Jeff Clarke (Dell)
Dell Technologies is introducing an edge operations software platform, dubbed Dell NativeEdge, to simplify and optimise secure edge deployments.
Customers could use the platform to streamline edge operations across thousands of devices and locations from the edge to core data centres and multiple clouds.
Delivering on the promise of Project Frontier, announced last October, Dell said NativeEdge was the industry’s only edge operations software platform delivering secure device onboarding at scale, remote management and multicloud application orchestration.
“Moving data is complicated and expensive, which has resulted in massively distributed architectures that can be difficult to manage, provision and automate," vice chairman and co-chief operating officer of Dell Technologies Jeff Clarke said at the company's annual conference in Las Vegas.
"As our customers look to fuel new workloads and AI at the edge, they are turning to Dell to find simpler and more effective ways to manage and secure their ecosystem of edge technologies and applications.”
Use cases for modern edge workloads were varied and growing, creating more complex infrastructure environments and edge operations, said Jennifer Cooke, research director of Edge Strategies at IDC.
NativeEdge offered an interesting new solution that addressed that complexity and many of the security issues inherent with deploying devices and applications at the edge, she said.
NativeEdge was built to power enterprise edge use cases with zero-touch deployment and an open system design, integrating with a variety of hardware across Dell’s portfolio.
Dell also expanded its retail edge solutions with Dell Validated Design for Retail Edge with inVia Robotics intelligent automation. This uses software and automation to help retail employees become more efficient with last-mile picking, packing, shipping and delivery by converting existing warehouse and retail space into micro-fulfillment centres.
Also announced, Dell Private Wireless with Airspan and Druid is a validated private wireless solution that gives enterprises reliable, secure wireless connectivity for thousands of remote edge technologies,
Enterprise SONiC Distribution, meanwhile, is a scalable, open source-based networking operating system on Dell switches that extend additional data centre network features to edge deployments, including User Container Support (UCS) and streaming telemetry.
Dell ProDeploy Flex allows customers to effectively tailor their edge deployment service needs to get the most value from their edge infrastructure and applications.
Dell said expanding its edge partner ecosystem was critical to customer success at the edge.
Through the Dell Edge Partner Certification Program, ISVs, system integrators and OEM partners will be able to test and validate their software applications on Dell NativeEdge to deliver integrated edge infrastructure solutions to customers.
“With the introduction of Dell NativeEdge, we see new opportunities to integrate and better meet our customers’ mission-critical needs at the edge,” said Vandana Singh, senior vice president of secure power North America at Schneider Electric.
Dell Technologies also introduced what it calls "Project Fort Zero" to deliver an end-to-end zero trust security solution to protect organisations against cyberattacks.
Project Fort Zero, part of an expansion of Dell's security portfolio, will be validated by the US Department of Defense.
Leading an ecosystem of more than 30 technology companies, Dell said it would will deliver a validated, advanced zero trust solution within the next 12 months.
“Zero trust is designed for decentralised environments, but integrating it across hundreds of point products from dozens of vendors is complex – making it out of reach for most organizations,” said Herb Kelsey, industry chief technology officer, government, at Dell Technologies.
“We’re helping global organisations solve today’s security challenges by easing integration and accelerating adoption of zero trust.”
Rob O'Neill attended Dell Technologies World 2023 in Las Vegas as a guest of Dell.
