Town of North Kingstown Goes Green With Dell

The town of North Kingstown, R.I., is using Dell’s Energy Smart line of servers and desktops to help simplify IT by reducing energy consumption and meeting constituent demands for a more environmentally-conscious town government.

As part of a three-year project, the town is implementing a variety of Energy Smart solutions, including Dell OptiPlexTM 320 PCs and Dell PowerEdgeTM 860, PowerEdge 1950 and PowerEdge 2950 servers.

North Kingstown will be joining Dell’s “Plant a Forest For Me” program, a global carbon-neutral initiative that plants trees for customers to help offset the carbon impact of electricity required to power their systems.

Using Dell’s Energy Calculator, IT managers determined the town could save more than $21,000 per year by implementing Energy Smart servers and desktops across the local government. As a result, North Kingstown officials will be able to dedicate additional resources to strategic initiatives that support the town’s 26,000 residents.

Dell’s Energy Smart line of servers, desktops and notebooks are designed to provide the maximum performance at the least amount of power required, bringing together efficient technologies designed to exceed Energy Star 4.0. Select Energy Smart PC models also meet the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Gold requirements. Pre-configured power management settings and tools simplify the deployment of Dell’s Energy Smart offerings, making them cost-effective for organizations of all sizes.

“For years, town planners and North Kingstown’s constituents have worked together to address community concerns and issues by implementing the most effective and environmentally-friendly technologies,” said Jason Albuquerque, IT director for the town of North Kingstown. “With Dell as our partner, the town of North Kingstown is committed to deploying technology that decreases energy consumption and reduces the town’s carbon footprint. Our investment promises energy and cost savings over the life of the equipment, as well as the peace of mind that we’re better managing our collective resources.”

"In our effort to help lead the ReGeneration and become the world’s most environmentally-conscious technology company, Dell is committed to making it easier for customers to simplify IT by more effectively deploying and supporting tomorrow’s energy-efficient solutions,” said Mark Horan, vice president, Dell Public Accounts. “From the desktop to the data center, our relationship with the town of North Kingstown has shown the positive effect energy-efficient technologies can have on an organization’s IT environment and operations.”

Small Business Customer Feedback Drives Dell Vostro Laptop Redesign

Dell today announced its redesigned Vostro laptop line for small businesses, including the new 13.3-inch Vostro 1310 starting at $749 and 15.4-inch Vostro 1510 starting at $599. Products are available today in Europe, Middle East and Africa, followed by North and South America May 1, and Asia Pacific and Japan May 5. The company will also offer a redesigned 17-inch Vostro 1710 laptop in mid May.

• Major step in expanding entire laptop portfolio by 50 percent in 2008


• Thinner, lighter form factors

“Listening to customers and acting quickly on their feedback to improve our products and services sets Dell apart,” said Frank Muehleman, vice president and general manager, Dell Small and Medium Business. “For example, customers told us in a recent global laptop study that data protection and pre-installed security software are, by far, the most important security features.

“They also said they wanted thinner and lighter machines, all at a good price,” Muehleman said. “We paid attention.”

The new Vostro laptops deliver the following customer-driven features:

• A sleek design, with slot load optical drive, that is thinner and lighter than previous generation Vostro laptops;
• The display screen of the new Vostro 13.3-inch has 94 percent the viewing area of a 14.1-inch model, yet weighs nearly 20 percent less;
• Continuation of Dell’s 30-day worry-free return policy;
• Available with no trial ware and free services including 10GB of Dell DataSafe Online Backup, Network Assistant and PC TuneUp; and
• Vostro 1310 and 1510 laptops offer more security features than comparable competitive products¹ with integrated fingerprint readers, Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 helping prevent unauthorized network access and data theft, cable lock slot, and Dell-exclusive, factory-installed McAfee Total Protection for Small Business security software.

Small businesses are increasingly adopting laptops over desktop PCs. Today, half of PC-owning small businesses in the United States own laptops, and the number is expected to grow to almost 57 percent by 2012, with similar laptop penetration in Western Europe and Japan.

To address this shift and provide more choice to customers, Dell plans to expand its laptop portfolio by 50 percent this year, to deliver the broadest product lineup in the company’s history.

“After experiencing the productivity gains of the Dell Vostro 1510 compared to our older systems, I knew it was time to act on our dream to upgrade our IT network,” said Cynthia Ebrom, founder and owner of Edinburg, Texas-based Cynthia’s Cakes. “As our custom cake business expands nationally, technology becomes even more important to our growth and ability to better serve our customers. Vostro gives us the reliability, performance, service and support we need without exceeding our tight budget.”

In addition to investments in its laptop portfolio, Dell is expanding its services, server and storage offerings to meet the unique needs small and medium businesses.

• Dell’s new services portfolio, ProSupport, gives customers the ability to customize and tailor services to fit their technical expertise and business needs.
• Dell’s new PowerEdge R300 and T300 servers have industry-leading performance, memory and high-availability features so small and medium businesses no longer have to sacrifice server performance or reliability for an affordable price.
• Through affordable iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions like the PowerVault MD3000i and Dell EqualLogic PS5000 Series, Dell is simplifying storage for businesses of all sizes.

Dell PowerEdge Server Performance Accelerates With Quad-Core AMD Opteron Processors

Dell PowerEdge servers have taken performance to new levels with the launch of Quad-core AMD Opteron processors. The PowerEdge SC1435, 2970, M605 and 6950 platforms now offer AMD’s new quad-core processors, supporting Dell’s strategy to drive more complete and cost-effective enterprise technologies across various customer environments.

Dell provides customers who use these PowerEdge platforms with investment protection and long term server value by offering a simple and seamless upgrade path to the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor.

Equipped with Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, Dell’s two-socket servers including the PowerEdge SC1435, 2970 and M605 can deliver up to 79 percent better performance compared to the same servers operating with dual-core AMD Opteron.

Dell today expanded its PowerEdge server line with the addition of its new T605 tower server. Equipped with Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, the PowerEdge T605 achieves up to 23 percent better performance than the HP ProLiant ML350 G5. The T605 is ideal for small and medium businesses or remote locations and offers high-availability features such as redundant power supplies, hot plug hard drives, and remote management features to help increase uptime and prevent loss of data access.

“Our PowerEdge servers deliver on Dell’s commitment to simplify IT by providing customers with a seamless and simple upgrade path to quad-core, making it easier and quicker for them to realize the benefits of these advanced processors,” said Sally Stevens, Director of PowerEdge Servers, Dell Product Group. “Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors running on Dell PowerEdge servers delivers the right balance of performance, energy efficiency and price for customers while helping to accelerate our vision of scale-out computing in the enterprise.”

Dell Makes Every Night College Game Night

The playing field is virtual, but the rivalries are real in Dell’s new College Gaming League. Established exclusively for college students, the CGL provides a community and framework for avid PC and console gamers to connect and compete.

League membership is free and open to all college students . Benefits include:

• Public game servers for all members;
• Exclusive offers on systems and games;
• Member communication tools, including IM;
• Blogs, ratings and rankings;
• School pages;
• Weekly “Play with a Pro” game nights;
• Open- and closed-ladder tournaments; and
• A Premier League and national championship tournament where school teams compete.

Prizes for periodic tournaments will include Dell gaming systems and cash or scholarship awards.

Register now on Dell University’s official College Gaming League Web site. Build your profile, check out your school’s page and get ready to target your rivals.

Check out one of the weekly “Play with a Pro” nights . Competitive action begins this summer.

The College Gaming League is sponsored by the Dell University Program, which offers education discounts and customized PC bundles for students, faculty, and staff at thousands of participating schools across the country.

Dell Sees Unrivalled Opportunity In Connected Era And Fast Growing Economies

Speaking during his first official visit to the Middle East, Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell, told reporters at a conference held at the Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai, “The world is witnessing the most exciting and promising period for technology ever seen. We call it the “Connected Era.” The second billion people coming online, many from the world’s fast growing and emerging economies expect a different technology experience to the first. The Internet has unleashed billions of new conversations and made it possible for people to connect in new ways. The emergence of this Connected Era is arguably the most influential single trend remodeling the world today.”

• Connected Era ‘Most Exciting and Promising Period for Technology Ever Seen’
• Future Requires IT Simplification, Greater Sensitivity to the Environment and Listening

Mr. Dell said the Connected Era is transforming the way technology is used to drive conversations and communities online. It is also creating an urgent need to simplify IT infrastructures and address concerns about how this escalating demand might impact the planet.

At the same press conference, Mr. Abdulatif Almulla, CEO of TECOM Investments said, “I would like to extend a warm welcome to Michael Dell on his first visit to the Middle East. This visit clearly reflects Dell’s focus on the needs of the Middle Eastern market and its commitment to supporting this key region during the next phase of its growth.”

He continued, “With the overall IT spend in the Middle East and Africa expected to exceed $40 billion in 2008 and with the Gulf Cooperation Council accounting for nearly 23 percent of the total (according to IDC figures), the region’s IT sector has significantly evolved into one of the key players in the global IT industry. We will be working closely with Dell to find ways to bring the benefits of its best practice approaches to this region.”

In his remarks, Mr. Dell outlined what he described as the four key drivers of the Connected Era:

Simplify IT

While IT has made our lives simpler and more efficient, Mr. Dell said, “Somewhere along the way, all this efficiency got complicated. For many businesses, governments and consumers technology is too expensive, too complex and uses far too much power. We have made it our mission to simplify IT for customers.”

Reaching the Next Billion

More than one billion people are online today. By 2011, another billion are expected to join. Reaching these new users will require tailoring products to their needs and paying attention to how they prefer to learn about and purchase computers systems. “In the Middle East, for example, we’re bringing strengths from the direct model to our channel business by creating closer and deeper relationships through our partners to help us better understand customer needs.” Mr. Dell said. “Also we’re continuing to invest in local logistics and services capabilities to ensure we serve customers quickly.”

Technology has also lowered the barrier to entry for starting a small business, making it easier than ever for entrepreneurs in the Middle East and other fast-growing economies to successfully compete with businesses of all sizes, all over the world.

Listening

Mr. Dell said the Connected Era has forever redefined what it means to listen to customers. “Listening used to mean commissioning a customer survey. Now it means engaging directly with customers and critics and using those relationships to create a smarter business. Tapping into the ideas of our customers is like having an open source R&D lab. It’s incredibly exciting, both for Dell and for our customers.”

Environment and the ReGeneration

On World Environment Day 2007, Michael Dell committed to partnering with customers to become the “greenest” technology company on the planet. “The last 20 years has seen computers and servers getting faster, more powerful and more energy hungry. Our industry needs to design and build machines that combine the first two characteristics while reversing the third. And we are doing it at Dell.”

In doing so, he introduced the idea that we can all be part of the ReGeneration – a global community of people of all ages and backgrounds who care about the environment. “This is not just a matter of good environmental stewardship – though that concern is paramount,” Mr. Dell said. “Our customers want to identify with our commitment to the issues they care about – especially those issues that directly relate to our products.”