Dell embarks on $1bn cloud push

Hardware vendor reveals investment plans for the year ahead

Hardware giant Dell has announced plans to invest $1bn (£610.5m) this financial year in building its cloud portfolio and end-user support.

The vendor revealed that part of the money will be used to build multiple datacentres across the globe to provide end users with access to private and public clouds.

The datacentres will be kitted out with the hardware needed to deploy desktop-, platform- and storage-as-a-service offerings.

The company also plans to ramp up its customer support services by opening 22 Global Solutions Centres over the next 18 months.

Dell said the centres will be used to showcase its technology and provide guidance to end users on how to make the most of their IT budgets. They will also contain proof-of-concept testing facilities.

Steve Schuckenbrock, president of Dell Services, said the investment is geared towards helping more end users take advantage of cloud.

"Dell is mobilising to help customers capture these benefits and is making the power of cloud accessible to more organisations and end users," he said.

"Dell has made and will continue to make significant investments to deliver technology that helps customers thrive in the virtual era."