After Dell Technologies Inc. introduced more than 500 storage portfolio advancements today, which included updates to boost services across multicloud environments, the company’s founder underscored his firm’s continued focus on the edge.

“There are 7 million cellular base stations in the world, and every one of those is becoming a datacenter,” said Michael Dell (pictured), the company’s chairman and chief executive officer. “The edge is rapidly developing. This next decade is going to be about that intelligent connected future.”

Dell spoke with Dave Vellante and John Furrier, industry analysts for theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, in an exclusive interview during Dell Technologies World running this week in Las Vegas. They discussed Dell Technologies’ role in the data ecosystem, the company’s current relationship with VMware Inc., delivery of as-a-service infrastructure and how new companies are building waves of disruption in vertical industries. (* Disclosure below.)

Data at the center

Dell’s vision of the intelligent edge is driven by an insatiable need for data among enterprise customers. The company’s founder has observed the critical importance of data for the business world and envisioned a role for Dell in facilitating access to information in any compute environment.

“If you look at anything that is interesting in the world today, at the center of it is data,” Dell said. “You’ve got to manage it; you need compute engines to protect and secure it. That’s what we do. We’re going to be an enabling layer to allow that data to be accessed no matter where it is.”

This week’s Dell Technologies World in Las Vegas marked the first time the event has been held since Dell completed the spinoff of VMware in November. At the time, Dell made it clear the two companies would retain a strong commercial agreement to preserve its relationship. Michael Dell has remained the chairman of the VMware board, a position held since 2016.

“The team is doing well,” Dell said when asked during the interview about the state of the VMware relationship. “The Tanzu message is resonating. We’ve had great success with VxRail. We continue to work together in SD-WAN, in software-defined networking.”

Facilitating ease of use

For Dell, a key element in its strategy is APEX, the company’s infrastructure-as-a-service portfolio. On Monday, Dell introduced APEX Cyber Recovery Services to simplify the process of recovering from a cyberattack. For Dell’s founder, the latest moves with APEX highlight the company’s interest in delivering managed services and flexibility on demand for its clients.

“We’re creating that easy button with appliances and consumption models,” Dell said. “With APEX, we are industrializing this and making it at-scale for all customers.”

Since founding his company in 1984, Dell has been in a prime position to observe the evolution of new foundational waves of technology such as cloud computing. When asked to comment on the next wave of technology, Dell noted that new companies are changing the playbook and there is still plenty of time see what it all brings.

“These are foundational layers that have to be built for the next phase to occur,” Dell said. “New companies are not redoing foundational layers. They are going deeply into vertical layers and disrupting them. All of these layers of tech are enabling future progress. I believe it’s just the pre-game show.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Dell Technologies World:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Dell Technologies World. Neither Dell Technologies, the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE