Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 65 | Page 20

TRENDING
Dell ’ s edge solutions can help retailers of all sizes gain faster , easy access to real-time insights that help make stores work in more intelligent ways to deliver better customer experiences .
their infrastructure from data centres to the Edge , and launch in-store and digital AI applications from partners to deliver better in-store experiences .
Simplify the retail edge to improve instore experiences
The Dell Validated Design for Retail Edge simplifies and consolidates edge retail infrastructure and applications on to a single infrastructure stack for efficient deployment , management and support . With VMware Edge Compute Stack integration , the solution provides retailers a single management view of edge IT across all retail locations to track system health , build and manage applications at the Edge and help securely scale to additional sites . By working with Deep North and its intelligent video analytics platform , the solution supports AI-based applications that help retailers use data insights to improve in-store shopping experiences such as optimising product placement , preventing product loss , tracking inventory , helping shoppers avoid long checkout lines and diverting employees to where they can be of most assistance in a store .
“ We are excited that Deep North ’ s real-time video analytics platform supports the Dell Validated Design for Retail Edge ,” said Rohan Sanil , CEO and Cofounder of Deep North . “ We look forward to helping retailers leverage AI to gain line-of-sight into the path-to-purchase in-store to identify opportunities to create a better customer experience , improve store operations and drive sales .”
“ Retailers have one chance to deliver a positive instore experience , and they have to balance this with helping to ensure the right inventory , health of their employees and customers , security of the store and more ,” said Dave McCarthy , Research Vice President , Cloud and Edge Infrastructure Services , IDC . “ Dell ’ s edge solutions can help retailers of all sizes gain faster , easy access to real-time insights that help make stores work in more intelligent ways to deliver better customer experiences .”
Dell continues to introduce additional edge innovations across its infrastructure portfolio to help organisations simplify deployments and capture more value :
Customers and partners can conceptualise and collaborate on edge technologies and applications in the Dell Technologies Customer Solution Centres Innovation Labs . With a new lab in Round Rock , Texas , the collaboration hubs help customers test existing edge technologies and design custom proof-of-concept solutions that can best manage the unique workload demands of organisations in retail , manufacturing , healthcare and other verticals . For example , retailers can validate and test inventory tracking solutions prior to implementation in store locations for fast and simple edge deployments .
Enterprise SONiC Distribution by Dell Technologies 4.0 , a scalable and agile open sourced-based network operating system , now extends across data centres and to the Edge . With network switches that can connect across multiple sites , customers can deploy , manage and monitor their edge with familiar data centre tools . The new solution provides streamlined operations , greater flexibility , and expanded Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery capabilities . For example , with the seamless networking integration SONiC 4.0 provides , retailers can more easily manage their infrastructure from their data centre to retail stores and other edge locations through a single , unified fabric .
Dell ’ s edge solutions for retailers are the latest additions to Dell ’ s growing edge portfolio and complement the Dell Validated Design for Manufacturing Edge , which will soon support Digital Performance Management , PTC ’ s latest ThingWorx based solution . Dell ProDeploy and ProSupport services help retailers accelerate edge deployments and support their environments with more than 60,000 dedicated professionals and partners in more than 170 countries . p
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