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Five new artificial intelligence (AI) experience zones have been launched by Dell EMC across Singapore, Seoul, Bangalore, Tokyo, and Sydney.
The zones will give local customers and partners hands-on access to data science tools and techniques as well as provide product demonstrations, training and pilots.
The zones aim to ultimately serve as a catalyst for AI understanding and adoption amongst organisations in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), and include several of the vendor’s own tech innovation including its PowerEdge servers coupled with open source AI software developed by Intel such as OpenVINO toolkit.
Dell’s networking and storage solutions will also be leveraged in an effort to speed up AI adoption, simplifying system design and providing a scalable solution for customers.
“The timely adoption of AI will create new opportunities that will deliver concrete business advantages across all industries and business functions,” said Chris Kelly, vice president of Infrastructure Solutions Group at Dell EMC, APJ.
“Companies looking to thrive in a data driven era need to understand that investments in AI are no longer optional - they are business critical.
"Whilst complex in nature, it is imperative that companies quickly start moving from theoretical AI strategies to practical deployments to stay ahead of the curve."
Investments in AI are continuing to grow with a recent IDC report showing 44 per cent growth from investments in 2018, with the figure is expected to reach US$35.8 billion this year.
“Significant worldwide artificial intelligence systems spend can now be seen within every industry as AI initiatives continue to optimise operations, transform the customer experience, and create new products and services,” said Marianne Daquila, research manager, of customer insights at IDC.
Furthermore, AI is considered an investment priority for many organisations across APJ, with one in two leaders expected to invest in the next one to three years as part of their digital strategy, according to Dell Technologies’ Digital Transformation Index.
However, the study found that 95 per cent of companies are still experiencing transformation roadblocks, one of which is lack of in-house skill sets and expertise, which these experience zones hope to address.
“The APJ region is building intelligent organisations powered by data, with AI technology woven into their digital fabric,” said Andrew Underwood, chief technology officer of AI across APJ, Dell EMC. “The Dell EMC AI Experience Zones provide a unique space where customers and our partners can explore, test out, and learn about the different physical and virtual components that make up an AI ecosystem.
“This initiative is the focal point of our commitment to fostering knowledge sharing between CIOs, our ready team of technology experts, and industry partners to accelerate AI adoption and innovation for the region."
The new zones will be built within Dell EMC’s existing customer solution centres and are open to customers and partners looking to gain an understanding of AI technologies and advancements, as well as practical, hands-on AI solutions design and deployment experience.
The vendor’s high-performance computing (HPC) portfolio will be leveraged throughout these new zones, with demonstration on how such technologies can be used to address today’s most pressing business challenges and opportunities using AI as a catalyst.
Dell EMC has also partnered with Intel, making use of their Xeon Scalable processors as well as their open source AI software to demonstrate customised AI solutions to customers and partners.
“Intel’s latest AI technology, tuned and optimised with Dell EMC infrastructure, extends high-performance big data processing, analytics, and deep learning capabilities from the data centre to the edge,” said Lisa Spelman, vice president and general manager, Intel Xeon Processors and Data Centre Marketing at Intel.
“AI is poised to usher in a new era of machine intelligence, and we want to provide every data scientist, developer, and customer with access to the right tools to unlock deeper levels of knowledge and insights."
The centres will also function to educate customers and partners, through masterclass training, AI expert engagements, and collaboration opportunities available on-site.
Customers will be guided to take the next steps in their AI implementations, including design, installation, maintenance and delivering tangible business outcomes for their organisations.
Dell EMC recently rebranded its partner program in an effort to make it easier for partners to leverage the vendor's entire portfolio of solutions and products.
As revealed by Channel Asia, the Dell Technologies Partner Program is now aligned with the vendor's broader goal of creating an ecosystem of providers offering an end-to-end technology solution set.
