Despite the economic crisis, the American company Dell remains optimistic about Latin America for the next few years, as it expects companies to continue investing in technology.
it is looking to continue growing in Latin America through 5G and Edge computing expansions and the company is already running various tests in the region, particularly for private enterprise networks.
It is also taking advantage of the multicloud trend to offer platforms that reduce management complexity and hopes to gain ground in the field of cybersecurity, already seen as one of the company’s main areas of investment.
In this interview, Dell’s president for Latin America, Luis Gonçalves, talks to BNamericas about the company’s outlook for the region.
Numerical: Where do you see the greatest opportunities for Dell in Latin America?
Goncalves: We continue to see growth opportunities in the more traditional markets, namely the PC and data center markets. However, Dell is taking advantage of all its knowledge and products to develop other markets such as telecommunications, 5G and edge computing. These are markets that are added to the traditional markets, not only in Latin America, but all over the world.
Numerical: Latin America is just beginning the deployments of 5G networks, how do you see the investments of operators in the types of solutions that you offer?
Goncalves: The telecom market is still very nascent. World Bank figures indicate that only 1% of mobile services use 5G, compared to 20% in North America. There is still plenty of room to grow.
What we see with 5G is that the technology enables the opening of networks and the use of elements of the traditional IT industry such as servers, applications, etc. And that also leads to the opportunity of the network edge.
We are not only seeing telecom operators starting their pilot projects, but also companies using 5G technology to create their first private networks that connect to public 5G networks offered by traditional operators. There are already many pilots that we are working on with customers, developing capabilities, capabilities to manage everything and integrate with traditional IT and the cloud.
There is a tremendous opportunity with 5G and the network edge.
Numerical: Could you tell me more about the pilots that are conducted in the region?
Goncalves: I will give you the example of an automotive company in Brazil that has already started on a private 5G network connected to its production systems to follow a quality control step.
This is connected to a public cloud via a 5G network provided by one of the providers in Brazil. I cannot share names for privacy reasons.
The opportunity is already considered quite solid because [the pilot] started very well, the case study has been verified, and now they will extend it to other applications within the plant.
It is a factory located in a remote area of Brazil, where telecommunications arrive in a very limited way and not only has 5G been extended to all those who work in the environment of the factory, but it has also was connected to the cloud and the quality control application.
Numerical: Besides manufacturing, in what other industries are there opportunities?
Goncalves: There are other industries, but this is the most obvious case. I think in anything related to retail, which has large movements of the public and utilities, there are also some pretty obvious use cases.
The technology we offer scales very quickly and leverages traditional architecture of virtualization, orchestration, and compute and storage capacity.
Numerical: Initially, you mentioned that the biggest opportunities were still in traditional businesses. What do you expect from these new areas of 5G, edge and data?
Goncalves: [Market research firm] IDC expects everything from traditional businesses to grow by 9%, more than the region’s GDP increase, so there remains a huge opportunity for companies like Dell.
Now, 50% of all infrastructure to be deployed after 2024 will take place at the edge due to the advancement of 5G and advanced computing technologies.
If we look at the global market, we have $750 billion in the traditional market and a similar market for 5G and the network edge, which is just starting. In other words, our market could be doubled.
Latin America accounts for nearly 5% of global GDP. It’s a region with 650 million people, there’s a lot of room to grow and we’re a little behind, so the opportunity is bigger.
BNamericas: Latin America has a complex economic context, but investments in technology do not seem to stop. How do you see the situation?
Goncalves: I’ll give you some numbers. Server activity in the region increased by 10% in the second quarter of the calendar year. The storage activity increased by 8.5%. Dell grew 31% in compute and servers, more than the market, and in storage we grew 16.5%.
The market continues to grow as it continues to invest in technology due to the lag of the pandemic. So, even if we have economic problems, the growth of technology should continue to be very constant. Amounts may vary a bit, but we are expected to continue to grow.
Numerical: We have seen disruptions in supply chains. What is the situation now?
Goncalves: The offer is improving, but there are still weaknesses. For us, there is a very intimate and close relationship with suppliers because our business is supply chain based. There are no inventories and everything is done according to customer needs.
Today, there are still areas that are quite affected. This is still unresolved, but due to our position and our supply chain, we believe we have done well.
Numerical: What types of areas still have issues?
Goncalves: Mainly in data center solutions, part of network area and servers.
Numerical: Finally, by 2023, what will Dell’s main objective be?
Goncalves: There are two very important areas. The first is cloud adoption, which continues to grow in Latin America. Most customers have up to three different public cloud providers, but don’t yet have a multi-cloud environment. Each of these providers has its particularities, its rules, its platforms and architectures, which makes the management of these clouds very complex. At Dell, see an opportunity to take on cloud management platforms that even extend to customer data centers.
On the other hand, there are also consumption modalities, as many customers want to consume as a service and have a layer where all computing costs are absorbed as a service in their private or public cloud. That’s what we offer.
The second issue is cybersecurity. All companies have realized that data is very valuable and they are all trying to work on their cybersecurity strategy.
#BNamericas #Dells #vision #Latin #America #multicloud..