Dell Extends SMB Networking Lineup

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Continuing an expansion of all aspects of enterprise networking, Dell today unveiled a new higher-end series of managed switches, at the same time making additions to its existing lineup of switches.

Arpit Joshipura, vice president of strategy and product management for Dell Networking, says the new X-series of switches from Dell is designed to bring enterprise-class networking capabilities, in the form of one to 10 G Ethernet switches, to small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) that don’t have access to dedicated networking specialists. They are designed to be installed by an IT generalist.

Joshipura says the networking requirements vary substantially by industry across the SMB segment. The X-series extends the capabilities of Dell networking products in a higher-end segment, while the existing N-series of switches is being extended to include a 1G fully managed switch optimized for smaller networks.

In general, Joshipura says the networking requirements of SMB organizations are getting more sophisticated, but that doesn’t mean they have the resources to employ a dedicated network specialist. The Dell X and N series of switches are part of a continuing effort to complement Dell’s server and storage strengths in the SMB sector with a set of switches that are easy to deploy and manage, says Joshipura.

Ever since acquiring Force 10 Networks and then going private, Dell has marked networking as an area ripe for expansion. It may not be ready to take on networking rivals in the high end of the market just yet. But in the SMB segment, Dell already holds a lot of sway that should enable it to gain ground at the expense of rivals simply by reducing the number of vendors an SMB organization might care to deal with.