Dell and Accenture sign agreement to deliver cloud and security solutions

BANGALORE, INDIA: Dell has announced that it is expanding its worldwide agreement with Accenture to address some of the most pressing technology challenges businesses face today, particularly during business transformation.

To accomplish this, Dell and Accenture have signed a four-year global go-to-market agreement to jointly develop and sell a new set of offerings designed to deliver improved enterprise efficiency, higher security, and better business outcomes.

Under the go-to-market agreement, the companies will work together to build, implement and manage data center solutions for mid-market and select enterprise customers who want to drive business innovation while controlling costs and reducing risk. The agreement will bring together Dell's end-to-end portfolio of infrastructure, software, and services with Accenture's capabilities as well as Avanade's, which was created in 2000 as a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft. This agreement augments Dell's existing cloud capabilities in hardware, software and services.

In addition, Dell has signed a four-year agreement with Accenture to develop the joint solutions that support Dell's global market expansion. The new solutions include:

· Cloud Solutions: A private and public cloud ecosystem focused on Microsoft applications and platforms that enable a true end-to-end cloud with faster implementation, lower costs and lower risks than other solutions. The solution was developed with Accenture in partnership with Avanade and utilizes Dell infrastructure solutions, Dell Active System Manager, Dell Services including Support and Deployment Services and Dell's Software stack.

· Application Assured Platforms: These are specifically crafted infrastructure and application configurations with management software supporting standard business processes and mission critical applications. By combining Dell hardware, software and services with Accenture's application management capabilities, customers can confidently meet higher level service and security requirements with more flexibility and agility than custom solutions. In addition, Avanade will provide tailored support for specific Microsoft workloads deployed on Dell Active System platforms.

· Security Services: By combining Dell SecureWorks' world-class information security services with Accenture and Avanade's expertise in security consulting, our mutual customers now have enhanced opportunities to protect their IT assets, complying with regulations and reducing their security costs.

"By joining with a technology infrastructure leader like Dell, we have a great opportunity to develop and bring-to-market innovative new solutions that address some of the most pressing needs in IT today," said Jack Sepple, senior managing director, Infrastructure Services, Accenture. "Dell's alliance with Microsoft is also a powerful synergy and something Accenture and Avanade can leverage for the benefit of our joint clients."

"Accenture is viewed as a worldwide leader in developing the strategy to architect data centers for some for the world's leading brands - a strategy that complements our scalable datacenter solutions and business strategy," said Cheryl Cook, vice president, Partner Programs, Dell. "This expanded relationship will provide our current and future customers with solutions that offer greater business value and more choice, flexibility, efficiency and cost-savings. This is just the beginning with tremendous opportunities on the horizon."

Availability

The three initial Dell/Accenture solutions will be available in North America in mid-2014 and available in multiple countries around the world in 2015.