The world today is more connected than ever; from our PC’s to our mobile devices and the internet of things, we live and work in a smart, connected world. Our Dell Infrastructure that I focused on in my last blog, is the backbone for how we connect our workforce, customers and partners around the globe. They expect to be always on, always connected, and have resources readily available on any device they choose to use, and we enable that through many different Dell products.
Social media has become a critical way to gather customer sentiment and it’s one of the most active digital avenues that our customers use to connect with us. Dell is a pioneer in the social media listening space and opened our Social Media Command Centre in 2010. We analyze real time data and feedback about Dell to identify trends and issues. The Social Media Command Centre has enabled us to respond to you more quickly. In fact we have a 99 percent Customer Satisfaction Resolution Rate – so we’re not only responding to you quickly, we’re getting you the answers you need.
To serve our customers, Dell works with thousands of channel partners world-wide who sell Dell technology. These partners have to have constant access to connect and collaborate directly with us. Our partners can connect with Dell via many channels, like the Partner Direct Portal, and have the same experience across those channels. They can also use mobile applications, like the Deal Registration app, when they on the go at their customer sites to help their customers in real time. Enabling our Partners to become an extension of Dell’s salesforce is a journey that we will continue to invest in to make it even easier to do business with Dell in future.
Our merger and acquisition partners are another group that need constant connection with us, as they enable Dell to offer our suite of end to end solutions to our customers. These M&A partners need to connect and have access to resources on the Dell Network, but sometimes these partners are not totally integrated into our environment. To enable them to connect quickly and securely, we have implemented the Dell Wyse vWorkspace to host virtual desktops for our many M&A team members, as well as contractors and partners needing access to resources on the Dell Network from any PC, anywhere. We have eliminated the need and costs associated with having two separate physical PCs, one for their own production environment and a second to access Dell resources. Our IT group is now able to deploy, secure and manage hundreds of desktops from a single console bringing the extended family online in hours versus days. vWorkspace is also the foundation of our mobility strategy enabling BYOD and serving up applications with LAN and WAN speed.
Our Dell solutions are not only enabling our mobile workers to be more productive, but also our factory workers. For instance our factory in Chendu, China wanted to maximize efficiency of its desktop production lines. The factory deployed Dell Wyse Thin Clients, which are backed by Dell Poweredge servers, Dell Compellent storage and Dell Network switches. By procuring thin clients for the factory instead of desktops, capital expenditures dropped by 50 percent, and also lowered the energy consumption by 96 percent. The thin clients also maximized uptime of the factory, helping produce three million desktops in 12 months. This of course in turn created great customer service through quick fulfillment of orders.
Of course, not all of our workforce uses a vWorkspace or thin client. We have over 132,000 Dell PCs deployed in our environment, and our workers are using the latest devices to help them work smarter. However, employees in different roles have different computing needs, which means a “one size fits all” approach to device procurement doesn’t work. We use a device catalog that designates the type of device an employee should use for the type of worker they are, ensuring they have the right technology to perform their role. For instance, engineers need super-fast workstations like the Dell Precision to run computer-aided design or other sophisticated design apps, and the mobile sales teams need light, portable devices like the Dell XPS13 or the Dell Latitude that help them stay in touch with colleagues on the move. By implementing the standard catalog that assigns technology based on the role, we have increased employee productivity and satisfaction, created fast delivery of devices to employees and reduced over all complexity and cost of the program.
With increased connectivity and mobility comes increased security risks and next week I will talk about the Dell security products, like our Dell SonicWALL Aventail Secure Remote Access that we use to keep our environment safe in this connected world.