Rapid advances in information technology have dramatically disrupted the defence industry. According to a 2020 PWC report, defence companies need to transform nearly every aspect of how they operate in order to maintain technological superiority for the solutions they create and importantly, remain competitive for government contracts. As a result, we’re seeing a new age of innovation with technology reshaping the very nature of combat and influencing how military equipment is designed, intelligence information is gathered, and borders are protected.
Accelerate your transformation
Today, the defence industry is increasingly looking at technologies that are commonplace in the commercial world. Many traditional defence technologies are no longer proprietary and, in some cases, no longer classified. As a result, organisations are now working with nontraditional suppliers and new technology players as well as established defence contractors. This means that organisations in the defence sector need to identify and prioritise the technologies and capabilities that align to their overall business strategy and strategically choose the right partners.
Your innovation partner for defence
For over 20 years, Dell Technologies OEM Solutions has been helping customers lead digital transformation and design innovative technology solutions for mission-critical environments. We understand that defence organisations need to quickly develop new and more intelligent systems and capabilities, not just for the data centre, but right across the mission, supporting operations and troops, wherever they are. We know that defence locations can include forward command and control, temporary field offices, planes, ships or vehicles.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going
OEM Solutions has a team of expert engineers and program managers to help you design solutions tailored for your needs. Solutions can be purpose built for harsh environments in the field, and we can assist with various size, weight and power (SWaP) requirements without compromising security, performance or quality. When standard off-the-shelf systems will not meet requirements, we can help defence customers design, build and deploy field-ready systems and customized platforms.
Fit for purpose
We do the testing and validation of the systems in advance with selected Dell products tested and certified to recognized military standards. We have flexible and rugged solutions that are short, light and AC/DC capable, designed to deliver enterprise compute at the edge without compromising on performance.
We have recently added two short depth systems to our XR rugged server range. Offering shallow 16in/400mm chassis, built with the latest third generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors plus a selection of GPUs/FPGAs for acceleration, the PowerEdge XR11 and XR12 have been industry tested to MIL-STD for military, DNV-GL for marine applications and NEBS Level 3 for telecommunications. This means that enterprise compute is now available in the field close to the action, capable of delivering advanced analytics and insights within minutes, versus transmitting information via high latency, long distance data links. Watch the video below to learn more.
Rugged edge technology
In any business, having the right information at the right time is important. However, in defence, the ability to capture and process data at the point of data creation is critical, saving time and potentially lives during the course of a mission. Imagine a rugged, hyperconverged infrastructure on a ship collecting and processing data at sea. Picture soldiers with rugged tablets connected via satellites, maintaining secure communications anywhere. Visualize army commanders using rugged servers to power AI workloads in a command vehicle, processing data and making split second decisions, despite being on the move.
By providing ruggedized systems at the tactical edge, delays in data processing between Internet of Military Things (IoMT) sensors and command and control are mitigated. And of course, it follows that the more people and things that communicate at the edge, the more powerful the IoMT becomes, helping to strengthen global alliances and partnerships.
Stable and extended life products
Likewise, we know that defence customers are averse to regular unnecessary technology churn as it can mean revalidating and recertifying, which costs time and money. Our OEM XL PowerEdge servers are a subset of standard PowerEdge servers that customers can continue to purchase for up to 18 months after the standard servers go end of life.
These long-life systems are designed to make transitions easier and less disruptive, helping defence customers lock the component design, maximize resources within limited budgets and benefit from reduced maintenance. When system components do change, this is proactively managed with advance notification through the Dell ImageWatch tool.
Secure supply chain
Importantly, we offer a secure and reliable global supply chain that helps protect against security threats before implementation. For example, Secured Component Verification (SCV) is a factory-to-rack service available for our PowerEdge servers. Before leaving our factory, the server components and their unique IDs are assessed, and the resulting data is cryptographically secured using a signed certificate. Once delivered, an SCV tool reassesses the components of the system to verify that inventory matches with the signed certificate stored on the system. Once the system is authenticated, and components are verified to match, the customers can be assured that the server hardware configuration is as-built, and the server is ready to be deployed confidently.
Physical security
We know that physical security measures are also key to mission success, such as swappable, military-grade encrypted drives, system and chassis locks and rugged enclosures, providing physical and environmental protection. Some customers need customized lockdown of the system firmware to enhance data security and help ensure sensitive data remains protected. We have a dedicated engineering team who can work with defence customers to assist with customizations to meet their unique security requirements.
Your mission, designed your way
In summary, we have the broad portfolio and expertise to help defence customers design, test, validate and deploy innovative technology solutions for the rugged edge, securely scale globally and improve your technological superiority.
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