Kathy Gibson is at Techscape 2022 – The work from home and hybrid working trend is here to stay, but there are a wealth of other trends that the channel needs to capitalise on.
This is the word from Doug Woolley, GM and vice-president of Dell Technologies South Africa, outlines four big trends
Edge
The edge discussion will evolve into two focus areas: platform and workloads, software stacks, separating software layers of capability. “In edge that will be more prevalent, separating software from hardware.
“We also believe that by 2025, 70% of all data will be at the edge. And that will present a whole host of opportunities for partners, and for customers in the way they consume and process data.
“We are effectively virtualising the edge.”
Private mobility
Private mobility involves the opening of private mobility ecosystem will accelerate with more cloud and IT industries involved on the path to 5G.
Woolly explains that these private 5G networks will offer users revolutionary speeds and access. “That will revolutionise the way people work and operate. It will effectively democratise the connectivity space.”
Data management
Organisations have long wanted to monetise their data. In future, edge will become the new battleground for data management as it becomes a new class of workload.
Resellers will be able to add massive value by helping customers to monetise an asset they are not using effectively today.
Security
The industry is now moving from discussion of emerging security concerns to a bias towards action.
“The existing security paradigm doesn’t work any more,” Woolley says. “You have to build from the ground up, and use artificial intelligence (AI) to protect yourself.
“At Dell we are building security from the ground up, trying to protect users when we design products.”
Dell solutions
Chris Buchanan, client solutions director: southern Africa and Russia at Dell Technologies, explains how resellers can engage with these trends to build business opportunities.
On the edge, there are solutions dedicated to collecting data including IoT devices and gateways. These include unmanned and manned devices that are designed for their environment.
Solutions also allow for deep learning, where data is classified at the edge, allowing for better decision-making on the spot.
Private mobility ensures that users are always connected, with flow and collaboration enabled by supporting devices.
Dell has been working with a couple of innovations around these concepts.
For connectivity, project Pari revolves around making the camera a vital element in all meetings.
Dell Flow allows users to move between access points, creates a privacy cone for meetings and helps to secure data.
Stanza is a device designed just for taking notes, via either voice of manual input.
Underpinning all these edge solutions, security is vital to ensure that data is protected. Because 93% of attacks take place at the edge, it’s vital that companies focus on securing these devices.
Dell Trusted Devices is a comprehensive approach to endpoint security. Features built into the operating system secure end user credential, gain visibility to BIOS tampering, and ensure on-screen digital privacy. Other features that can be added on above the operating system encrypt sensitive information and protect data; prevent, detect and remediate attacks; and allow users to access their devices securely from anywhere.
Sustainability
One of Dell’s top goals for 2030 is to recycle every product it puts into the market.
Concept Luna is the initiative that ensures not only the sustainability of products, but of the whole supply chain.
Buchanan points out that new packaging is recycled plastic taken from the ocean. And customers won’t have to separate packaging when they buy a new device, while Dell will also collect old devices to be recycled responsibly.