"It's not enough to offer storage, you need to integrate as much as possible," he said.
Dell's blitz of new products comes a few days in advance of VMworld, an annual virtualization industry event hosted by VMware.
More pieces of the announcement include:
- Pricing for the PowerEdge M805 and M905 starts at US$1,699 and US$4,999, respectively.
- Integration with Microsoft virtualization technology, making Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V available as a factory-installed option on PowerEdge servers. Microsoft's System Center Virtual Machine Manager is also available for PowerEdge servers.
- Integration of EqualLogic storage with Citrix XenServer, making it easier "for IT managers to create snapshots, clones and single client images."
- Infrastructure consulting services for Hyper-V deployments, involving assessment, design and implementation of the Microsoft hypervisor.
- Site Recovery Manager for VMware environments, involving consultancy services to prepare a disaster recovery plan and help customers configure VMware's Site Recovery Manager software, which automates disaster recovery.
- Lifecycle management for VMware, a service involving design and implementation planning, proof-of-concept and configuration of VMware's lifecycle manager.