Dell today announced a renewed commitment to accelerate growth of small and midsize companies with scalable technology solutions, resources for entrepreneurs, and a new partnership with Clinton Global Initiative designed for next generation business founders.

“Fast-growing entrepreneurial companies are an important catalyst for global economic recovery and job creation,” said Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell. “At Dell, we’re delivering agile, efficient and powerful solutions to help entrepreneurs succeed today, scale quickly and have their ventures grow as big as their dreams and ambitions.”

Scalable Technology Solutions Designed for Midsize Companies

Dell has invested in strategic acquisitions and programs like the Dell Innovators Credit Fund to build and deliver adaptable, standards-based technology solutions ideal for the midsized business and scalable up or down to meet the needs of organizations large and small. When working with Dell, customers can count on a fast, practical path to results with the flexibility needed to adapt to new challenges. Insights gained through conversations with midsized companies and a recent research study on midsized companies, Dell developed a unique approach to meet the needs of business that will benefit organizations of all sizes:

• Open-innovation that never locks customers into proprietary technology

With new technologies emerging globally, proprietary solutions can put the whole organization in jeopardy. The Dell approach promotes an open-innovation philosophy so business leaders can decide what’s best for the company and adapt to change at any point.

According to Dell’s own research, the top priorities for midsized companies in the next year include increasing effectiveness and productivity, growing revenue and reducing costs. To address key priorities midsize companies, like their larger counterparts, are prioritizing spending on things like virtualization and cloud computing to address their aging infrastructures and security concerns while boosting innovation. With Dell’s end-to-end solutions including virtualization and cloud computing businesses are able to be more productive, drive down costs and expand revenue potential.

• Ability to manage IT services in house, outsource or a combination of both

As customers face new obstacles and opportunities, business needs and IT organizations will evolve. By giving organizations the ability to select a short-term outsourced solution or a full in-house infrastructure migration, Dell provides an efficient path to solve short- and long-term challenges.

The needs of midsized companies are not confined to the private sector; public organizations – particularly education – face the same challenges of limited resources with increasingly sophisticated IT demands. Tulane University, one of the most highly regarded and selective independent research universities in the United States, realized that the ever-expanding technology needs of its more than 12,600 students and 4,300 employees required a more modern infrastructure. Over the last seven years the organization underinvested in networking and had more than 40 relationships with a variety of vendors.

“I inherited a strained network that couldn’t keep up with the requirements, causing a costly and inefficient IT liability,” said Charlie McMahon, CIO of Tulane University. “With Dell, I found a true partner that scoped the services our network needed to architect a solution that solved the problem rather than just add equipment. With the Dell solution, as demand for streaming video, online meetings and use of web applications increases, the new network will facilitate these technology needs, allowing my team to remain 10 steps ahead of user demand.”

• Choice to buy directly from Dell or a channel partner

A recent study commissioned by Dell reveals that midsize companies across the globe prefer to purchase technology solutions direct from the manufacturer for the additional advice and consulting provided. Through a direct sales force and its network of certified partners who serve as an extension of the team, Dell is a single point of accountability to serve the technology needs of midsize organizations from the desktop to the data center. Whether a local firm or large multi-national corporation, organizations have flexible sourcing options that prioritize their needs over the needs of the vendor with the benefit of Dell sales and services professionals and thousands of certified partners from pre-sales to ongoing support.

• The exceptional ability to scale IT up or scale down at anytime

In times of change and economic uncertainty, it’s critical for organizations to solve short-term needs while keeping an eye on long-term challenges and opportunities. Scalability enables companies to not only expand resource capabilities but also cut back while remaining flexible to adapt to future challenges - without paying for more than what is needed.

D4, a leading national provider of electronic discovery, computer forensics and litigation support services, needed enterprise storage that could deliver performance, scalability, availability and cost efficiency to support data that was doubling every 18 months. The company worked with Dell to deploy a Dell Compellent Storage Center array because its automated tiering, replays and cost-efficient scalability could enable the company’s growth. To date, D4 has gone from regional to national, grown revenue by 40 percent, saved hundreds of thousands of dollars a year with automated tiered storage and reclaimed disk space.

“We’re dealing with an explosion in the amount of data that needs to be assessed in litigation,” says John Holland, CEO and founder of D4, LLC, a 135-person firm based out of Rochester, N.Y. “Hundreds of gigabytes of information in a case can be the equivalent of millions of pages and our clients are faced with tight deadlines. Dell got everything stored in a manner where it could be searched and analyzed with automated technology tools that helped our clients decide quickly whether to settle a case or seek victory in a trial.”

• End-to-end solutions company

The Dell portfolio spans across all areas of IT including hardware, software and services. Regardless of the organizational challenge, Dell technology and services can help solve them.

Dell continues to hear from customers that financing and access to capital are a key resource needed for growth. For example, SoloHealth®, a consumer-driven healthcare technology company based in Atlanta, Ga., provides free health screenings and insights from medical professionals with its SoloHealth Station™ consumer kiosks and databases, produced by Dell OEM Solutions. The company struggled with receiving traditional financing, even with 90 percent of year-over-year revenue growth. It turned to Dell for $18.5 million in debt capital from Dell Financial Services in addition to the hardware, services and support to produce and deliver thousands of health screening kiosks to retail locations nationwide.

“We worked hard to get our business strategy and product primed and ready for our big break. And that break came in a phone call from Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, who both wanted us to deploy more than 2,000 kiosks at their retail locations in 6 months’ time,” said Bart Foster, CEO and founder of SoloHealth. “Dell Financial Services fueled our growth by providing quick and easy access to the capital needed to fulfill the demand. Today, with Dell’s help, we’ve helped more than 5 million consumers take control of their health with a comprehensive self-service technology.”

Dell Launches Center for Entrepreneurs

Dell today launched the Dell Center for Entrepreneurs, under the leadership of its Entrepreneur in Residence Ingrid Vanderveldt, a community designed by and for entrepreneurs. Building on Dell’s entrepreneurial heritage and spirit, the Center for Entrepreneurs creates a gateway to knowledge, solutions and opportunities for growing businesses. Founders at all stages of growth are invited to join this community to access:

• Resources: Assistance in identifying capital through Dell Financial Services and the Dell Innovators Credit Fund helps businesses of all sizes access the credit and leasing they need to invest in technology to fuel growth. Also included: webcasts, videos and case studies from Dell and industry experts.
• Expertise: Building on what Dell has learned through its entrepreneurial journey, the Dell Social Innovation Challenge, Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, and Dell Founders’ Club are cultivating a vibrant community of entrepreneurs who connect with one another for new sources of financial and human capital, knowledge and markets.
• Solutions: Featuring entrepreneur success stories showing how businesses of all sizes and at all stages leverage cloud computing, virtualization, mobility, and data insights to differentiate from the competition, better serve their customers and grow.

Empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs

Following every economic downturn, entrepreneurs have emerged to create new businesses that jumpstart the global economy. According to a recent report by the Technology CEO Council (TCC), which Mr. Dell chairs, companies that use IT more effectively, especially for data driven decision making, show higher productivity and profitability than average companies.

Building on a history of supporting entrepreneurship, Dell will sponsor this year’s Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) and support the entrepreneurship theme at CGI U 2013. This year’s event will be held at Washington University in St. Louis from April 5-7, 2013, and will bring together nearly 1,200 young leaders who are taking real, concrete steps toward solving a wide range of global economic challenges. The entrepreneurship theme at CGI U 2013 will provide students with opportunities to learn about the multi-faceted risks and opportunities involved with launching, running and growing a business, and the critical role that technology can play in building the enterprises and organizations of the future.

About Dell

As the visionary outcome of a true entrepreneur, Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is committed to help power the success of entrepreneurs by developing technology solutions that help their businesses increase productivity and grow. Dell listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more.

Dell World

Join us at Dell World 2012 – The Power to Do More. Technology professionals will learn from one another and identify key challenges and opportunities connected to the top forces changing business today. Learn more at www.dellworld.com, attend our virtual event at Dell World: Live Online or follow #DellWorld on Twitter.

About CGI University

The Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) brings together college students to address global challenges with practical, innovative solutions. CGI U participants do more than simply discuss problems – they take concrete steps to solve them by creating action plans, building relationships, participating in hands-on workshops, and following up with CGI U as they complete their projects. Previous CGI U meetings have taken place at Tulane University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Miami, the University of California at San Diego, and the George Washington University, and have convened more than 4,500 students from nearly 750 schools, more than 130 countries, and all 50 states. To learn more, visit cgiu.org.

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