Dell poised to grow OEM Solutions business in APJ

Dell OEM Solutions wooed
telecommunications companies
at CommunicAsia this year.

Dell, which provides hardware, software and services for both consumers and enterprises, also has an OEM Solutions team to help businesses bring innovative products to market, said Alan Brumley, CTO for Dell OEM Solutions at CommunicAsia.

"We partner with other solution providers, and the solution provider takes the product to market. We would make the components that go into a (device) that enables it to be connected. The customer usually has an idea of what to measure. It was just that it was never cost effective to measure it before," he said.

"Customers are able to focus on their own IP and we can rely on Dell's global supply chain and other global capabilities to support that customer," Kirsten Billhardt, Marketing Strategist, Internet of Things (IoT), Dell OEM Solutions, added at CommunicAsia. Dell's strengths include its wide portfolio, partner ecosystem, vertical and domain expertise, and collaborative approach.

"Customers highly value choice and flexibility and we're happy to provide them. We're not driving a particular standard," she said. "We will work within the ecosystem to provide the technology that they need."

The Dell OEM business has already experienced strong growth, with more than 900 customer engagements in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) market. The region is also contributing in excess of 20% of the total global OEM revenue. Billhardt lists embedded computers in medical equipment and information kiosks as examples of what Dell OEM Solutions has created in partnership with customers.

Dell OEM Solutions is also increasingly involved in IoT projects as businesses begin to understand what benefits IoT can bring. "It's amazing what you can do with a little bit of connection and a little bit of analytics," she said, sharing that Dell recently partnered with Saijo Denki, a major Thai manufacturer, to bring smart air conditioners to market.

By connecting air conditioning units to the Internet, building managers can for instance better understand the ambient temperatures in a building, adjust the temperatures more precisely, and manage the air conditioners remotely. "You can pick up on an issue more quickly and send out a technician to address that issue," Billhardt pointed out.

Billhardt noted that Dell is focusing on building automation and manufacturing for IoT. "There is a tremendous amount of opportunity to save costs and improve the environment by better managing utilities in buildings," she said, adding that improvements in yield and wastage can be seen for manufacturing with IoT applications.

Other promising sectors for IoT include telecommunications and healthcare. And while not a focus vertical, agriculture has also been a star sector for Dell's OEM Solutions team. Dell has connected cows in India with RFID tags for Chitale Dairy for instance. "(Chitale) track their eating habits and their breeding habits, the data collected is processed in a data centre," Billhardt shared. "Farmers are able to access data on their phones." 

Dell OEM already has a presence in 18 countries in APJ and is expanding further as it sees smart city initiatives in the region as a prime driver for IoT innovations. The business recently set up operations in New Zealand, for example, is actively hiring, and focused on growing its channel partner ecosystem. "We've hired people in this region and their sole focus is to grow the IoT customer base and evangelise IoT," Billhardt said. "It is a response to the activity and energy in the region."

Hashtags: #CMMA2015, #CommunicAsia