Kathy Gibson at Dell EMC Forum, Sandton – The structure of the data centre hasn’t really changed a lot over the years, and is still there to service applications.

In some respects, however, the platforms today support the cloud where applications are hosted, says Dell EMC engineer Greg McDonald.

The modern IT infrastructure, therefore, is about putting the platforms down that can take advantage of new technologies.

The traditional IT focus is to optimise it for the business, while the new world of digital transformation is about turning IT into the business.

The server is the bedrock of the modern data centre, says McDonald. It is built for traditional and emerging workloads, it has a flexible cost structure, and it provides comprehensive and enduring security.

Dell EMC believes that the way to build a modern IT infrastructure is about putting down an adaptable and scalable platform; adding automation that allow users to sustain and grow their investments; and then protecting customers and their businesses.

The scalable business architecture is addressed with Dell EMCs dynamic server portfolio that’s optimised for every workload.

Realtime analytics is enabled by improved throughput, decreased latency and six-times more performance for NVMe drives.

Software-defined storage lets business optimise performance and capacity while mixing drive types.

The virtual desktop infrastructure from Dell EMC is coming of age, says McDonald. “Companies can run up to 33% more video instances at the same cost, and up to 192 VDI users per server.”

Intelligent automation is enabled by OpenManage, Dell EMC’s intuitive approach to systems management.

Companies can resolves issues up to 90% faster with ProSupport Plus and SupportAssist. Meanwhile, next-generation APIs allow for consistent and extensible management.

OpenManage lets IT reduce server configuration time by up to 99%, with zero touch.

Protection is a must these days, McDonald adds. Dell EMC ensures that security is built-in rather than bolted on. Every PowerEdge server is designed on a cyber-resilient architecture.

An end to end server ecosystems and lifecycle security is provided by a trusted partner. “We offer this value proposition from start to finish,” says McDonald. “This is from our plants, to the customer and everything in between.”

Secure manageability protocols let companies save the costs associated with downtime and remediation.

Dell EMC offers a full server portfolio under the PowerEdge brand, from towers and racks to modular and extreme scale architecture servers.

Customers usually want to increase performance – and they want to do it at a low cost, McDonald says.

The PowerEdge includes NVDIMM for persistent memory which dramatically increase the speed of access and performance for applications like SQL.

Where there is a need to increased VDI capacity, Dell EMC offers multi-vector cooling for GPUs, so PowerEdge can support 33% more instances and up to 192 VDI users per server.

Adding manageability, the new OpenManage consoles empower IT with simplicity and intelligent automation. The new consoles include intrinsic simplicity, a unifying experience, and intuitive automation.

“This is a brand new console, and will be launched in June,” McDonald says.

Support services are a big differentiator for Dell EMC in the data centre, he adds. ProSupport services include architecting, implementing and managing data centre solutions.