Dell ties up with Microsoft to deliver IoT solutions

Dell Technologies and Microsoft are collaborating to deliver a joint Internet of Things (IoT) solution designed to help vertical customers simplify deploying their end-to-end IoT solutions, from the edge to the cloud.

The combination of Microsoft Azure IoT applications and services, VMware Pulse IoT Center and Dell Edge Gateways will offer customers streamlined management, centralized monitoring and security from devices to the cloud.

Businesses that are implementing IoT initiatives today have invested significant resources and manpower to research and integrate a multitude of hardware, software and cloud services across the fragmented IoT landscape to stand up a solution that meets their business needs and adheres to IT departments' stringent standards. Those businesses want to harness advanced services such as artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time decision making while also making sure all deployment, asset management, security and compliance requirements are met. Together, Dell Technologies and Microsoft will make IoT easier for customers by delivering a secure solution that provides consistent infrastructure management from the edge to the cloud.

Delivering an integrated, secure solution to unlock the potential of IoT

The joint solution offers an underlying IoT infrastructure, management capabilities and security for customers looking to deploy IoT for scenarios like predictive maintenance, supply chain visibility and other use cases. The solution will deliver:

Intelligence at the edge with Microsoft Azure IoT Edge: This application extends cloud intelligence to edge devices so that devices can act locally and leverage the cloud for global coordination and machine learning at scale.

Management and monitoring of edge devices with VMware Pulse IoT Center: This provides more secure, enterprise-grade management and monitoring of diverse, certified edge devices including gateways and connected IoT devices, bios and operating systems. This ecosystem will be built over time involving deeper integration and certification to support customer requirements.

High-performance, rugged Dell Edge Gateways: IoT devices with powerful dual-core Intel® Atom™ processors connect a variety of wired and wireless devices and systems to aggregate and analyze inputs and send relevant data to the cloud.

An IoT solution that is greater than the sum of its parts

VMware Pulse IoT Center will serve as the management glue between the hardware (Dell Edge Gateways or other certified edge systems), connected sensors and devices and the Microsoft Azure IoT Edge. Initially, Pulse will help to deploy the Microsoft Azure IoT Edge to the requisite edge systems so that it can start collecting, analyzing and acting on data in real-time. While this joint solution is optimized for Dell Edge Gateways it can continuously manage, monitor and better secure certified combination of gateways/edge systems with the latest patches and updates on an ongoing basis as well as monitor the health of these connected devices. Customers relying on Microsoft Azure IoT Edge and VMware Pulse IoT Center for their IoT initiatives will be able to provision, deliver and more securely manage their Microsoft Azure IoT edge components.

"When we unveiled the Dell Technologies IoT division last fall, we committed to leaning on the Dell Technologies family of businesses to engineer the right solutions to meet customer needs in conjunction with our partner ecosystem. This collaboration will enable customers to implement IoT more seamlessly, for better and faster ROI," said the head of OEM and IOT GTM, Dell EMC, Chris Wolff.

"When businesses deploy secure intelligent edge to cloud solutions, they can take full advantage of the digital transformation opportunities IoT represents. By delivering this integrated edge to cloud solution, Microsoft and Dell technologies are making it easier for customers to empower their employees, optimize operations and reimagine their products, services or even business models," said vice president IoT Solutions, Microsoft, Ruston Panabaker.

"Teaming up with Microsoft on IoT and edge is a natural fit based on the complementary technologies we offer today. Microsoft and Dell technologies can help customers securely and more easily navigate their journey to IoT and edge with integrated and secure solutions that will help them to improve their businesses and deliver a better customer experience," said vice president for IoT Business, VMware, Mimi Spier.

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