Many enterprises today are terrified of being “Airbnbized” or “Uberized,” scared of being surpassed by a company in their industry that is using technology in a disruptive, revolutionary way that they had never considered, according to Marius Haas, president and chief commercial officer at Dell EMC.

That is such a huge fear that many traditional brick-and-mortar companies that do not seem at risk are the very ones pushing more aggressively, trying to figure out how to “transform themselves before someone else does it to them,” Haas said.

Haas recently joined host John Furrier (@furrier) and guest host Keith Townsend (@CTOAdvisor) of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, during Dell EMC World in Las Vegas, Nevada. They talked about the transformation conversations Haas has had with customers and what they are looking for from Dell EMC. (* Disclosure below.)

Avoiding a siloed approach

“I haven’t had a customer yet that isn’t in some phase of a transformation,” Haas said. Every customer is looking to Dell EMC to help identify a path forward, identifying what changes are required in the enterprise and what is available in the Dell EMC portfolio to help make those changes happen, he added.

Haas gave the example of a healthcare client who had been operating in a siloed ecosystem in the past. Their key message was that they wanted one strategic partner, one responsible party to bring everything together.

The healthcare client did not want to the systems integrator; they needed Dell EMC to provide that for them, Haas explained. “That message gets reinforced every day,” he said.

Ultimately, customers are in search of simplicity from technology providers, not additional complexity, Haas concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of Dell EMC World 2017. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Dell EMC World. Neither Dell nor other sponsors have editorial influence on content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE