...And the Winner is...

Wednesday, July 18 2012 11:19 Written by VMGuru

Dell Well, it's been a fun couple of weeks spending time with the family, getting a million items knocked off my to-do list in the house, and home brewing some beer. Unfortunately I need to drag myself back to the real world and focus on generating an income again. As of July 26th, I will officially be taking on the role of Product Management Director, Converged Infrastructure Solutions at Dell. This move is unrelated to the pending acquisition of Quest by Dell, and is independent from my previous position. But I will be working addresses similar market concerns that are an extension to where I was previously focused.

One of the things that has become abundantly clear within the past 2 years is that the needs of the Datacenter have moved beyond simply having a virtualization strategy. Virtualization was a catalyst that fundamentally shifted IT to be more agile to the needs of the business. While many smaller organizations can implement virtualization and be completely satisfied, many larger organizations are seeing that, despite the benefits, this virtual movement introduces profound shifts in how they need to manage their datacenter moving forward. Larger organizations are realizing that the continued siloization across IT technology stacks and services is continuing to cause significant headache as they shift from virtualization to the private cloud... A process that's purpose is to make IT more agile than simply "virtualizing the datacenter".

Enter Converged Infrastructure. There are varying degrees of convergence in the market today, as well as several alternate terms used to describe the concept (such as Fabric-Based Infrastructure or Unified Computing). Ultimately, Converged Infrastructure is the unification of Server Hardware, Storage Infrastructure, Network, Hypervisor, Management Software, and a layer of automation/orchestration. We are still in the early stages of what this market will ultimately become.

There were several things that really attracted me to Dell in the first place.

Dell has a vast majority of the key components already in-house
- PowerEdge Servers to provide the Server Hardware Platform with both rack-mount and blade offerings
- Compellent and EqualLogic storage arrays
- PowerConnect and Force10 for the network stack
- Strong and healthy partnerships with VMware and Microsoft for the hypervisor platform
- A serious contender in the management software space with the pending acquisition of Quest Software
A solid team and a history with some of the leadership
- During the interview process, I had a chance to meet with a large group of energetic and incredibly intelligent individuals. The energy of those that I talked to helped drive and motivate me throughout the hiring process.
- I've had an opportunity to work with some leaders and members of the Dell team in the past. These are individuals that I know I can mesh well with and we know each others' strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, we're like a ridiculously unhip version of the Blues Brothers putting the band back together.
Visibility and focus within Dell to drive Converged Infrastructure Solutions forward
- Converged Infrastructure has a lot of visibility up to the highest levels inside of Dell. It's always good to be a part of something that leadership is passionate about.
- Dell's current market position primarily satisfying the mid-market space provides a great canvas to do some amazing things in this space with a focus on simplicity and the end user (See my previous posts about understanding the consumer). I'll be able to apply my skills here in an extremely positive fashion for Dell and their customers.
- Dell understands that their long-term growth strategy is dependent upon expanding its market share in the enterprise space. With a successful Converged Infrastructure Solution, I look forward to the opportunity to drive this new datacenter paradigm into the enterprise customer space while maintaining focus on simplicity and fundamental understanding of the end user.

I look forward to working with the various teams within Dell to provide a competitive offering in an exciting market. I've got one week left of being an unemployed bum, and plan to enjoy every second of it. As of the 26th, it's time to start the next chapter of my professional career, even though it means giving up my beloved Apple Laptop and Desktop (Dell can have my iPad when they pry it from my cold dead hands.)

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