Dell State of IT Trends 2016 Survey ResultsJuly 2016

Dell-sponsored global survey conducted by PSB

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Executive Summary (slide 1 of 2)

Survey goals: • Quantify how business decision makers (BDMs) and IT decision makers (ITDMs) are evaluating and considering

technology (related to major industry trends) to address business objectives.• Understand how business and IT leaders’ perceptions of technology have evolved as new technologies have entered

the market and become increasingly critical drivers of an organization’s success.

Survey results: • BDMs and ITDMs understanding of current IT trends are much closer than they are generally perceived to be. The

study reveals a greater sophistication and alignment in understanding of IT trends between the two groups.• Additional key findings:

– ITDMs (62 percent) and BDMs (51 percent) agree that cloud computing is the most important technology trend for their companies.

– Eighty-eight percent of ITDMs and 80 percent of BDMs say their organization is considering adopting a software-defined data center (SDDC), is in the process of transitioning, or has already completed the transition to one.

– By 2:1 margins, both ITDMs and BDMs say they will use more open data center technologies in the future.– Eighty-six percent of ITDMs and 85 percent of BDMs agree that compute-centric is the best approach to gain a flexible, scalable

and open data center.

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Executive Summary (slide 2 of 2)

Conclusion:• There is a lingering misperception that business leaders are disconnected during strategic IT discussions, but times

have changed.

• There is an increasingly common understanding between business and IT decision makers on the key IT trends and the growth opportunities that IT can deliver.

• The results indicate that IT and business leadership are better collaborating and having in-depth conversations about not only how technology works but how it can propel the business forward.

• ITDMs and BDMs both have 2-3 year outlooks for strategic IT plans.

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Survey MethodologyOn behalf of Dell, PSB conducted 1,200 online interviews between April 15 and May 4, 2016, among:

Audiences N-size MOE

Global All 1,201 ±2.83%

IT Decision Makers (ITDM) 701 ±3.7%

Business Decision Makers (BDM) 500 ±4.4%

Small Business (1-99 employees) 397 ±4.9%

Medium Business (100-499 employees) 398 ±4.9%

Large Enterprise (500+ employees) 406 ±4.9%

Developed (US, UK, Germany, and Japan) 700 ±3.7%

Developing (Brazil, India, China) 501 ±4.4%

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Countries SurveyedAudiences Role N-size MOE

USITDM 100 ±9.8%BDM 100 ±9.8%

UKITDM 100 ±9.8%BDM 100 ±9.8%

Germany ITDM 100 ±9.8%

JapanITDM 100 ±9.8%BDM 100 ±9.8%

BrazilITDM 100 ±9.8%BDM 100 ±9.8%

India ITDM 100 ±9.8%

ChinaITDM 100 ±9.8%BDM 100 ±9.8%

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Survey’s IT Trend Focus Areas

Compute-centric

Software-defined data center

Openness

Cloud

Data center management

Digital transformation

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BDM and ITDM Similarities

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1 Year 2 Years 3 Years 4 Years

13%

37% 36%

15%9%

39% 38%

14%

ITDM (n=590) BDM (n=349)

Both have 2-3 year outlooks for strategic IT plans

How far into the future does your strategic IT plan go? (Asked among Respondents with Strategic IT plans)

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Increasing business

productivity

Growing thebusiness

Lowering ITcosts

Reacting faster than

competitors to a changing market

Improving speedto market

81%71%

61%53%

45%

77%69%

50% 45%35%

ITDM BDM

*Not showing “none of the above”

Increasing business productivity is the main IT consideration

What business considerations are being addressed when making IT decisions?

Growing the business also a key consideration among both audiences

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Cloud computing ranked most important technology trend

How important are each of the below technology trends to your company? (Showing “Very important”)

62%55%

48% 47% 44%36% 31%

25%

51%43%

30%43%

34% 30%23%

15%

ITDM BDM

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Ability to burst to public cloud is important

How important is it for your company to have the capability to burst to public cloud as demands increase?

ITDM BDM

83%74%

14% 17%3% 9%

Important Not important Don't know

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Cloud

Data st

orage

upgra

de or

purch

ase

Software

-defin

ed

data

cente

r Server

refres

h

Virtuali

zatio

n

Conve

rged

infras

tructu

re

Openn

ess

Use of

flash

for

appli

catio

n acc

elera.

..

67%54%

48% 47% 47%39%

32% 31%

59%48%

36% 39%32% 30% 26%

19%

ITDM BDM

Cloud is the main IT spending priority

Please indicate if each of the below is a major priority, minor priority, or not a priority at all for your organization’s IT spending in 2016. (Showing “is a major priority”)

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Not consider-ing it

Considering it but haven’t started yet

Just started ½ completed ¾ completed 100% completed

11%

29%26%

17%11%

5%

13%

39%

23%

10%5% 3%

ITDM BDM

Software-defined data center (SDDC) adoption

Where is your organization in terms of adopting a software-defined data center?

88% of ITDMs and 80% of BDMs globally say their organization is considering adopting a software-defined data center, is in the process of transitioning, or has already completed the transition to one.

Global BDMs are more likely to say they are considering adopting software-defined data center while global ITDMs are more likely to say they have already started the transition.

*Not showing “Don’t know”

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Top benefits of SDDC – flexibility, simplicity, efficiency, cost-savings

From the list below, please select the top benefits of a software-defined data center. Ranked by “All”

ITDMs place a greater value on increased scalability than do BDMs

64%58% 56% 54% 57%

38%

58% 54% 56% 55%

40%33%

ITDM BDM

*2% of respondents chose “None of the above.”

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ITDM BDM

91% 84%

6% 8%

Agree Disagree

Not showing “Don’t know.”

Open technology best supports data center trends

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Open or industry-standards based technology best supports data center trends toward application and data portability, and broad data center-wide process management compared to proprietary vendor hardware or solutions.

ITDMs and BDMs overwhelmingly agree that open-based technology best supports data center trends toward portability and process management compared to proprietary vendor hardware or solutions

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Compute-centric is best

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Compute-centric is the best approach to gaining a flexible, scalable and open data center.

86% of ITDMs and 85% of BDMs agree that compute-centric is seen as best approach to gain a flexible, scalable, and open data center

ITDM BDM

86% 85%

8% 7%

Agree Disagree

Not showing “Don’t know.”

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BDM and ITDM Differences

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Where BDM and ITDM differTopic Data

Strategic IT planning Global ITDMs significantly more likely to say their organization has a strategic plan (84%) than global BDMs (70%)

SDDC deployment

Global ITDMs significantly more likely to say their organization has deployed software-defined solutions (57%) than global BDMs (43%) – BDMs more likely to say they don’t know than ITDMs (9% vs. 3%)

Global BDMs are more likely to say they are considering adopting a software-defined data center while global ITDMs are more likely to say they have already started the transition

Tailoring the IT architecture

Global ITDMs significantly more likely to say their company would benefit from an IT architecture that would allow the ability to tailor to specific application and workload needs (86%) than global BDMs (77%)

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Dell’s Enterprise Approach

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The study results confirm that Dell’s customer-driven, compute-centric and software-defined data center strategy is what business and IT leaders need most to meet their business objectives.

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ITDM BDM

82% 75%

13% 13%

Agree Disagree

Not showing “Don’t know.”

Compute-centric is key to driving innovation

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement: A compute-centric approach to data center solution development is key in driving my company’s innovation.

ITDMs and BDMs agree that a compute-centric approach to data center solution development is key in driving my company’s innovation

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Integrating hyperconverged solutions is the first step in software-defined data centers How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Integrating hyper converged solutions is the first step in achieving a software-defined data center.

More than 8 in 10 of ITDMs and BDMs agree that integrating hyper-converged solutions is the first step in achieving a software-defined data center

ITDM BDM

85% 81%

8% 6%

Agree Disagree

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24%22%

16%13%

10%8%

25%

15% 16%12%

10%7%

ITDM BDM

Software-defined data center is top enabler to digital transformation

What is the most important enabler to digital transformation?

ITDMs more likely to also mention hybrid/multi-cloud as a top enabler

Not showing “Don’t know.”

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Hybrid/multi-cloud On-site data center Off-site private cloud Public cloud

35%

24%18% 18%

29%24% 22%

13%

ITDM BDM

Software-defined data centers to be hybrid cloud-based in the future

Where do you expect software for software-defined data centers to reside in the future?

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ITDM BDM

61% 57%

31% 28%

2% 3%

More Same Less

Openness rules in the data center of the future

In the future, will you use more or less open data center technologies?

By 2:1 margins, both ITDMs and BDMs say they will use more open data center technologies in the future

*Not showing “Don’t know.”

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Addressing issues quickly is top concern when managing the data center

What concerns you most when it comes to managing the data center?

The ability to address issues quickly The long-term healthof the data center assets

The number of people and tools required

46%

34%

18%

45%

32%

20%

ITDM BDM

*Not showing “Don’t know.”