Dell Helps Customers Simplify Systems Management with Integrated and Open Approach

    --  New Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter beat out a competitive
        management solution in blind usability tests both in terms of user
        satisfaction and preference1
    --  Customers including MGM Resorts International, Catalyst2 and Rules-Based
        Medicine (RBM) turn to Dell to streamline IT operations with systems
        management solutions
    --  Ongoing enhancements to Dell's systems management portfolio makes it
        easy for customers to securely deploy, integrate and manage their IT
        assets

ROUND ROCK, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As customers look for new ways to use their existing IT investments, the management and maintenance of deployed technology becomes increasingly important. To help customers get the most from their investments, Dell has made significant improvements to its portfolio of systems management solutions, adding new capabilities such as being able to easily manage physical and virtual IT resources from a single console. Customers such as MGM Resorts International, Rules-Based Medicine (RBM), and Catalyst2 are using Dell technologies to quickly and efficiently manage, automate and provision their heterogeneous IT environments.

"IT organizations are looking for virtualization management tools that can seamlessly integrate with existing data center management tools and processes in order to improve operational productivity and coordination," says Mary Johnston Turner, Research Director, IDC. "Dell's modular approach to providing physical and virtual management solutions enables customers to align their management investments with the specific needs of their organization."

Dell Systems Management Solutions

Dell's systems management tools help eliminate many manual and redundant IT tasks while offering customers robust management capabilities through fewer consoles than before, which can result in significant time savings. New innovations to Dell's systems management portfolio include:

    --  Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter: With the Dell Management
        Plug-in for VMware vCenter customers can provision bare metal servers,
        deploy hypervisors, handle firmware and BIOS updates, and manage alerts
        directly from VMware's vCenter console. Unlike HP's competitive offering
        that provides primarily link and launch capabilities back to its own
        proprietary console, Dell's offering integrates server management
        functionality directly into vCenter and enables customers to work from a
        single, familiar console. In fact, in a recent blind usability study,
        Dell's solution was the clear winner in terms of satisfaction and
        preference over the comparable HP-plug-in. Participants in the study
        appreciated the greater level of detail in the Dell plug-in and
        expressed that the Dell user interface provided better navigation,
        organization, and layout of information.1
    --  Dell Lifecycle Controller and Embedded Systems Management:Dell has
        enhanced its embedded systems management capabilities, making it fast
        for users to perform key operational tasks, including system deployment,
        system updates, workload migration, and hardware monitoring and
        remediation. Reducing time and steps not only streamlines operational
        tasks, but can also reduce potential for error and enhance system
        uptime.
    --  Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller:With Dell's latest integrated
        Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) users get remote management and
        configuration options, which are designed to reduce or eliminate the
        need for administrators to visit the server -- even when the server is
        not operational. iDRAC enables "anytime, anywhere" remote management,
        monitoring, troubleshooting, remediation and server upgrades,
        independent of the OS status.

Customer Quotes:

"Now we can manage all of the physical hosts in our virtualized environment from a single, centralized console within VMware vCenter. The Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter gives us the capabilities we need while helping us simplify IT management," said Matt Callaway, Director of IT, for Rules-Based Medicine.

"Using Lifecycle Controller, it takes us just five minutes to upgrade firmware on a server. The Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) is great because it lets us troubleshoot and upgrade software in our London data center from our office in Edinburgh. Tasks such as mounting a CD can be completed in two minutes as opposed to several hours if an employee had to be present onsite," said Paul Redpath, Managing Director, Catalyst2.

"The Integrated Dell Remote Access Card (iDRAC) enables the staff to perform maintenance remotely, which saves significant time. Our data center is 10 miles away, so not having to do a truck roll when there's a problem or have someone there babysitting the servers is fantastic," Chris Gebelin, Executive Director of Enterprise Management MGM Resorts International.

Additional Information:

Dell Systems Management Components
Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter
Dell iDRAC Capabilities
Embedded Server Management
Dell PowerEdge Servers
Dell Virtualization

About Dell

Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to its customers and uses that insight to make technology simpler and create innovative solutions that deliver reliable, long-term value. Learn more at www.dell.com.

¹ Dell commissioned a study by Usability Sciences, "Competitive User Experience Benchmark of vCenter Plug-Ins, Dell Management Plug-In 1.0 vs. HP Insight Control Plug-In 6.2.0", December 2010.

    Source: Dell

Released January 19, 2011