Michael Dell is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dell Computers Incorporated, a global brand in the Personal Computer markets, with headquarters in Texas, USA. He was in Nigeria recently and granted audience to The Guardian's ADEYEMI ADEPETUN. In the interaction that followed, he revealed Dell's plan for Nigeria and Africa as a whole. He also spoke on the prospects of decelopment in technology within the sub-Saharan Africa. Excerpts.TECHNOLOGY acquisition has become a norm globally and countries, which refused to blend, are being left behind. How has technology met customers' need'Let me start by saying that new technologies and trends'like cloud and mobile computing, desktop virtualisation, converged infrastructure and the consumerisation of Information Technology (IT) are forcing big changes in the industry and creating even bigger opportunities and challenges for users globally.But perhaps the more compelling and promising change we're seeing is how customers are increasingly seeing technology as an integral and valuable tool to solve their problems and drive better outcomes for their businesses. Gone are the days of technology being relegated to the back office. Today, IT is front and centre, embedded into every aspect of life and business'across industries and geographies.It's an exciting time to be in our industry and to be at the forefront of some pretty amazing IT advancements that are changing the game and enabling the success of our customers. This is the inspiration behind Dell's recent strategy shift'from PCs to a global leader in end-to-end technology solutions and services.It is also critical for countries in the sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Nigeria with huge market potential to see technology as an integral part of their daily living, because this will help to simplify virtually everything, especially at a time that the country hopes to close the gap between it and other developed economies through the cashless economy and other initiatives. I believe this move is achievable with right policies in place.Nigeria is a huge market with lots of potential in the use of technology. Have you structured Nigeria in your global developmental agenda'My visit to Nigeria underscored our commitment to Nigeria and to Africa and the potential that we see in the market. We have opened a new office in Lagos and are very focused on growing our business here.There are plans for fresh investment for the purpose of establishing a Personal Computer laboratory in Nigeria, where we would also showcase our range of solutions as well as offer customers the opportunity of experiencing the solutions in a live environment.There are also plans to provide engineer certification facilities in Nigeria so that our partners would not have to incur huge travel expenses and visa inconveniences to go overseas for certification, while at the same time giving more engineers the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills and this is in addition to setting up a credible service centre to boost after sales services in the country.Is technological advancement comparable in Africa with the rest of the EMEA region'Nigeria and indeed Africa is an exciting place to do business today. The economy is thriving as well as the population, which is the youngest and fastest growing in the world. Household consumption is outpacing India, a bellwether among emerging markets, and technology is becoming embedded in the culture and economy of Africa. There are roughly 500 million and growing mobile subscribers today. The continent's future looks quite bright.Foreign companies like ours are taking notice, making significant investments, creating jobs, and building out Africa's infrastructure at a yearly rate of about $100 billion. This healthy economic environment is enabling businesses across sectors to flourish. There are many great examples in consumer goods, banking and insurance.The modernisation of industries is enabling Africa to 'leapfrog' over the old IT systems and adopt the latest, most efficient solutions on the market.We have seen massive spending by governments to improve and expand services to growing regions of the continent and this is a big bet with tremendous potential benefit. For example, the undersea fibre optic cables being laid offshore today will fuel affordable broadband Internet access across Africa. I think Nigeria is seriously championing that with about five cables at the shore, all that is needed now is to get the right technology that will take the bandwidth from the shores to the hinterland for maximum use. This will connect what was once a very disconnected continent and facilitate cross-border trade'opening up a world of opportunities to the people of Africa.This is a huge strategic move. Research indicates that a 10 per cent increase in broad-A-band penetration increases GDP by one per cent. This relationship is expected to accelerate in the coming years, underscoring the economic importance of investing in Africa's technology infrastructure.What are some of the challenges faced in the African region in area of technology advancement'Clearly the basic human needs for universal access to healthcare and education as well as political stability are big challenges for Africa. I'd say infrastructure improvements and technology access are also foundational for a healthy economy. This is an area where Dell can help, so we're working closely with several African governments on a major school computing initiative.Challenges aside, Africa is undergoing a profound economic transformation, and Dell's operations here are proof of that. Across Africa, Dell is growing and thriving. Today we're a $1 billion business with nearly 2,200 team members. We are excited about the opportunities here, and you'll see us continue to invest in Africa.In the areas of expanding technology frontiers in Nigeria and other parts of the world, what are some of the challenges that Chief Information Officers are facing'We've always been big listeners at Dell, so we spend a lot of time understanding our customers' challenges and goals. Two big issues that repeatedly come up in these conversations, not surprisingly, are the proliferation of devices and data. With a steady stream of new end-user devices and a digital universe that analysts estimate is doubling every 18 months, these are challenges that are here to stay and that we're working to solve.Also among our customers' top concerns is security. IT networks are increasingly converged and carry more data as a result of factors like mobility and cloud. Employees are already accessing business and personal information on different platforms and on-the-go, and it's creating significant security challenges.The CIO challenge that might surprise you is their need for simplicity. Technology is complex and getting more so. Our customers'from the largest enterprise to the smallest'are looking to us to make the complex simple again.How is Dell meeting these needs and addressing these challenges'Dell is a very different company today than we were a few short years ago. We've evolved well beyond the PC to become a global leader in IT solutions and services. By definition, that means we're very much in the business of solving our customers' problems and enabling better outcomes for their companies and institutions.We're doing that by tackling IT from end to end, which is an important point of differentiation for us. We're able to listen to the needs of our customers and design a complete solution'from the cloud to the data centre to the desktop'optimised for productivity, efficiency and results.And while end-user devices continue to be an important core business for Dell, we're putting a lot of muscle behind the infrastructure that helps customers manage, secure and connect the data and applications those devices generate.We've been aggressively investing in our strategy, and today we have the best solutions and products portfolio in our history. We've acquired about 20 companies in the last few years, invested more than $1 billion in data and solutions centers around the world, and established a software solutions group within Dell'all to address the issues and opportunities in front of our customers.For example, we acquired two terrific security companies recently, SecureWorks and SonicWALL. These were great additions to the Dell team, adding some of the best market-tested IT security capabilities in the industry. Today we're monitoring and safeguarding our customers' most valuable assets against roughly 30 billion security events a day. And we're doing it for many of the largest enterprises in the most regulated industries in the world, like banking and financial services, healthcare, education and government.We're also helping our customers manage and access their growing business data and applications with a solid set of cloud solutions. Our healthcare cloud connects roughly 40,000 physicians to more than five billion electronic medical records'one reason we are the No. 1 provider of healthcare information systems in the world. Our Dell Boomi solution is another great example of how we're helping customers transition to the cloud. It's the industry's largest integration cloud, connecting customers to their data and applications across the continuum of platforms'from physical to virtual, and from virtual to virtual clouds.In the areas of research and development, how much has or will Dell be investing'Dell has been investing in R&D activities at almost a billion-dollar on a yearly run rate. We manage our research, development and engineering spending by targeting those innovations and products that we believe are most valuable to our customers and by relying on the capabilities of our strategic relationships.In the last fiscal year, we spent $856 million on research, development and engineering, the vast majority of which went to enterprise solutions offerings including servers, storage, software, services and networking. We expect this number to increase over time as we continue to build and acquire intellectual property.We have 5,000 patents granted or pending and more than 20 R&D labs globally. Over the next three to four years, our goal is to double the size of our enterprise solutions to help customers deliver business results faster.How well is Dell coping with competition, especially in a competitive market like Nigeria and indeed globally'We have our strategies, which have been working for us and placed us even far above others. We are not moved by competitions, but one thing is sure, our brand remains a top one and globally accepted. We are also unperturbed because we invest big in R&D. Through this, we are able to know and meet the needs of our customers globally. Our products are also well secured against gray market activities because of some of the strategies we have employed, which are not meant for public consumption.Recently, the United Nation warned against the increasing electronic waste globally, what is Dell doing in this regard'We know of the dangers of eWaste and we are facing it squarely. Dell has started a new service that will recycle old and unused electronics for small businesses. Companies will also be able to resell their old valuable equipments to Dell. This service is in practice since last September and company's effort to save environment are being appreciated all over the world. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition has registered Dell as one of the nation's 'responsible recyclers'.This is because we do not transfer our electronic trash to the developing countries for hazardous dismantling rather we recycle it. We have made green revolution a theme and priority. We have also started making more energy efficient computers.
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