UPDATED 10:44 EDT / JUNE 08 2011

Dell’s Darren Thomas Discusses Key Elements to their Storage Plan

Daren Thomas, general manager and vice president of Dell’s storage business sat down in theCube at the Dell Storage Forum today, and discussed several key elements to his company and storage market.

Among the first things Thomas emphasized were service, support and public image. He stated that when talking to customers it is important to ask questions that identify their needs, terms of scale and usage, rather than building out a company profile. He noted, more than once, that Dell’s sales personnel are trained to do exactly that.

Feedback is also a priority, according to him, saying that Dell is managing a lot of info from customers on what they want and what they think. Sales and support as well as other factors make up a level of service which became something like a hallmark for Dell, Thomas continued, and then said the same about Equal Logic and Compellent. The integration of these trademarks with Dell proved to be good for business.

In addition to just posting marketing, the acquisition of these two companies added a lot to Dell’s infrastructure offerings portfolio. One example is the electronics giant’s strategy, which also encompasses a wide SMB business. Dell, as brought up during the interview, has been dubbed by some as the IBM for SMB. Thomas exemplified that it’s all about delivering value based on market demand, such as Dell’s the pre-installation and leasing offers.

Elaborating further on his company’s outward strategy and development plans, he mentioned what he called crystallized thinking. According to the storage exec, Dell is approaching innovation from a pretty broad point of view, trying to make the entire system more efficient and get it to perform based on the customer’s requirements.


Watch live video from SiliconANGLE.com on Justin.tv


A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.

  • 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
  • 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.

Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.