Dell Technologies and Microsoft have expanded their local partnership, to address a wider range of customer digital transformation requirements.
Doug Woolley, GM of Dell EMC SA, announced the partnership extension today at the Dell Technologies Forum at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg.
He explained that while Dell and Microsoft have a long-standing collaboration, the expansion will focus primarily on VMware, with the three companies collaborating to deliver a fully native, supported, and certified VMware cloud infrastructure on Microsoft Azure.
Local Microsoft Azure customers will be able to use VMware’s virtualisation software to manage their IT operations in Azure. Dell’s role is to provide the underpinning modernised infrastructure on which this service takes place.
“We are excited to make this announcement, especially because five years ago Microsoft and VMware were fierce competitors and today, here they are collaborating. This speaks to the power and potential of technology,” noted Woolley.
“The journey to the cloud, particularly the Azure cloud in SA, is on… and it’s real. VMware, being a Dell technology-owned company, enables a true multi-cloud strategy, consisting of an array of offerings such as the edge cloud, private cloud and the hyper-scalers, all integrated to offer customers the best options, taking the complexity away for the customer.”
The partnership enables Microsoft 365 and VMware Workspace ONE customers to manage Office 365 across devices via cloud-based integration with Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory.
Also addressing delegates, Microsoft SA MD Lillian Barnard said: “Microsoft is the first global cloud provider on the African continent to bring hyper-scale data centres. This unprecedented world-class infrastructure will power emerging cloud artificial intelligence and edge computing innovations that will allow South African businesses to generate revenue to the tune of R81 billion combined, significantly contributing to our economy.
“We are very excited about this collaboration, which ensures our customers have more choice, unlimited storage and compute power, ensuring we provide innovative digital workplace solutions, drive flexibility and scalability.”
Lorna Hardie, VMware regional director for Sub-Saharan Africa, highlighted the importance of creating collaborations that are centred on driving the digital economy.
“As VMware, our focus is on driving and delivering a digital foundation, while contributing to the economy of SA. If we want to drive this country forward, we must open up opportunities centred on creating a greater good for the customer, the economy and the country.
“This partnership aims to harness the power of private, public and multi-cloud edge, turn it a tangible solution and take it to market.”
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