A primary theme this week at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Houston is finding the best way for IT to support the rise of the “modern consumer,” who’s highly mobile and always-on, and how they’ve dramatically altered and expanded the ways end users consume Microsoft Windows and its ecosystem of applications.
Inside the mammoth Dell PartnerDirect booth at WPC, we’re showcasing the many ways that Dell, alongside Microsoft and our joint partners, can deliver Windows 7 and Windows 8 desktops and apps to end users via a multitude of delivery methods designed to cater to any organization’s IT goals and priorities. Utilizing Dell’s experience and influence with client and datacenter hardware, as well as desktop virtualization solutions, we offer a variety of choices:
- “Traditional” Windows consumption by factory-integrating Windows on Dell devices such as durable Latitude ultrabooks , innovative XPS12 convertible tablets, Latitude 10 business-ready tablets, and OptiPlex 9020 all-in-one desktops.
- Streaming Windows images and applications to stateless, diskless clients (like Dell Cloud Desktops) on-demand using Dell Wyse WSM 6 software
- Using Dell PowerEdge VRTX and Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions (DVS) Enterprise for Windows Server 2012 to deliver Windows through Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) and Remote Desktop Virtualization Host (RDVH).
- Delivering Windows desktops from the Dell cloud with Dell Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) On Demand (available to partners in the coming months)
- Utilizing a blend of hosted VDI, local (offline) VDI, TS/RD Session Host and application virtualization to deliver Windows through vWorkspace from Quest.
So how does this help our partners? Simple – by working with our partners to deliver Windows and its ecosystem in many different ways, we allow partners to custom-tailor their approach to customers depending on how their end users want to consume Windows and what device they want to use as the consumption vehicle (consumer PCs, thin clients, tablets and mobile devices, etc.). This allows our partners to become not only true solution providers, but also helps them become trusted advisors who focus on providing the business outcomes that their customers desire.
In addition, during WPC we announced a Dell DVS 10-seat trial kit promo bundle exclusively for PartnerDirect partners and distributors. This promo bundle includes everything needed to deploy desktop virtualization: a pre-configured PowerEdge T110 server, factory-installed Windows Server 2012 software, 10 Dell Wyse T10 thin clients, 10 Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) CALs, and 3 years of Dell ProSupport for hardware and software.
In essence, the modern consumer has only a singular need–for IT to provide them with their Windows, apps, and data in the fastest, most flexible manner while ensuring an ideal end user experience. Dell and Microsoft are committed to enabling our partner community to do this, and to learn more about our desktop virtualization offerings (as well as the promotional bundle), please visit the Dell Cloud Client Computing Portal on PartnerDirect.