We are excited to participate at the 20th annual Microsoft TechEd event this week to share the latest software, solutions and services supporting our partnership and collaboration with Microsoft.

Dell and Microsoft have been strategic alliance partners for over 25 years and each year continue to offer customers innovative and feature-rich solutions that empower greater efficiency and productivity.  We have unified Dell’s powerful new server technology, specialized software and global services expertise to deliver finely honed options for customers of all sizes.

We are pleased to announce new and recently enhanced solutions that:

• Deliver  simplicity, ease of use, and rapid results for business intelligence, virtualization, and collaboration   
• Showcase robust product integration and joint development between Dell and Microsoft 
• Capitalize on  unique technologies recently acquired by Dell  including KACE, Boomi, AppAssure, Wyse and Compellent
• Make the evolution to Cloud  easier with vStart and Fast Track verified solutions

Come visit the Dell booth #905 at Microsoft Tech Ed 2012 to learn more or follow the conversation on Twitter at #msTechEd! Also, follow @Lee4Dell for live updates from the show floor and check out his Dell Tech Center blog post with photos and video from the show.

Integrated solutions – new and updated

This week we will announce several new and updated solutions that combine Dell and Microsoft innovation and development:

• vStart 1000 is Dell’s first data center vStart to include Dell PowerEdge Blades, Dell Force10 switching, Compellent storage and VIS Creator to host mission critical applications and implement private clouds. vStart 1000 provides an infrastructure that addresses a customer’s needs regardless of where they are on the “virtualization journey” – from migrating from physical, expanding virtual, or enabling automated administration. Dell vStart 1000 is also Microsoft Fast Track Private Cloud validated with Microsoft System Center 2012.
• AppAssure 5 is the latest evolution of AppAssure’s data protection software. AppAssure joined the Dell enterprise solution family four months ago and is already making a big impact. AppAssure 5 easily scales with data and business growth and combines backup, replication and recovery in a single software solution. New AppAssure capabilities include enhanced scalability to backup and protect larger data sets and the Big Data applications behind them.  In addition, AppAssure 5 introduces further enhancements and functionality for Microsoft Hyper-V environments including support for Hyper-V clustering.
• Dell OpenManage Integration Suite for System Center combines the benefits of Dell PowerEdge server 12^th generation embedded systems management features, Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) 7 with Lifecycle Controller and Microsoft System Center.  This agent-free and operating system- and hypervisor-independent solution supports automated management of Dell servers and helps ensure baseline BIOS, firmware and driver compliance on systems prior to or during the deployment of operating systems or hypervisors.  OpenManage integration with Microsoft System Center 2012 lets customers maximize their existing investment in System Center while optimizing their IT environment with Dell hardware.
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Fast Track 4.0 demonstrates how Dell has been a pioneer in providing engineered and pre-validated configuration support to help speed our customers to productivity.   Using Microsoft's latest specification, Fast Track 4.0, Dell is bringing to market a set of reference architectures based on the latest generation of Dell PowerEdge server technology that offer predictable performance, accurate sizing, and an easy to use recipe for success in any SQL Server 2012 implementation need. 
• Dell Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions improve business agility and enhance worker productivity by incorporating Microsoft Exchange, Lync and SharePoint on Dell systems, including PowerEdge 12^th generation servers, storage and networking products.  New, pre-tested reference architectures, performance studies, white papers as well as an online configurator are available to complement a full line of Dell IT consulting services.
• Dell’s SharePoint Infrastructure Optimization (SIO) solution consolidates SharePoint unstructured content, backup, and archive datasets to improve end user performance, enable better utilization of primary storage, reduce capital and operational expenditures resulting in increased SharePoint service quality. The SIO solution achieves this through a fully integrated and certified solution stack made up of the Dell™ DX Object Storage Platform and AvePoint’s DocAve Software Platform.
• Dell KACE has enterprise ready solutions that provide additional functionality for enterprise customers using the Configuration Manager component of Systems Center 2012. Dell KACE appliances are easy-to-use, comprehensive and affordable and fulfill the systems management needs of organizations of all sizes. They focus on asset management, PC deployment, software license management, patching and security, and they seamlessly provide complementary functionality to System Center Configuration Manager especially for 3^rd party applications, Mac OS X and Linux. 
• Dell Wyse delivers powerful virtualization solutions with cloud-based device management. The Dell Wyse solution portfolio includes industry-leading thin, zero and cloud client computing solutions with advanced management, desktop virtualization and cloud software supporting desktops, laptops and next generation mobile devices. Wyse solutions fully support the Microsoft virtual desktop infrastructure. Wyse’s Microsoft RemoteFX certified thin clients integrate with System Center Configuration Manager and provide a secure and robust thin client platform. Learn more about Dell Wyse at our TechEd booth #236 and in the Partner Pavilion pod #31.  
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 has been thoroughly tested on all current Dell PowerEdge Servers using pre-release builds. Dell servers will support this operating system when the full version is released. We are working to ensure OpenManage support, as well. Dell engineering teams have performed extensive testing of the new OS features on our platforms and have come up with an exclusive Dell Early Adopter Guide for Microsoft Windows Server to provide a comprehensive understanding of Dell’s hardware and OpenManage support, recommended installation methods, and known issues.

Final Thoughts

Dell's next-generation approach to enterprise solutions helps ensure speed, reliability, flexibility and intelligent automation so customers can adapt to change and shift IT resources toward innovation and growth.  We look forward to discussing further with you at Microsoft TechEd!