Dell's UK senior VP: 'The cybersecurity threat is critical'

Speaking at a press roundtable event, Dayne Turbitt discusses the challenges facing the tech industry including cybersecurity and supply issues

Dell's UK senior vice-president highlighted cyber threats as one of the biggest dangers facing the UK tech industry and channel at a press roundtable event on Tuesday.

Speaking at the event, Dayne Turbitt discussed a number of other topics and issues like remote working, component shortages and the surge in hardware sales driven by the pandemic.

But in response to a question asked by CRN, Turbitt picked out cybersecurity as a priority for the tech industry following another high-profile attack over the weekend which saw ransomware group REvil hack software provider Kaseya, which is estimated to have impacted at least 1,000 businesses worldwide.

"I think there are a number of challenges, the cybersecurity threat is critical," he said.

"The other day I believe they (hackers) hacked a hospital and held them ransom. So that, for me, is far more disturbing than the supply challenges.

"And it's those things that we need to address, but I'm personally more optimistic and focused on the opportunities. So it's not a question for me around what problems will the tech industry have, it's more around how do we bring the tech industry to solve either societal problems or business problems, which is our opportunity."

Turbitt stressed that cloud operators "have a high level of integrity and security that they provide for organisations" and said he felt "optimistic" that solutions could be found to meet the ever-changing threat landscape.

Dell recently saw its Q1 revenues rise by 12 per cent year on year as chief operating officer Jeff Clarke hailed the impact of the "do anything from anywhere" economy, and Turbitt echoed that sentiment by claiming that he is still "waiting for the market to slow down".

"We continue to see record growth in the PC space, and I put that down to a number of things," Turbitt added.

"We've now moved from the ‘just do it quick' to the ‘do it right' conversation. So now, people that have sent everybody home and for 15 months they've been staring at a 13-inch monitor, hunched over their desk, maybe they need a proper monitor, a proper webcam and peripherals.

"We're definitely seeing a decline in the desktop marketplace, so I'm seeing a shift between what was desktop revenue, to now laptop revenue.

"Also, as Boris hopefully lifts restrictions and people start to come back to the office, we'll be coming back to these office environments that were set up in cubicles for you to do your email on a day-to-day basis, that will have to change because people would like more hybrid working, and you'll be coming back into a collection of kit that's now two years old."

Turbitt said Microsoft's decision to roll out a new Windows will likely deliver a further boost in hardware sales, though clarified that he did not see that being "around the corner", instead pointing to next year as to when vendors and resellers could see the benefits of Windows 11.

But despite the pandemic driving sales, Dell has had to contend with the global supply challenges driven by shortages of key computer components.

The vendor has been "fortunate" because it has "one of the best supplier relationships in the IT industry", Turbitt said, but admits there are limits as to what the business can do because of the supply difficulties.

"There's a very big shortage of supply and it's fascinating how much is related to the amount of rainfall in Taiwan these days," he explained.

"They don't have enough water to make the IC controllers and then silicon has been consumed by all the vials for the vaccine.

"We're at an advantage because we don't just sell PCs, we don't just buy PC components from these manufacturers, we buy server components and storage components and others. So we're doing our best to leverage that supply chain for the benefit of our clients.

"If you talk to Intel or you talk to any of my colleagues in the industry, they'll tell you the same thing. We're rapidly accelerating our production capability as much as we can but I think we're going to be in a supply challenge at least for the next six months."

Turbitt also weighed in on the remote working debate following Google and Amazon's recent U-turns to allow for a more flexible approach.

He said that only one per cent of Dell's UK staff would like a full return to the office based on a recent survey carried out by the company and believes flexible working will be the approach moving forward.

"We've been a virtual workforce for a long time," he said.

"We've figured out how to be incredibly productive remotely so as long as that has benefits for our team members, we'll continue to do that."