In 2013, Dell made converged infrastructure a central part of its enterprise pitch. Its message to customers was that organisations should settle on a converged infrastructure strategy rather than keep buying servers, storage and networking separately.
That argument rested on a company in transition. In a 2013 filing, Dell said its aim of becoming an integrated provider of end-to-end IT solutions would need more investment in converged infrastructure, software, cloud and services. The filing also said further acquisitions were likely.
Compute at the heart of the data centre
Dell’s leadership tied convergence to a market-share target. In 2013 Dell said it had asked its enterprise team to take the number one position in server market share in fiscal 2014. It described Active Infrastructure as a converged solution built on its servers, storage and networking. It said converged infrastructure was placing compute at the centre of the data centre.
Virtualisation was the backdrop. Dell cited Gartner’s estimate that, by early 2012, 50 percent of installed workloads were running in virtual machines. Many easily virtualised workloads had therefore already moved, and the next question was how to manage the infrastructure beneath them.
Two routes to convergence
Dell said it offered a choice of strategies and did not insist on a single design. It described a software route, in which an Active Infrastructure management layer pulled a customer’s mixed legacy equipment into a virtual converged infrastructure. It described a physical route, in which compute, storage, networking and management sat in one chassis, as in the PowerEdge VRTX.
Dell positioned this as a migration path for customers with heterogeneous estates. Few of them could replace everything at once.
The Active System range
Dell Active System launched in October 2012. Dell later widened it with the Active System 50, 200 and 1000, alongside the existing Active System 800. StorageReview reported that these pre-integrated systems came in a range of sizes for different applications. It also reported that they allowed up to six times faster implementation of virtual infrastructure. That figure was Dell’s claim.
At the small end, Dell described the VRTX as the first converged IT solution designed specifically for remote and small offices. That was Dell’s own description. Its pitch for the VRTX was relevant to branch-heavy businesses across Asia-Pacific.
What analysts said in 2013
In August 2013 Dell announced that four analyst firms had recognised its converged offerings.
- Technology Business Research said Dell was the brand most likely to be recommended by customers who owned more than one brand of converged system.
- Technology Business Research also said Active System was already seeing strong customer adoption.
- Info-Tech Research Group named Dell a “Champion” in its 2013 Vendor Landscape for Converged Systems.
- Enterprise Strategy Group and IDC highlighted the PowerEdge VRTX.
These were endorsements that Dell published itself, and the research firms’ reports behind them are the primary sources. Dell’s own results commentary that year also pointed to the Technology Business Research recognition as evidence of early success.
Where Dell’s strategy came from
The converged push followed several years of buying. Dell paid US$960 million for Compellent and acquired Ocarina Networks in July 2010. That gave it tiered storage area network technology plus compression and deduplication. It then formed the Dell Software Group in early fiscal 2013 and bought Quest Software.
Dell also said that many companies spent roughly 80 percent of their time and resources on operations, support and administration, and only about 20 percent on strategic problems. Converged systems were meant to shift that balance by packaging the layers together.
FAQ
What was Dell’s Active Infrastructure?
Dell described it as a workload-optimised, automated and integrated infrastructure family. Its stated aims were faster delivery of IT services and lower cost.
Did Dell’s converged range include data centre hardware beyond servers?
Yes. Dell also launched a new Modular Data Center version built from power, IT and cooling modules. Dell said it supported 1MW of critical workloads using free-air and evaporative cooling.