Tag: workloads

Qumulo Selects Ireland for European Software Research and Development Hub

Qumulo, the enterprise leader in unstructured data management and provider of cloud data platforms, announces the official launch of its European Software R&D hub in Cork. Through this strategic expansion, Qumulo will create 50 highly skilled R&D positions in the coming three years to solve the major challenges for data management at enormous scale and scope for global business.

This project is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.

Minister for Enterprise, Tourism & Employment, Peter Burke TD, said, “Qumulo’s decision to establish a new European software R&D hub in Cork is a strong endorsement of Cork as a location where cutting-edge engineering and global ambition meet. It highlights the depth of talent emerging from our universities, the strength of the region’s technology ecosystem, and Ireland’s ability to support companies delivering pioneering innovation on a global scale. I wish them the best of luck in their new office.”
Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht and at the Department of Transport, Jerry Buttimer TD said: “Today’s announcement by Qumulo is a testament to Cork and the South-West region’s capacity for fostering meaningful collaboration and technological leadership. This expansion highlights Ireland’s reputation as a dynamic environment where innovation thrives and partnerships flourish.”

 

Information, derived from data, is now the core asset driving the modern global economy. The success of autonomous AI systems integrated into business operations depends on their ability to make real-time decisions with instant, trustworthy access to colossal datasets.

“After actively reviewing a wide variety of options for our second R&D centre, we found that the stellar third-level institutions in the South-West were the basis for a deep talent pool in Cork,” said Qumulo Chief Technology Officer Kiran Bhageshpur. “Additionally, the excellent support infrastructure for companies like Qumulo provided by IDA Ireland made Cork the obvious choice for us to build a team focused on leveraging AI to help businesses manage global-scale data infrastructure.”

For Qumulo’s global customers, this new site in Cork will also see an expansion of its Customer Success team in the region as a commitment to the long-term partnership and the outcomes that customers expect. To explore career opportunities at Qumulo, visit www.qumulo.com/careers .

“Cork is a milestone, not just a milestone for Qumulo — but for every customer who depends on us to be present, responsive, and invested in their success,” said Qumulo VP of Customer Success Dave Coughlan, “This investment is a direct reflection of the trust our customers place in us, and our responsibility to honour that trust every single day.”

This new R&D and Customer Success hub in Cork is a recognition of the challenges and opportunities presented by this new global, digital landscape. This team will research and develop solutions to enable the secure, frictionless, and instantaneous transfer of exabyte-scale workloads across the globe, delivering the trusted, AI-ready data requirement to power next-generation enterprise applications.

“Qumulo’s establishment in Cork is a statement of the ambition of Qumulo to continue its growth to meet customer demand, and Cork’s capacity to deliver on that future with the talent base and ecosystem to drive innovation,” said Qumulo Engineering Director Diarmaid Hogan. “Building and growing a European Hub for R&D is the next chapter in Qumulo’s already exciting story.”

CEO of IDA Ireland Michael Lohan said, “Ireland offers a compelling combination of talent, research excellence, and an open, collaborative business environment, and Qumulo’s expansion in Cork is another example of how that proposition continues to resonate with global technology companies.”

Siemens expands data centre partner ecosystem to scale next-generation AI infrastructure

As AI drives unprecedented demand for data centre capacity, the industry faces a growing challenge in aligning rapidly expanding compute infrastructure with available power. To address this, Siemens Smart Infrastructure is expanding its data centre ecosystem through a strategic investment in, and partnership with, Emerald AI, alongside the integration of Fluence battery energy storage solutions, and the addition of collaborative physics-based AI modeling with PhysicsX. Together, these capabilities create flexibility across compute, energy, and infrastructure systems, helping data centre operators connect to the grid faster, scale efficiently, and operate reliably in a power-constrained world.

“Scaling AI infrastructure isn’t just a computing challenge, it is equally an energy and infrastructure challenge,” said Ruth Gratzke, President of Siemens Smart Infrastructure U.S. “As demand for AI processing accelerates, data centre growth is increasingly constrained by grid capacity and interconnection timelines. Addressing this requires complex coordination across both the digital and energy domains. Siemens is actively investing in key technologies

and partnerships to expand the ecosystem required to scale AI responsibly and support the next generation of data centre infrastructure.”

Emerald AI enables AI workloads to shift in time and location to align with grid conditions, allowing data centre demand to respond dynamically to available power. By coordinating when and where AI workloads run alongside dispatching onsite energy resources, this approach helps smooth peak demand, achieves faster and larger grid connections for data centres, and reduces pressure on constrained power infrastructure. The strategic investment in Emerald AI strengthens Siemens’ ability to introduce flexibility at the compute layer. When combined with Siemens’ expertise in power infrastructure and operational technology, this creates true IT/OT convergence between AI workloads and power systems.

A key element of this expanded ecosystem is the addition of Fluence’s grid-scale energy storage solutions, designed to support the next generation of high-performance AI data centres. As compute clusters grow in size and density, Fluence energy storage solutions enable data centres to accelerate grid connection by shaping load and coordinating ramp rates, making large AI-scale demand more predictable and easier for utilities to approve. This can turn power-constrained locations into viable data centre sites and accelerate time to power, which can enable deployment of energy storage in months rather than years of grid upgrades. Fluence’s energy storage solutions can also provide dispatchable, on-site power that aims to enable data centres to operate during grid build-outs, capacity shortfalls, or outages. By supporting consistent power quality and flexible scaling, Fluence can help data centre operators bring capacity online faster while maintaining the reliability required for mission-critical AI workloads.

Strengthening this ecosystem further, Siemens is collaborating with PhysicsX to apply physics AI to the design and operation of data centre power distribution systems. Using AI models trained on Siemens’ multi-physics simulation data, engineers can predict thermal behavior in complex busway systems in real time. With PhysicsX, simulations that once took days can run in under a second, enabling faster design iteration, optimized infrastructure for dynamic AI workloads, and the foundation for predictive monitoring across entire facilities.

The rapid growth of AI will continue to place new and often highly dynamic demands on power systems, with large training and inference clusters creating rapidly shifting loads that challenge traditional grid planning and data centre design. As a result, operators must find new ways to manage these demands while maintaining the performance and reliability required for AI infrastructure. Siemens’ expanded ecosystem is designed to help address this challenge by bringing together AI workload orchestration, grid-integrated energy systems, and AI-optimized physical infrastructure to support the next generation of AI infrastructure.

For more information on Siemens Smart Infrastructure, please see Siemens Smart Infrastructure.

Salesforce ODBC Connectivity: Best Drivers for Reliable Data Access

Companies use Salesforce ODBC drivers to connect Salesforce data directly to BI, reporting, ETL, and analytics tools. ODBC eliminates the need to write custom API integrations and allows Salesforce objects to be queried using SQL from standard data platforms.

In practice, ODBC drivers enable teams to:

  • Connect Salesforce to Power BI, Tableau, Qlik, Excel, and ETL platforms 
  • Run SQL-based reporting on Salesforce objects 
  • Automate scheduled data exports and incremental refreshes 
  • Join Salesforce data with on-premise or cloud databases 
  • Centralize analytics without building custom middleware 

For analytics teams, ODBC drivers convert Salesforce’s API-based model into a relational-style interface that standard BI tools understand. For IT teams, they provide a managed, repeatable connectivity layer with defined authentication and configuration options. For data engineers, they reduce integration complexity while preserving control over refresh behavior, security, and performance parameters.

Reliable connectivity matters because Salesforce is often a core CRM system feeding dashboards, executive reports, finance models, and operational pipelines. A driver is not just a connector—it becomes part of the data infrastructure stack.

Salesforce ODBC Drivers Compared

Below are four established commercial drivers frequently used in BI and enterprise data environments.

1. Devart ODBC Driver for Salesforce

Positioning: Balanced SQL coverage + cross-platform + bulk-oriented workloads

Devart focuses on delivering extended SQL support over Salesforce objects while maintaining OAuth-based secure connectivity. It supports Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it suitable for mixed desktop and server environments.

Key characteristics:

  • OAuth authentication over HTTPS 
  • Extended SQL support (joins, grouping, filtering) 
  • Cross-platform (Windows/macOS/Linux) 
  • Batch updates for handling larger data modifications 
  • Broad compatibility with BI and ETL tools 

Devart is typically positioned for teams that need strong SQL ergonomics and flexible deployment across different operating systems while maintaining performance during larger refresh jobs.

  1. Progress DataDirect ODBC Driver for Salesforce

Positioning: Enterprise-scale performance and bulk operations

Progress DataDirect emphasizes high-performance connectivity and large-volume data processing. It is often selected in environments where Salesforce data refreshes are heavy and SLA-driven.

Key characteristics:

  • Focus on performance optimization 
  • Transparent bulk operations 
  • Enterprise multi-platform support 
  • Designed for high-volume data movement 
  • Common in centralized IT deployments 

This driver is typically associated with organizations running large, scheduled refreshes and centralized BI environments where performance under concurrency is critical.

 

  1. Easysoft ODBC-Salesforce Driver

Positioning: SQL and SOQL flexibility + Windows-heavy deployments

Easysoft provides both SQL-oriented and SOQL-oriented driver options, which is a structural difference compared to most competitors.

Key characteristics:

  • Separate SQL and SOQL driver modes 
  • OAuth support (Windows) 
  • Strong compatibility with Office-based reporting tools 
  • Integration scenarios involving local databases 

Easysoft can be relevant where teams require SOQL-like behavior or primarily operate in Windows reporting environments.

  1. Simba Salesforce ODBC Driver (insightsoftware / Magnitude)

Positioning: Standardized ODBC connectivity across data ecosystems

Simba drivers are widely embedded or referenced in many analytics platforms. The Salesforce driver is known for conventional ODBC configuration patterns and documented OAuth connection string support.

Key characteristics:

  • OAuth 2.0 connection string configuration 
  • TLS-secured communication 
  • Commonly referenced in BI tool documentation 
  • Structured DSN and DSN-less deployment options 

Simba is frequently selected where standardized ODBC configuration and documentation alignment with analytics platforms are priorities.

 

Structural Differences Between the Drivers

Instead of feature checklists, the real differences appear in architecture and operational focus.

Driver Core Strength Architectural Focus Deployment Style Volume Handling
Devart Extended SQL + cross-platform flexibility SQL translation depth Desktop + server mixed Batch updates, balanced performance
DataDirect Enterprise performance Bulk optimization engine Centralized enterprise IT Strong at large-scale extracts
Easysoft SQL vs SOQL dual model Query-mode flexibility Windows-heavy Moderate workloads
Simba Standardized ODBC implementation Conventional ODBC architecture BI ecosystem alignment Standard analytics loads

 

Summary: Differences That Matter

All four drivers provide commercial, production-ready Salesforce connectivity via ODBC. The differences lie in architectural emphasis rather than basic capability.

  • Devart emphasizes SQL flexibility, cross-platform availability, and balanced bulk handling. 
  • Progress DataDirect emphasizes enterprise-grade performance and large-scale bulk optimization. 
  • Easysoft differentiates with dual SQL/SOQL driver models and Windows-focused reporting compatibility. 
  • Simba emphasizes standardized ODBC configuration widely documented across analytics platforms. 

Salesforce ODBC connectivity is not a commodity layer when analytics pipelines, scheduled refreshes, and reporting environments depend on it daily. The practical differences between drivers emerge in performance under load, SQL behavior, authentication management, and deployment environments.

Each of these tools serves a distinct operational profile. The right choice depends on infrastructure structure, query patterns, security policies, and expected data volume—not on marketing claims.

 

AI is accelerating but is your infrastructure keeping pace?

AI is rapidly transforming businesses across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), unlocking innovation and potential in vital areas from retail personalisation to medical research. But Irish organisations in particular are feeling both the excitement and the strain. Many businesses find their AI ambitions stalling – as no one expected they’d need to support AI workloads when designing their infrastructure strategy. Colin Boyd, Data Centre Solutions Sales Director, Dell Technologies Ireland tells us more

The investment momentum is strong. Projections show the AI market in Europe alone is experiencing robust growth, projected to expand from approximately $105B in 2024 to over $640B by 2031, at a CAGR of 35% (Statista). But in Ireland the legacy systems remain one of the biggest barriers to progress with almost 28% of businesses saying their servers need upgrading to support AI workloads and 34% saying the same for their storage systems, according to Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst Study. And as data volumes surge, 97% organisations that are planning to increase their storage capacity expect to face challenges of some sort when doing so, underscoring the scale of the infrastructure gap.

To truly unlock AI’s potential, leaders must first look inward and assess if their infrastructure is a launchpad for innovation or a barrier to progress. Here are five indicators that your infrastructure might be holding you back.

  1. Data Access is a Bottleneck, Not an Enabler

AI models are fueled by data. The more high-quality data they can process, the more accurate and insightful they become. However, many local businesses still struggle with fragmented or slow-moving data. If data scientists spend more time waiting for datasets to load than they do building models, that is a problem. Legacy storage systems often struggle to deliver the high-speed, parallel throughput required for training complex algorithms.

The challenge is further amplified by Ireland’s strict regulatory environment as seen 40% of the organisations say they face challenges when it comes to meeting regulatory data requirements when it comes increasing storage capacity and 37% cite data security and privacy concerns as barriers when planning to scale their storage infrastructure.

The need for strong data management in the EMEA region is further amplified by stringent regulatory requirements. Regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe set high standards for data privacy, consent, and localisation. Businesses need to ensure that data used for AI is not only accessible and timely but also managed and transferred in compliance with these legal mandates.

Consider a financial institution in London aiming to use AI for fraud detection. Real-time analysis is essential, but a fragmented or slow data landscape not only risks missed threats but can also lead to breaches of privacy mandates. Modern, compliant data platforms help unify, streamline, and accelerate access – enabling safe, rapid innovation, while meeting the complex requirements for privacy and governance.

  1. Scaling Server Infrastructure for the Next Wave of AI

Running AI in production is still a highly-compute intensive challenge for most businesses. While few enterprises are training large language models from scratch, many are deploying AI to support real-time decision making, analytics, computer vision, and increasingly autonomous workflows alongside existing business applications.

Almost 28% of Irish organisations say their servers need upgrading to support AI workloads, as it places sustained pressure on server infrastructure, particularly when general-purpose servers are already operating close to capacity. When AI inference, data processing and core applications compete for the same resources, performance suffers and the value of AI is harder to realise. Purpose built infrastructure, including accelerated compute, helps businesses support these mixed workloads efficiently while maintaining reliability and predictable performance.

  1. The Network Is a Traffic Jam

AI doesn’t just demand powerful computing and storage; it also requires a robust network to move massive datasets between storage, processing units, and end-users. But many businesses are discovering that their networks weren’t designed for this level of throughput. A slow or unreliable network can create significant bottlenecks, effectively starving your powerful AI processors of the data they need to function. Signs include long data transfer times, network congestion during peak processing hours, and dropped connections that can interrupt critical training jobs.

A slow network means a frustratingly delayed user experience, which can directly impact on customer satisfaction and retention. A growing number of Irish businesses recognise that improving data transfer speeds is essential to support AI tasks. A high-speed, low-latency network fabric is essential to ensure a smooth, continuous flow of data, enabling your AI applications to perform as intended.

  1. Deployment and Management Are Overly Complex

Getting an AI model from the lab to a live production environment should be a streamlined process. However, many businesses find themselves entangled in complexity. If your IT team struggles to provision resources, manage software dependencies, and scale applications, your infrastructure is creating unnecessary friction. A rigid, manually configured environment makes it difficult to experiment, iterate, and deploy AI models efficiently.

The challenge is compounded by skills gap and operational pressures. 34% of Irish organisations cite a lack of in-house expertise as a key barrier to managing growing data and infrastructure demands.

Lack of agility can be a significant disadvantage. Businesses across the EMEA region are looking to AI for a competitive edge, and speed to market is critical.

Modern infrastructure simplifies this journey with integrated software stacks and automation tools. This approach empowers teams to deploy AI applications quickly, manage them with ease, and scale them on demand, fostering a culture of rapid innovation.

  1. No Clear Path to Scale

While an organisation’s first AI project may start small, the infrastructure should be ready for what comes next. A critical sign of an unprepared system is the absence of a clear, cost-effective strategy for scaling your AI capabilities. If expanding the AI environment requires a complete and costly overhaul, the initial success will be difficult to replicate and these challenges are already being felt across businesses, with 40 % reporting difficulties when ensuring infrastructure scalability, while 37% cite high cost of expanding data storage as one of the key obstacles.

Infrastructure built on a scalable, modular architecture allows businesses to grow AI resources incrementally. This “pay-as-you-grow” model provides the flexibility to meet evolving demands without overinvesting, ensuring your AI journey is sustainable in the long term.

Building the Foundation for Progress

The journey to AI is not just about algorithms and data; it’s about building a powerful and agile foundation. By addressing these five signs, businesses in Ireland can move beyond the limitations of legacy systems. Investing in modern, purpose-built infrastructure is an investment in your future. It empowers your teams, simplifies complexity, and creates the conditions for AI to deliver on its promise of driving meaningful progress and creating new opportunities.

As organisations look to advance their AI ambitions, understanding how to modernise infrastructure becomes essential. The same principles that drive transformation – strengthening core systems, managing data securely and scaling AI workloads with confidence will be at the heart of the conversation at Dell Technologies Innovate. Bringing together industry experts and technology leaders, the event will explore how organisations can build resilient, AI‑ready environments while maintaining security, compliance, and performance.

For organisations looking to take the next step in their AI journey, understanding how to modernise infrastructure will be key.

Join us at Irish Museum of Modern Art on 26th March to dive deeper into these strategies and chart a clear path forward. For more information and to register, click here.

Dell Technologies and Microsoft redefine Hybrid Cloud with Azure local integration

Dell Technologies today announced a major advancement in hybrid cloud innovation through the integration of Microsoft Azure Local with Dell Private Cloud and Dell PowerStore. This collaboration marks a significant step forward in simplifying IT operations for enterprises, delivering a unified approach to managing diverse workloads across hybrid and multicloud environments.

The conversation around enterprise IT has shifted dramatically. Businesses are no longer faced with a binary choice between public cloud and on-premises infrastructure, nor is it simply about running traditional versus modern workloads. The real challenge lies in managing these varied environments consistently and efficiently. Dell Technologies, in partnership with Microsoft, is addressing this challenge head-on by introducing Azure Local support for Dell Private Cloud and Dell PowerStore, creating a seamless experience for organisations seeking flexibility, performance, and enterprise-grade resilience.

Dell Private Cloud represents the first Azure Local offering to deliver a full-stack solution encompassing compute, external storage, and networking from a single vendor, backed by end-to-end solution-level support. This integrated approach simplifies the complexity of hybrid and multicloud management, enabling businesses to focus on innovation rather than infrastructure. With automated lifecycle management, independent scaling of compute and storage, and a future-ready disaggregated architecture, Dell Private Cloud empowers organisations to adapt to evolving demands without disruption.

Complementing this is Dell PowerStore, Dell’s flagship enterprise all-flash storage platform. PowerStore brings advanced data efficiency, flexible scalability, and robust security to Azure Local environments, ensuring critical workloads remain protected while delivering exceptional performance. Its ability to handle both traditional and modern workloads makes PowerStore the ideal partner for businesses modernising their IT operations without compromise.

Caitlin Gordon, Vice President of Product Management for Private Cloud and AI Solutions at Dell Technologies, said: “The conversation around enterprise IT is changing. It’s no longer about choosing between public cloud and on-premises infrastructure. Nor is it a simple decision between running traditional or modern workloads. Today, the real challenge is how to manage all of these different environments and application types together, simply and consistently. By bringing Microsoft Azure Local to Dell Private Cloud and PowerStore, we’re helping customers simplify their IT operations and unlock the full potential of their hybrid cloud strategies.”

This integration is more than a technical milestone; it reflects Dell Technologies’ commitment to helping customers navigate the complexities of modern IT. Together with Microsoft, Dell is delivering solutions that meet the evolving needs of businesses, from hybrid cloud to edge computing and beyond. Early access for this combined offering is expected to launch in spring 2026, paving the way for organisations to embrace a future-ready infrastructure that drives innovation and growth.

Dell and Microsoft roll out integrated file storage for AI-era workloads

Businesses in Ireland can now leverage Dell PowerScale for Microsoft Azure, a scalable, high-performance enterprise-class file storage solution, integrated with Azure to support modern AI workloads.

Co-developed with Microsoft as an Azure Native Integration, Dell PowerScale provides a fully managed cloud-native deployment of PowerScale software on Azure infrastructure. The solution aims to accelerate AI initiatives, manage media production, and ensure business continuity, empowering organizations to achieve their next breakthrough.

“In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, enterprises need more than just storage, they need a platform that drives innovation, scales effortlessly, and adapts to their most demanding workloads. Dell PowerScale for Microsoft Azure is purpose-built to meet these needs,” said David Noy, Vice President of Product Management at Dell Technologies. “Co-developed with Microsoft, this enterprise-class file storage solution delivers high performance, robust security, and seamless integration, empowering organisations to achieve their next breakthrough. From accelerating AI and managing media production to ensuring business continuity, PowerScale for Azure is the foundation for success in the data-driven era.”

Built on a proven foundation, Dell PowerScale for Microsoft Azure is an Azure Native integration co-developed with Microsoft and built on a legacy of storage leadership. This is enterprise-class file storage, purpose-built for today’s most demanding workloads and managed by the experts at Dell. With NVRAM-enabled custom compute SKUs engineered exclusively for Dell, PowerScale for Azure delivers blazing-fast performance up to four times greater than the closest competitor.

The solution has been designed to offer ultra-low latency and optimized to handle even the most data-intensive applications with ease. PowerScale for Azure allows organisations to scale out rapidly and efficiently, supporting up to 8.4PB of storage in a single namespace. It also supports NFS, SMB, and S3 protocols running simultaneously, so teams can support a broad range of applications and avoid the limits of single-purpose solutions or vendor lock-in.

The familiar, unified PowerScale interface ensures operational simplicity and a consistent user experience whether data is on-premises or in Azure. Fully managed by Dell experts, PowerScale handles deployment, upgrades, monitoring, and support, delivering robust, proactive management every step of the way. With zero-trust architecture, always-on encryption, continuous backup, and built-in ransomware recovery, organisations can face threats with a hardened defence posture.

PowerScale supports production workloads across every industry vertical. Media & Entertainment companies can handle massive video files, real-time editing, and tight production timelines with high-speed hybrid data environments. Production teams can scale up for big releases, scale down when projects close, and focus on creativity, while robust security protects critical media assets. Electronic design automation produces massive datasets and demands fast, collaborative workflows.

PowerScale accelerates simulation, modelling, and design workflows, enabling global design teams to work together, handle simulation spikes, and move products to market faster. Life Sciences organisations can analyse large datasets, run simulations, and drive discoveries with high-performance access and secure, compliant storage. PowerScale allows scaling as clinical projects advance without service disruption.

Downtime and data loss aren’t options. PowerScale for Azure streamlines disaster recovery by enabling asynchronous replication into Azure with SyncIQ, extending data protection across environments to ensure compliance and rapid recovery in the event of disaster.

Dell Technologies Data Center Breakthroughs Power Smarter, Faster and More Secure Private Clouds

Dell Technologies announces significant private cloud infrastructure advancements to help customers manage both traditional and modern workloads with greater speed, efficiency, and security.

Why it matters

Many IT teams struggle to handle the demands of both traditional and modern workloads while dealing with rising costs, evolving virtualization needs and vendor lock-in concerns. Organizations are adopting disaggregated private clouds built with virtualization-optimized compute, storage and cyber resilience solutions that provide greater flexibility, choice, and control over their data.

Dell Private Cloud, delivered through the Dell Automation Platform with on-premises and SaaS deployment options, helps customers easily automate, scale and manage private cloud deployments using their preferred cloud OS stack and Dell disaggregated infrastructure including PowerStore, PowerFlex, and PowerMax. Customers can use AI-driven automation for infrastructure management and monitoring.

Additionally, integration of Dell NativeEdge into the Dell Automation Platform provides a full stack solution optimized to simplify and secure operations across distributed cloud and edge environments.

Storage and cyber resilience are key to any private cloud. Dell is introducing significant innovations in these areas to help customers build smarter, faster, and more secure private clouds.

Dell PowerStore adds QLC model and Nutanix Cloud Platform integration

Dell PowerStore delivers simple, enterprise-grade, high-performance storage tightly integrated with modern virtualization platforms and adaptable for containerized environments. The Nutanix Cloud Platform solution will soon support Dell PowerStore, combining Dell’s trusted storage innovation with Nutanix’s cloud operating model to meet customer demand for greater choice and control in how they deploy infrastructure.

PowerStore’s latest hardware and software advancements deliver greater cost-efficiency, AI-accelerated automation and enhanced resiliency.

  • Enterprise performance, lower costs: PowerStore 5200Q offers high-capacity performance with the economics of QLC flash, flexible scaling over 23Pbe per cluster and optimized workload placement through integration with existing PowerStore clusters.
  • Software-driven security and resiliency: Improve enterprise security and resiliency with built-in anomaly detection, single sign-on and biometric authentication, HashiCorp key manager support and replication over fibre channel.
  • AI-powered self-healing: Cut issue resolution time by 90%1 through automated health checks and repairs powered by Smart Support Auto-Heal functionality.

 

Dell PowerFlex provides efficient petabyte-scale storage consolidation   

Dell PowerFlex, the industry’s most resilient software-defined block storage2, offers flexible, software-defined storage that scales linearly and features deep virtualization and Kubernetes integrations. The PowerFlex Ultra release introduces the Scalable Availability Engine (SAE) which drastically simplifies workload management and reduces costs with improved efficiency and reliability.

 

  • Reimagining software-defined storage: PowerFlex’s Scalable Availability Engine (SAE) is built on a native block, fully distributed, erasure-coded architecture that delivers breakthrough storage efficiency, resiliency, and scalability for software-defined data centers. 
  • Extreme storage efficiency: Achieves up to 80% storage efficiency3 with over 50% reduction in physical storage footprint4, allowing organizations to store more data in less space while lowering costs and power consumption.
  1. Data availability and resiliency: Delivers up to 10x9s of data availability with the ability to tolerate up to two node failures simultaneously, ensuring enterprise workloads remain operational even during hardware failures while maintaining data integrity across large-scale deployments.

Dell PowerMax provides mission-critical performance, automation, and security

Dell PowerMax offers mission critical storage with enterprise-class scalability, automation, and resiliency with broad integrations for virtualized environments and full Kubernetes CSI support for container workloads. Software advancements deliver up to 25% greater performance5, advanced automation and enhanced security for mission-critical environments.

  • Enhanced automation: Free up IT teams to tackle higher-value tasks with features like 1-click software updates in less than 6 seconds6, zero-touch management installs and the ability to achieve up to a 66% reduction in steps for replication mode changes7.
  • QLC support: PowerMax 2500 introduces QLC drive support for capacity-intensive workloads while delivering flexible single-drive scaling from 122TB to 8.8PBe per array.
  • Advanced security: The world’s most secure mission-critical storage8 platform now includes features like Single Sign-On with Microsoft Entra ID and encrypted email alerts to ensure the highest standards of data protection and compliance.

Dell PowerProtect helps organizations build a cyber resilient foundation for modern data centers

Dell PowerProtect offers cyber resilience for virtual, cloud-native, and containerized workloads across data centers and every major public cloud, helping ensure rapid recovery to keep businesses running without disruption. The latest appliance and software innovations help organizations reduce their attack surface, detect and respond to threats and quickly recover from cyber incidents.

  • Entry-level appliance, enterprise-level security: The new PowerProtect Data Domain DD3410 is a compact solution for remote offices and smaller environments with exceptional data reduction capabilities, grow-in-place scalability from 8 to 32 TBu and advanced security to keep data safe. The appliance supports a broad partner and backup software ecosystem and native integration with Dell PowerStore and PowerMax.
  • Unified cyber resilience experience: The new PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance is a modern, software-defined solution that delivers centralized management for consistent operations. It enhances cyber resilience with enterprise-grade protection, including anomaly detection, data immutability, and integrity to safeguard against disruptions and threats. The Data Manager Appliance is the best way to achieve cyber resilience with Dell PowerProtect.

 

“At Dell Technologies, we’re empowering our customers with solutions that not only meet today’s IT challenges but also anticipate tomorrow’s needs,” said Travis Vigil, senior vice president, ISG Product Management, Dell Technologies. “Our latest storage and cyber resilience advancements are designed to help organizations build private clouds that are smarter, more secure and ready to handle the demands of both traditional and modern workloads.”

“With our Nutanix Cloud Platform soon supporting Dell PowerStore, we will be giving customers a new choice in how they architect their virtualized environments,” said Thomas Cornely, senior vice president, Product Management at Nutanix. “This integration will deliver an enterprise-grade solution that meets today’s demands for flexibility, while allowing organizations to build confidently with Dell infrastructure.”

“Organizations today face the dual challenge of managing traditional and modern workloads while navigating rising costs and evolving IT demands,” said Simon Robinson, principal analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group, now part of Omdia. “Dell’s latest advancements in storage and cyber resilience provide a comprehensive and flexible foundation for disaggregated private cloud environments, empowering businesses to achieve greater efficiency, security and scalability across their IT operations.”

Additional Resources

Dell AI Data Platform Advancements Help Customers Harness Data to Power Enterprise AI with NVIDIA and Elastic

Dell Technologies, the world’s No. 1 provider of AI infrastructure, today announced updates to the Dell AI Data Platform to help customers better support the full lifecycle of AI workloads from ingestion and transformation to agentic inferencing to AI-powered knowledge retrieval.

Why it matters

Enterprise data is massive, growing rapidly and increasingly unstructured, but only a fraction of it is usable for generative AI today. To unlock its value, organisations need continuous indexing and a vector retrieval engine that converts content into embeddings for fast, precise semantic search. As workloads grow, organizations need infrastructure that streamlines data preparation, unifies data access across silos and delivers end-to-end enterprise-grade performance.

The latest updates to the Dell AI Data Platform enhance unstructured data ingestion, transformation, retrieval, and compute performance to streamline AI development and deployment – turning massive datasets into reliable, high quality real-time intelligence for generative AI.

Accelerating AI inferencing and analytics

The Dell AI Data Platform helps customers quickly move from AI experimentation to production by automating data preparation.

At the core of the Dell AI Data Platform’s architecture are specialized storage and data engines that help seamlessly connect AI agents to high quality enterprise data. Together, the Dell AI Data Platform and the NVIDIA AI Data Platform reference design provide a validated, GPU-accelerated solution that integrates storage engines and data engines with NVIDIA accelerated computing, networking and AI software to power generative AI systems.

Expanding the capabilities of the Dell AI Data Platform is the new unstructured data engine, designed to provide real-time, secure access to large-scale unstructured datasets for inferencing, analytics, and intelligent search. This engine, made possible through a new collaboration with open-source Search AI leader Elastic, will offer customers advanced vector search, semantic retrieval and hybrid keyword search capabilities—key capabilities for powering AI applications. Additionally, the unstructured data engine will leverage built-in GPU acceleration to deliver breakthrough performance.

The unstructured data engine works alongside the platform’s other tools, like a federated SQL engine for querying scattered structured data, a processing engine for handling large-scale data transformation, and storage designed for fast, AI-ready access.

Powering enterprise AI discovery

As AI becomes increasingly crucial for business-as-usual operations, Dell PowerEdge R7725 and R770 servers featuring NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs provide the mainstream computing foundation for accelerated enterprise workloads, from visual computing, data analytics and virtual workstations, to physical AI and agentic inference. These servers are ideal for running NVIDIA AI reasoning models such as the latest NVIDIA Nemotron models for agentic AI, as well as NVIDIA Cosmos world foundation models for physical AI.

Offering better price for performance for a wide range of enterprise use cases, these air-cooled systems make flexible high-density AI compute more attainable. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 offers enterprises up to six times the token throughput for LLM inference,[ii] double the capacity for engineering simulation performance[iii] and can support four times the number of concurrent users compared to the previous generation with support for MIG.

The Dell PowerEdge R7725 server will also be the first 2U server platform to integrate the NVIDIA AI Data Platform reference design. When the Dell PowerEdge R7725 server featuring NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs is paired with the Dell AI Data Platform and its new unstructured data engine, enterprises can take advantage of a turnkey solution without the need to architect and test their own hardware and software platforms. The combination of the two delivers faster inferencing, more responsive semantic search and support for larger, more complex AI workloads.

See innovation in action at SIGGRAPH 2025

Dell Technologies is showcasing how customers can accelerate media production pipelines and power intelligent asset management at scale using the Dell AI Data Platform, NVIDIA Omniverse software and Dell infrastructure at this year’s SIGGRAPH conference (August 10-14) in Vancouver, Canada. Dell will also feature the new Dell Pro Max high-performance PC portfolio, including laptops, desktops and the upcoming Dell Pro Max with GB10, a compact AI developer workstation.

“The key to unlocking AI’s full potential lies in breaking down silos and simplifying access to enterprise data,” said Arthur Lewis, president, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies. “Collaborating with industry leaders like NVIDIA and Elastic to advance the Dell AI Data Platform will help organizations accelerate innovation and scale AI with confidence.”

“Enterprises worldwide need infrastructure that handles the growing scale and complexity of AI workloads,” said Justin Boitano, vice president of enterprise AI at NVIDIA. “With NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 GPUs in new 2U Dell PowerEdge servers, organizations now have a power efficient, accelerated computing platform to power AI applications and storage on NVIDIA Blackwell.”

“Fast, accurate, and context-aware access to unstructured data is key to scaling enterprise AI,” said Ken Exner, Chief Product Officer at Elastic. “With Elasticsearch vector database at the heart of the Dell AI Data Platform’s unstructured data engine, Elastic will bring vector search and hybrid retrieval to a turnkey architecture, enabling natural language search, real-time inferencing, and intelligent asset discovery across massive datasets. Dell’s deep presence in the enterprise makes them a natural partner as we work to help customers deploy AI that’s performant, precise, and production-ready.”

Availability

  • Unstructured data engine in Dell AI Data Platform will be available later this year.
  • Dell PowerEdge R7725 and R770 servers with NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 GPUs will be globally available later this year.

Dell Technologies Accelerates AI Innovation and Strengthens Cybersecurity Strategies for Microsoft Customers

Dell Technologies has announced new AI innovations to help Dell and Microsoft customers simplify AI adoption, accelerate deployment, and manage demanding workloads in multicloud environments. These advancements also aim to strengthen cybersecurity and data protection for joint customers.

Accelerating AI adoption and performance

Dell’s new AI offerings include the expansion of the Dell AI Factory with solutions developed in collaboration with Microsoft. One notable addition is the Dell APEX file storage for Microsoft Azure, a Dell managed service designed for superior AI workload performance, scalability and data services. This service promises easier deployment and management making it ideal for multicloud environments.

Additionally, Dell has introduced several services to aid organisations in adopting AI and creating custom AI solutions. These services include Accelerator Services for Copilot+ PCs, Services for Microsoft Copilot Studio and Azure AI Studio, and Implementation Services for Microsoft Azure AI Service. These offerings are intended to enhance productivity and support new business opportunities through AI application development.

Comprehensive data protection and security

On the cybersecurity front, Dell has also unveiled the Dell APEX Protection Services for Microsoft Azure, which provided Dell managed AI-powered cloud data protection and cyber resilience. This service aims to improve operational efficiency, enhance data protection with advanced data reduction capabilities and offer robust cyber recovery options.

Moreover, Dell has introduced new security services tailored for Microsoft environments. These services include advisory services for cybersecurity maturity model certification (CCMC) for Microsoft and Managed Detection and Response with Microsoft, helping customers align their cybersecurity posture and focus on core business activities while Dell experts monitor and respond to threats 24/7.

Arthur Lewis, President, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies said “Organisations modernising their IT strategies to support emerging workloads, like AI, need solutions that help them innovate faster, control costs and protect data across multicloud environments. Our storage software, data protection and services advancements help customers in Microsoft environments accelerate their transformation efforts quickly and securely.”

Aung Oo, VP of Azure Storage, Microsoft said “Our customers are looking for ways to modernise their IT infrastructure and adopt hybrid cloud services safely and securely. “Dell Technologies is enabling their customers to bring their existing knowledge, trusted platforms, and enterprise data to Azure to speed the adoption of critical technologies including Azure AI Services.”

Dell Technologies innovation highlight company’s commitment to helping businesses modernise their IT infrastructure while securely and efficiently adopting advanced AI solutions. With enhanced collaboration with Microsoft, Dell is providing the tools and services businesses need to thrive in today’s digital-first, multicloud world.

Availability

  • Dell-managed Dell APEX File Storage for Microsoft Azure will be available in public preview beginning in the first half of 2025.
  • Accelerator Services for Copilot+ PCs are available now.
  • Services for Microsoft Copilot Studio are available now.
  • Services for Microsoft Azure AI Studio are available now.
  • Implementation Services for Microsoft Azure AI Service are available now.
  • Dell APEX Protection Services for Microsoft Azure will be available beginning in the first half of 2025.
  • Advisory Services for Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) for Microsoft are available now.
  • Managed Detection and Response with Microsoft services are available now.