Michael Dell talks future strategy

Dell has announced a focus on green issues, developing markets and simplifying IT as part of its future strategy.

The company said that it has achieved its own goal of carbon neutrality and is now advising other organisations on how to so the same.

Dell is also seeking to make IT easier to deploy and manage for the growing number of smaller companies that are expanding their reach.

Speaking at a press briefing in London, Dell founder and chief executive Michael Dell explained that energy efficiency is now much more of an issue than before.

"The thing that has changed dramatically in the last 12 months is that a lot of CIOs used to say energy wasn't in their budget, so they didn't consider it," he said.

"Energy costs have now gone up so much that IT departments are being held accountable for their consumption."

Dell claimed that it is doing lots of work around energy-smart servers for the data centre, but is also looking at clients.

Dave Marmonti, Dell president in EMEA, said that the company is planning a new suite of client devices that will be 25 per cent more efficient by 2010 than those available last year.

Marmonti also said that Dell is tackling complexity with new products and services designed to allow companies to build out their IT without the need for costly consultants.

"It is not just Fortune 100 companies any more. Smaller regional businesses are now expanding across national boundaries. It's 'How do I deploy IT in five countries when I have an IT staff of five people?'," he explained.

As well as expanding its channel presence, Dell will add to its managed services available to customers, starting in London before the end of this year and aiming to extend globally, Marmonti said.

"It goes well beyond warranties. If companies want end users to call [an outsourced IT support service] direct for support, we have that. But we can also offer proactive fault detection and patch management. It will be a suite of services customers can buy in," he said.

Dell will offer an à la carte approach to services which it claims is more conducive to simplifying IT than managing a company's systems differently, as outsourcing has traditionally done.

When asked whether this would bring the company into conflict with consultants, Marmonti insisted that there is still a role for big systems integrators.

"I don't think they will go away over night, but we've seen an increasing number of customers looking for a different way," he said.

"Our intention is to simplify to the point where they can buy and build without having to go through a complex traditional consulting process."

Dell also said that new products such as its Inspiron Mini 9 laptop would help connect more people to the internet, especially outside the developed world.

However, the company was coy about whether it would release its own smartphone product. When asked, Marmonti said that Dell had "no announcement to share about entering the smartphone environment".

However, Michael Dell said that customers will see "smaller and smaller screen devices from Dell. There is lots of opportunity for disruption in this market."