Dell Technologies Forum 2022 showcases the next frontiers of innovation set to power the future

As organizations embrace the new digital economy, business leaders will need to support the very people who are expected to build breakthrough innovations and empower them to become champions of digital transformation, said Anand Ganapathy, Vice President - Enterprise, Dell Technologies India, at the recently concluded Dell Technologies Forum 2022.

“Digital transformation happens with people, not to them. As we build for the future, the idea is to find out how we put people at the forefront and at the pinnacle of innovation in organizations,” said Ganapathy in his keynote titled ‘Delivering Breakthrough Innovation’ at the hybrid Dell Tech Forum event, which was held on August 25, 2022.

Ensuring sustainable digital transformation and innovations for a better future can only be achieved by overcoming the myriad ‘human’ barriers to change so organizations can build breakthroughs at the intersection of people and technology, Ganapathy added, as he shared insights from Dell’s Breakthrough study that surveyed over 10,500 respondents from over 40 countries.


“To deliver effective breakthrough innovation, organizations must adopt a three-pronged approach: provide employees with consistent and secure work experiences so they may thrive wherever they work; free people up to focus on what they do best and drive productivity by augmenting human capabilities through latest tech; and, create an empathetic culture that treats people as the greatest source of innovation,” Ganapathy said.

With the theme ‘Discovering the endless possibilities for innovation,’ Dell’s flagship event showcased the next frontiers of innovation set to power a better future for all. From multi-cloud strategy delivered as-a-service, to modernized and secure technologies to enabling AI-powered decision making at the edge, the event highlighted the technologies that will define the future.

The event featured several interactive keynotes, celebrity talks by actor Anil Kapoor and former national cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly, general sessions, technology-based sessions, CIO panel discussions, and several Breakout Tracks that spotlighted emerging technology trends in areas such as Security, Future of Work, Multi cloud-as-a-service, and modern data center and edge.

The event also included unique startup showcase initiatives such as Startup Café for top 10 B2B startups to showcase their next-gen technology solutions and the Dell Designathon - a 24 hour design challenge themed ‘Design for Change’, where startups participated with designs that enable human progress around 3 themes – Sustainability, Inclusion, and Accessibility. Tamil Nadu-based Backyard Creators bagged the 1st position with its cost-effective, first-time commercially developed, non-surgical adhesive hearing device built at the cost of just 6% of the traditional hearing aid implantation.

Ganapathy, who also emphasized Dell’s sustainability goals, pointed out that “for every machine that you will buy from us, we are trying to make sure one machine is recycled. For every machine that you buy from us, we are trying to make sure that the packaging in every machine is actually recycled.”

Here’s a look at some of the other key sessions and tracks at the #DellTechForum event.

• Keynote by Dell’s Tian Beng Ng
  

Emphasizing the need for human-machine collaboration, Tian Beng Ng, Senior Vice President and General Manager - Channels, Asia Pacific Japan, Dell Technologies said that putting people at the forefront will be really critical to driving innovation.

He also elaborated on the four main areas of innovation that Dell Technologies is focusing on: multi-cloud, hybrid work, security, and modern data center and the edge.

“In today's complex environment, data is really like water. If you think about it, what is really essential for survival? Organizations need to process and analyze data to drive business growth, to predict future trends, to identify new business opportunities, and to also respond to market changes faster,” said Ng.

Speaking about building the right security architecture, Ng said modern enterprise security should have three elements: Firstly, it should have a foundation of trust, which means building a security ecosystem using a secure supply chain, and having trusted partners; secondly, there needs to be a zero trust approach, which is a security model where all the devices, people, applications, and data are all authenticated, and all of it is known; and, lastly, there needs to be a cyber recovery plan.

• Track on India readying to drive breakthrough transformations
  

In a panel discussion focused on how India is getting ready to drive breakthrough transformations, Anish Shah, President & CEO, Jio Platforms Ltd and Anand Ganpathy, Vice President - Enterprise, Dell Technologies, India engaged in an interactive conversation, where they shared insights on how enterprises can strike the right balance between vision on one hand and reality on the other, in the face of various challenges that they face including budgetary constraints.

Shah said that vision without execution and even planning of execution is an illusion. “I have seen a lot of companies, they start with a good vision, but they don't have plans to execute or don't have ability to execute, then those visions are only vision statements,” he added. “So you have to have vision, but you should also know how to get out of your comfort zone, identify the hurdles, look at what is required to make that vision reality and then start working towards that” Shah further added.

Adding to it, Ganapathy said it's not just enough to make the vision a reality. It has got to be scalable and it has got to be consumption-based. You have got to be able to provide the user what they want, when they want, at the speed that they want. “Those aspects of how you make that vision a reality, the agility that comes in, the resilience that comes into the whole platform that you put together, I think is equally important.”

In addition, he said that the next level of innovation is going to come from the insights that are going to come from data.

• Focus on Women in Tech
  

According to a study by Pew Research, there are only 26 women holding CEO roles in Fortune 500 companies. Women are underrepresented and outnumbered in the leadership circles. To shine a spotlight on this issue, a panel discussion on the topic ‘Lessons from Women in Leadership on how to drive breakthrough growth in their careers’ was held with participation by Sonali Subuddhi, Head of Data Analytics, IDBI Bank, Falguni Desai, COO – IT, VFS Global, Indrani Choudhury, Chief Learning Officer, Microsoft India, and Nidhi Hola, CMD, Dell Technologies India.

The women leaders shared their journey and deliberated on how women executives can lead with influence, impact, passion and purpose. Citing reasons for why we have fewer women leaders at the top, Microsoft India’s Choudhury noted that women don't get the opportunity to take up very high stake projects or assignments. More often than not, this happens because they have less influential sponsors, which is why women need to be a little surgical in this aspect and strategize and choose their sponsors.

• Showcase of Dell Technologies’ offerings

Dell also showcased its various offerings that can help an enterprise simplify their IT setup and incorporate a resilient cyber security infrastructure besides developing a modern data centre and EDGE.

Some of Dell’s offerings that were showcased include Dell APEX, Server and Data Center Cooling Innovations, hybrid workplace with end-user personal solution, flexible payment solutions, software driven storage innovation, Dell APEX backup services, cyber resilient multi cloud data protection, VxRail innovation, Dell PowerEdge, and VMware cross cloud services, among others.

Dell Technologies also showcased Digital Life Care, Future Workforce programs, and Sustainability Initiatives and Asset Recovery Services at the Security the Social Impact & Sustainability booth.

If you missed the Dell Technologies Forum, you can watch the on-demand video recordings here.