks behave as horizontal connectivity platforms where all the innovation will happen. Being able to reuse technology integration efforts for multiple use cases positively impacts the enterprise-to-enterprise private wireless adoption business case.

◉ Self-services. Enterprises need control and agility to manage the day-to-day network configurations without depending on external providers’ lead time.

◉ Simple deployment and operations. Edge applications and new use cases must be centrally onboarded, distributed and managed throughout the life cycle. One single orchestration engine integrated into the edge platform can significantly simplify this process. A consolidated operations and management platform (OMP) from which OT and IT personnel can have complete control without navigating through a maze of separate complex systems is critical.

◉ Extend private control to public networks. Public networks can seamlessly support private devices and users, without requiring manual intervention, for example, to select SIM cards and service profile privileges. They should also be able to carry on their original subnets, IP addresses and security policies as defined by the private network operator.

A Collaboration Ecosystem

Dell Technologies has been innovating at the edge with open disaggregated platforms and services to enable Communication Service Providers and Enterprise to modernize operations and generate new outcomes. We partner with leading IIoT companies to deliver more than connectivity – our goal is to assure enterprise outcomes.

We complement CSPs strengths with platforms designed to reach enterprise’s goals at scale. Dell Private Wireless is a Multi-Vendor Solution powered by hyperconverged infrastructure, in partnership with Airspan, a leading private wireless RAN, and Expeto, the world’s leading cloud-based platform to enable mission critical converged Enterprise Mobile Networks (EMNs) for enterprise customers.

With Dell Private Wireless with Airspan and Expeto launch, we want to simplify the adoption of agile Private Wireless networks for enterprises. Our approach is structured around an ecosystem of well-consolidated industry partners to help simplify enterprise’s adoption journey. Our enterprise-to-enterprise private wireless services capabilities complement CSPs’ strengths, allowing them to provide enterprises with dedicated networks tailored for performance and flexibility at scale.

Source: dell.com

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Enabling Open Embedded Systems Management on PowerEdge Servers

Introducing Dell Open Server Manager built on OpenBMC™ enabling open, embedded systems management as an option on select Dell PowerEdge cloud scale servers available as part of the Hyperscale Next Program for CSPs.

We have heard from many customers running large datacenters the challenges they face managing infrastructure across different vendors, or even across different generations of hardware from a single vendor. They desire simplicity in datacenter operations that goes beyond having a single pane-of-glass, but by having a single management stack across all your infrastructure.

The foundation of systems management starts with the Base Management Controller – or BMC – that’s embedded on every PowerEdge server as well as most industry servers. In a multi-vendor environment, the BMC management stacks vary and have different levels of capabilities, causing customers to manage to the “lowest common denominator.” To solve this, customers are looking at open-source BMC management stacks such as OpenBMC™, rather than vendor-specific ones.

Open-source Software with OpenBMC

OpenBMC is an open-source BMC firmware stack designed to run on a variety of infrastructures. It is a Linux Foundation project with the backing of Intel®, IBM®, Microsoft® and Google™. The goal of OpenBMC is to run the exact same embedded management software on all systems, bringing consistent management across the environment.

Additionally, many customers are adopting open-source software for code transparency and trust while moving towards an open-ecosystem philosophy and away from vendor-specific implementations. OpenBMC is part of a broader portfolio of projects inspired or designed by the Open Compute Project (OCP) to increase innovation through open standards and collaboration.

Screen capture of the Dell Open Server Manager software application.

Open Ecosystem Embedded Software = Dell Open Server Manager

Dell Open Server Manager built on OpenBMC enables open, embedded systems management as an option on select Dell PowerEdge cloud scale servers. Explicitly designed for Cloud Server Providers managing large-scale data centers, Open Server Manager is Dell’s implementation of OpenBMC. It is designed, tested and validated as an option on PowerEdge R650xs CSP and PowerEdge R750xs CSP servers. The complete image is signed by Dell and integrated at the factory upon order.

Since the goal of OpenBMC is to provide consistent systems management, we did not create a differentiated vendor-specific offering and stayed as close to upstream OpenBMC as possible. However, enabled OpenBMC to run securely on PowerEdge cloud scale servers leveraging the same silicon as Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC).

This ensures that our customers maintain a choice as to which embedded system management stack they wish to run. When ordering a cloud scale system, there is an option for embedded systems management – either iDRAC – Dell’s industry-leading, full-featured management stack – or Open Server Manager. Both run on the same silicon with the same hardware and ship directly from the factory. At any time, there is an option to convert back to iDRAC if there is a need for specific capabilities provided by iDRAC.

Security, Support and Manageability

Dell takes security seriously and does not want unknown or malicious firmware to find its way onto PowerEdge servers. If the BMC is compromised, bad actors can access the entire server and potentially the entire data center environment. With that in mind, we have enabled silicon Root-of-Trust to ensure that only Dell’s version of OpenBMC – one that has been thoroughly tested and validated – runs securely on PowerEdge R650xs CSP and PowerEdge R750xs CSP servers.

Dell lifecycle management is enabled to install Dell-signed firmware update packages through Open Server Manager for the BIOS, backplane, power supplies, iDRAC and Open Server Manager as required. These are the same firmware update packages used to update firmware via iDRAC, eliminating the need to manage two different firmware repositories.

OpenBMC logs and system configuration information can be exported into a log package for SupportAssist providing full warranty and support coverage.

Open Server Manager is pure OpenBMC wrapped with the security, support, and manageability that only Dell can provide. Contact your Dell account team to learn more about Open Server Manager – available exclusively through the Hyperscale Next program for select customers.

Source: dell.com

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