Dell Launches Cloud Services as Your New Data Center

Dell Corporation has decided to throw its hat in the ring by offering cloud computing services or an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platform based on VMWare’s  vCloud suite of cloud computing products. Ironically, the company also plans to expand its base of cloud services utilizing Microsoft Azure technology, which is also hosted by Microsoft, as well as supporting OpenStack, an open source alternative. The company seems to be covering all the bases as more and more companies effectively move their applications—and hardware—to the Web.

However, Dell is taking it one step further by offering hardware virtualization services by leveraging its expertise in hardware and operating systems installation, configuration and management by hosting a bevy of OSs (server and client) through its core IaaS cloud based on VMware technology. Starting with its Data Center as a Service, that is essentially designed to replace a customer’s servers, to its PC as a Service which is meant to replace a customer’s PCs (sans the screen, keyboard and mouse), it seems to have all the bases covered. Dell is also offering its Systems Management as a Service for customers to help manage all of the remote virtualized hardware and applications in the cloud.

Essentially, Dell wants its new vCloud Data Center service to be your virtual server, PC and application cloud platform all rolled into one or a la carte depending on a customer’s needs, which would be a logical progression, especially given the decline in demand for traditional PCs and small business servers (i.e. boxes). It’s a savvy move and will no doubt help prop up declining hardware sales. It’s a solid business model or plan that should enable the firm to continue to be a leader in the information technology field for decades to come.