I don’t think you can ever truly imagine the future without reflecting on the past. The brand-new OptiPlex XE3 – powered by Intel – is a great case in point. Building on the legacy of its predecessors, it expands our industrial rugged portfolio and reinforces our commitment to client-embedded platforms.
An impeccable heritage
Let’s talk DNA and family tree first. When I think of the OptiPlex XE3, the expression – “standing on the shoulders of giants” comes to mind. Take the forerunner of the family, the OptiPlex XE. Released back in 2010, this was the first, dedicated industrial PC from a Tier-1 vendor, offering customers a stable lifecycle of three and a half years.
The next installment of the story
Fast forward to 2013 when we welcomed its successor, the OptiPlex XE2. With the change from the desktop chassis and a riser card to a mini tower with four full height slots, the XE2 was more expandable and less complex to add legacy PCI and PCIe add-in cards.
This second-generation product certainly reassured customers that we were in the industrial rugged desktop space for the long haul. Customers loved the longevity and the ability to use the product under tough environmental conditions.
A slew of rugged announcements
Building on this success, we had a slew of rugged announcements with our Dell Edge Gateway 5000 range launching in 2015, followed a year later by our entry into the Embedded PC market.
For me, 2017 was a stand-out year for our rugged portfolio. In February, we celebrated the launch of the Dell Edge Gateway 3000 series – powered by Intel – and closed the year by launching the small but mighty PowerEdge XR2 (Intel Xeon SP based,) part of our family of 14th generation servers.
Industrial grade features from a tier one vendor
Today, the legacy continues with the launch of the brand-new OptiPlex XE3, the highest performing and most expandable industrial grade PC yet from a tier-one vendor. Available in a smaller mini tower and small form factor chassis with integrated wireless LAN, the OptiPlex XE3 offers OEM industrial grade features, allowing the product to be integrated into larger equipment solutions.
Key markets
Think medical equipment (mass spectrometry, liquid analysis and oncology solutions), retail (banking ATM/cash machines, photo processing kiosks, point of sale terminals) and industrial automation (industrial control systems for manufacturing lines or oil and gas exploration). If you could zoom into the innards of these machines, you would see the OptiPlex XE3, using the new 8th Gen Intel® Core™ vPro™ processor integrated as part of the total solution.
Marine-certified
And if your equipment solution is at sea, there’s no need for a special air-conditioned room. The OptiPlex XE3 has earned its sea legs with marine certification under its belt. In addition to the medical, industrial automation, marine, retail and hospitality markets, we’re also seeing growing interest in the product from video surveillance experts, particularly for use in outdoor stadiums.
Tough and reliable
Why is this product so ideal for these scenarios? The OptiPlex XE3 is a robust, fan-cooled system, offering high performance, reliability and scalability. Resistant to shock and vibration, this little beauty is capable of operating in temperatures of 0C – 45c° (113F°) and rises to the challenge of being enclosed in a tight space like a kiosk with little air flow and no easy access for service. For ultra-tough environments, optional dust filters are also available.
Failure is not an option
For customers in these scenarios, failure is a no-go. After all, a doctor needs to rely 1000 percent on the availability of diagnostic tools to support patients. We all expect ATMs to dispense cash 365 days of the year. If you’re running a manufacturing plant, the last thing you need is unexpected downtime.
Long life platform
As a result, performance, durability and a guaranteed long life up to five years without technology churn are all critical factors for these customers. Why is long life so important? The reality is that some customers don’t need or want to deal with updating their specialist, high-cost equipment every two years.
Moreover, many of these industries are highly regulated with any new products or components having to undergo lengthy validation and certification. Instead, these customers need a partner and a stable platform they can rely on to retain essential services or bring new solutions to market. If that’s the case, we’ve got you covered!
Tough without sacrificing on performance
I believe that the OptiPlex XE3 is the ideal solution if you’re looking for an industrial-tough desktop with business class performance, security and manageability, backed up the reassurance of our award-winning ProSupport service and support, powered by the new 8th Gen Intel® Core™ vPro™ processor.
The legacy of the OptiPlex XE series continues while we continue our march on the industrial rugged market! I would love to hear your questions and comments.
To learn more about Dell OEM Solutions, visit: www.dellemc.com/oem
