The rapid pace of innovation in enterprise IT shows no signs of abating. The requirement for agile delivery of new capabilities is driving the adoption of new application architectures and deployment flexibility. The need for intelligent innovation drives an ever-increasing need to collect and analyze data. Dell and Microsoft are working together to optimize data center infrastructure so companies can focus on application modernization.

This is the second in a series of blogs that highlight the collaboration between Dell and Microsoft to modernize IT with a consistent hybrid cloud experience. In this blog, we discuss how we are helping organizations address evolving application architectures with cloud-native patterns including the adoption of containers with Kubernetes orchestration and hybrid deployment models.

The Engines of Innovation

Applications are the engines that power innovation for enterprises. The modernization of application architectures has driven the need to support cloud-native constructs such as containers with Kubernetes orchestration alongside existing ones. Run-the-business transactional systems may utilize traditional application architectures in virtualized environments, while new capabilities may be architected as microservices and deployed in containers. Private, on-premises infrastructure is being augmented with public cloud capacity, and more applications are being run at edge locations than before. These developments indicate the need for the continued evolution of IT platforms in today’s enterprises. They point to the requirement to add support for a container runtime alongside existing virtualization environments. It also underscores the need for consistent application execution across distributed on-premises and public cloud locations.

Dell and Microsoft have been working together for decades to deliver solutions that optimize outcomes for our customers, including hybrid cloud solutions. Our respective strengths optimize these complex application environments and their operations. Dell Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI provides organizations with the ability to implement a cohesive strategy that supports both VMs and containers with Kubernetes that is hybrid-by-design. Azure Arc and Azure Kubernetes Service power consistent application environments across clouds that enable organizations to build and run portable, microservices-based applications. These systems provide numerous configuration options that help you precisely address diverse application and security needs, including Windows Defender Application Control and Microsoft Defender.

We are also working collaboratively to simplify and optimize the delivery of Azure Arc-enabled services to these dispersed application environments. These hybrid, on-demand services simplify application environments and accelerate app modernization and DevOps while reducing infrastructure requirements. Examples include Azure Arc SQL Managed Instance (MI), Azure Arc-enabled ML, Azure Kubernetes Service, Arc-enabled VM management and Azure Virtual Desktop. Dell rigorously validates these services on its industry-leading platforms while providing best practices and blueprints that help our customers implement these capabilities predictably and efficiently. An example is the Dell validated designs for the Microsoft data platform that utilizes Azure Arc-enabled SQL MI.

The collaborative approach that Dell and Microsoft take helps enable an efficient and agile enterprise IT architecture that supports diverse application architectures simply and efficiently.

Data Powers the Engines

If apps are innovation engines, data is the fuel that powers them. The challenge of diversity in application architectures is compounded by exponential growth in data and increasingly distributed sources of that data. Organizations are rapidly turning to public cloud infrastructures to analyze and derive insights from these ever-growing dispersed data sets. However, data has mass and gravity – the larger it grows, the more challenging it is to move, process and protect. As application deployment location options proliferate, managing data in a hybrid deployment environment becomes even more important.

Dell, collaboratively with Microsoft, continues to optimize its infrastructure and storage solutions to meet modern data requirements in terms of performance, scalability and availability, as well as providing enterprise data services. We recognize the need for a consistent data fabric across various on-premises locations and public cloud. We are continuing our innovation by helping enterprises realize consistent storage capabilities and simpler data workflows across their on-premises and public cloud deployments.

Conclusion

Dell and Microsoft have a proven track record of partnership focusing on providing customers with solutions for their modern application and data requirements. We are bringing the best capabilities of private on-premises solutions integrated with the capabilities of Azure public cloud. This is enabling customers to preserve existing investments while pragmatically modernizing their approach to deliver their innovation in today’s hybrid landscape. Stay tuned as we bring more customer-centric innovations to the market that help simplify application environments and accelerate modernization initiatives. Visit the Dell and Microsoft partnership page for more information on our innovations.

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