Highlights from Dell Technologies World 2024

As Dell Technologies World 2024 kicked off on Monday, May 20, attendees excitedly waited for Michael Dell to lead the first keynote, titled Igniting Innovation. With much fanfare, he took the stage and launched into an inspiring talk, along with three partners, Bill McDermott (CEO of ServiceNow), Dr. Sungwoo Hwang (CEO and President of Samsung SDS) and Jensen Huang (CEO of Nvidia).

We were treated to a vision of a future that is largely positive and forward looking. The technology leaders discussed the power of transforming ideas into action with AI, multicloud, edge computing and more. Their primary message was igniting the power of technology to change businesses — and the world — for the better.

Another key topic was the rapid expansion of AI tokens. While today, we’re looking at billions, they’ll soon expand into the quadrillions. This is great news for Rackspace Technology®. With the launch of the innovative Foundry for AI by Rackspace (FAIR™), we’re poised to become a leader in this area, supporting companies who want to accelerate their AI growth the right way.

Hwang overviewed the accelerating pace of AI and highlighted Dell's vision for addressing AI's unique computing architecture demands. As the demands around AI innovation continue to expand, AI is poised to be a trillion-dollar business sector.

Of special interest for me was an analogy Dell shared. When electricity was invented it was used to turn the wheel that operated machinery. As technology advanced, electricity powered our devices directly. We no longer needed the wheel. In the same way, AI is only a supplementary technology. It’s not the driver of the innovation that is to come in our very near future. 

My takeaway on this session is that Dell will become one of the primary sources of hardware running AI — and is already gaining ground, while working to help support five key AI goals:

• Every workflow and process will be informed by AI.
• Every company will be an intelligence-driven company.
• Speed will become the ultimate competitive advantage.
• A single pane of glass will be used to operate all disparate applications.
• Hardware that runs AI will be easy to integrate so that partners and community ecosystems can powerup innovation.

To that end, Dell announced three new hardware platforms that can help organizations accelerate their AI initiatives — no matter their size and budget:

1. Dell PowerStore Prime 4.0: A free upgrade for current PowerStore servers that will harness AI technology.
2. Dell PowerScale F910: An ideal hardware platform for ingesting data.
3. Dell PowerEdge XE9680: Not every business needs massive computing power and for those business Dell is offering this low-cost solution.

Dell introduces our AI-driven future

Much has been said about how AI is going to change the world and Dell is no stranger to the conversation. It’s apropos that the keynote session on day two of the event was titled, Making AI Real. Led by Jeff Clarke, Dell’s Vice Chairman and COO, the session included nine guest speakers.

The speakers emphasized that while we’ve all imagined what’s possible with AI, now is the time to dig deeper. The panel showcased powerful new technologies designed to make the promise of AI a reality for more businesses. They also discussed the need for creating data centers and systems specifically designed to support AI. Clarke introduced Dell's pivotal role in facilitating AI deployment and discussed an innovative AI factory approach, emphasizing its commitment to making AI accessible.

Dell’s AI factory approach emphasizes high-performance architecture accelerators and integrates seamlessly with top AI platforms, like NVIDIA AI Enterprise and OpenShift AI. This collaboration allows partners to leverage a robust AI ecosystem, fostering innovation and accelerating AI adoption.

Major product announcements included advancements in hardware solutions showcased by Charlie Kawwas, President of Broadcom's Semiconductor Solutions Group. Arthur Lewis, President of Dell's Infrastructure Solutions Group, unveiled liquid-cooled hardware solutions and rack-scale innovations. Dell also introduced Project Lightning, a parallel file system for unstructured data, promising significant throughput and performance improvements.

With Foundry for AI by Rackspace (FAIR™), our three AI solutions — Ideate, Incubate and Industrialize — are tailor-made to support our AI-driven customers’ needs. As Dell indicated, AI runs better in an on-premises environment and Rackspace Technology provides a global network of leading-edge data centers to run managed or customer managed AI platforms. With RackConnect® Global, we’re in an ideal position to be a key provider of data center space for AI applications around the world. 

Recap of Rackspace Technology expo theater sessions

Two Rackers presented sessions in the expo event theater: Melissa Pettigrew, Strategic Engagement Manager, and Bryan Litchford, Vice President of Global Alliances.

Transforming Healthcare IT: Rackspace Private Cloud for Epic EMR and Ecosystem Workloads

Pettigrew presented a solution that helps meet the technology needs of organizations, like Seattle Children's Hospital. She delivered an interactive and insightful presentation on transitioning Epic and non-Epic workloads to the cloud and enhancing operational efficiency and strategic execution for health systems. The talk highlighted our collaboration with Dell, which simplifies healthcare cloud solutions and facilitates seamless cloud migrations, especially for Epic workloads.

Unleashing the Potential of Edge Cloud Computing: Trends, Benefits and Why It Matters with a Focus on Rackspace and Dell Technologies

Litchford delivered a presentation discussing how businesses can overcome digital transformation challenges and fully leverage the opportunities it presents. He emphasized the importance of strategic partnerships and technological innovation for achieving a successful transformation, and sharing valuable insights and strategies.

The Partner Connection Podcast: #PartnerUNCUT

Litchford also participated in the Partner UNCUT podcast session recorded during the event He discussed the increasing importance of data with Tony McCoy, VP of Sales, Americas Service Providers, Telcos and Alliances for Dell EMC. He also shared insight on the importance of having a workload-aware mindset and helping customers understand the benefits of having a “cloud-agnostic, but opinionated” approach to hybrid multicloud solutions.

Recap of Rackspace Technology expo booth sessions

Several Rackers participated in delivering three talks at the Rackspace Technology booth in the expo hall.

Moving Your AI Journey Forward with Rackspace Private Cloud AI and Dell

Presenters: Amine Badaoui, Senior Manager, AI/HPC Product Engineering, and Sharon Varalli, Director, Product Marketing

This session focused on an AI Anywhere solution that leverages AI-optimized Dell servers, NVIDIA GPUs and run.ai software. Key points included:

• Harnessing data with cutting-edge technologies
• Delivering scalable and secure management of unstructured data with Dell PowerScale
• Optimizing Dell’s hardware using run.ai’s advanced orchestration software

Navigating the Clouds: Leveraging OpenStack and Rackspace Technology for Transformative Business Growth

Presenters: Kevin Carter, Product Director, and Josh Villarreal, Sr. Director, Technical Support

This session focused on strategic cloud infrastructure for driving innovation and operational efficiency. Highlights included:

• Choosing the right cloud infrastructure and service partners
• Showcasing the expertise at Rackspace Technology with OpenStack® for business growth
• Empowering organizations with OpenStack’s flexibility and our managed support

Empowering Secure Operations in Sensitive Environments: The Rackspace Technology Public Sector and Dell Technologies Air Gap Solution

Presenter: Russell Rodd, Marketing Manager, U.S. Public Sector

This session provided insights on how to fortify cybersecurity defenses in isolated environments. Key takeaways included:

• Addressing cybersecurity challenges for government and public sector organizations
• Developing an innovative air gap solution with Dell
• Combining Dell’s state-of-the-art hardware with managed services for secure operations from Rackspace Technology

Partner of the year award

The highlight of this year’s Dell Technologies World event for Rackspace Technology was receiving the Dell Technologies Global Alliances Service Provider of the Year, Americas. On Wednesday, May 22, Adrianna Bustamante, VP of Global Demand Generation & Partnerships, and Josh Prewitt, Chief Product Officer, proudly accepted the award on behalf of Rackspace Technology at the celebratory dinner.

This prestigious recognition underscores our unwavering commitment to delivering top-tier products and IT consulting services that address our customers’ most challenging needs. Our fruitful collaboration with Dell has spurred innovation across hybrid multicloud, healthcare and AI sectors, enabling our customers to reduce costs, enhance data control and explore innovative new AI use cases.