Dell Inc. has completed its acquisition of SonicWALL Inc., a provider of advanced network security, secure remote access, e-mail security, backup and recovery, and management and reporting.

Over the past few years, Dell has embarked on a major campaign to develop its software and services portfolio, particularly related to cloud computing, consumerization of the enterprise (BYOD) and the need for constant and pervasive access to data and applications from any location.

Under Dell’s leadership, SonicWALL is expected to continue offering comprehensive security solutions that fully leverage its technologies in the firewall and Unified Threat Management (UTM) spaces.

The deal was announced in March. The SonicWALL acquisition expands Dell’s security software and services portfolio. Dell expects the deal to be a contributing factor to generate revenue on a non-GAAP basis in the second half of this year.

John Swainson, president, Dell Software Group, commented, “The combination of SonicWALL with Dell’s existing security offerings and broad market reach will help customers securely manage their data, securely manage consumer devices being brought into their enterprise, and securely expand their applications to the cloud.”

Dell has collaborated with a younger and smaller company named Desktone to become a direct supplier of virtual desktops. Dell will talk about its ability to deliver virtual desktops in partnership with VMware and Citrix Systems at Citrix Systems’ Synergy user group conference in San Francisco this week.

Desktone offers virtual desktops through a cloud-based, desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) platform, and will work with both Citrix and VMware virtual machines. As such, it is “hypervisor agnostic,” said Desktone CEO Peter McKay in an interview. According to Dell, the Desktone-based service of Dell named Dell Simplified DaaS that was available to a handful of customers for a month is now available to all.

Dell will take the help of Desktone’s multi-tenant platform, Desktone Cloud, and use it for provisioning end user desktops for customers from its own data centers. By adopting Desktone as a partner and offering Desktone Cloud, Dell is taking its first step away from supplying physical end user machines, toward directly supplying virtual end user desktops, or desktop services to run on different devices, from its data centers.

Dell is going to unveil a whole new series of its computers equipped with the 3rd generation Intel Core set of processors also known as Ivy Bridge this summer.

Dell already has a few Ivy Bridge laptops in the Alienware M14x, Alienware M15x, and Alienware M17x gaming laptops. Now the company is going to roll out a few Inspiron models as well. The Dell Inspiron 14R and Dell Inspiron 15R Special Edition are high-end computer systems that are equipped with quad-core processors, so they can take advantage of the currently available third-gen Core i7.

Commenting on the new series of its Inspiron modes, Dell says:

“The Inspiron R Special Edition laptops are geared towards families and feature a sleek and durable anodized aluminum exterior, up to 3rd generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, powerful discrete graphics options ideal for photo and video editing and immersive gaming, optional high-resolution displays, backlit keyboards and mSATA SSD devices with Intel Rapid Start and Smart Response technology for fast boot and sleep resume times.”

Dell has updated its four Precision workstations to cater to the intensive computing requirements of enterprise customers. The four models that have been revamped include Dell Precision T7600, T5600, T3600, and T1650. These models will now feature 32nm E5 series Intel Xeon chips and advanced memory technology.

In addition, Dell has modified the chassis of all four Precision workstations to provide front access for hard drives and externally removable power supply. This has been done to minimize the downtime and ensure easier serviceability. The rack mountable design ensures that these machines can fit anywhere in your office setting.

These Dell Precision workstations are ideal for people involved in the field of engineering, product designing, and animation. Dell Precision T7600 will be priced at US $2,150, whereas Dell Precision T5600 and T3600 will cost you US $1,880 and US $1,100, respectively. The company will start shipping these workstations from May 2012.

Dell has introduced a series of updates to its Alienware M14x, Alienware M17x, and Alienware M18x laptops, including the latest GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD.

Instead of waiting for the release of Intel’s third-generation Core i-series CPUs (also known as Ivy Bridge), these new Alienware models have the current second-gen chips (also known as Sandy Bridge). The high-end quad-core versions of Ivy Bridge are expected to be available from PC makers starting around 29 April.

So, it is better to wait till 29 April to get your hands on any of these updated models, as then you’ll find the new 600 series graphics cards from NVIDIA, as well as updated AMD options. New storage configurations include triple HDDs, with a mSATA slot, or dual hard drives on the smaller Alienware M14x. The audio too gets a boost, thanks to the Creative Sound Blaster chip (clearly aiming to compete with the successful Beats Audio branding in the HP Envy line).

Click here to have a look on the images of the updated Alienware series gaming laptops.

Leading computer manufacturer Dell has officially announced that it is exiting the U.S. smartphone market. According to the company, the Android-based Venue and Windows Phone-based Venue Pro have compelled them to “run their course”.

Dell jumped into the smartphone market with the launch of Dell Aero. However, the company’s next release, the Android-based tablet known as Dell Streak 5 proved that the company didn’t have a proper strategy for the U.S. market. It is not for the first time that Dell failed to enter the new electronics market. Earlier, Dell tried to win over iPod users with the launch of its DJ line of MP3 players and failed.

According to industry experts, the pulling out of Dell from the smartphone market in the U.S. will hardly affect users as very few people use the Dell Venue. After this decision to pull out from the smartphone market in the U.S., Dell is more likely to focus its mobile strategy on the upcoming Windows 8 operating system. This will allow the company to deliver full PC-based tablets equipped with a touch-friendly operating system.

Cloud services are in great demand today and Dell doesn’t want to lag behind in this race too. At the WorldHostingDays 2012 conference held in Germany this week, Dell made an announcement that it has partnered with Ubuntu Linux developer, Canonical, to provide its cloud services outside the United States.

Dell has big expectations from this move and has made potential plans to provide its cloud solutions in the United Kingdom, Germany, and China. The cloud service offering, formally known as Crowbar, is based on the OpenStack platform, as well as the servers, services, and its open-source deployment framework from Dell.

In a blog post, Martin Stadtler of Canonical wrote, “We know that when you’re building private clouds, you want access to a full feature set and the confidence that vendor support provides. With Dell’s OpenStack-Powered Cloud Solution, users of Ubuntu Server 12.04 Long Term Support (LTS) will be able to take advantage of the cost savings and flexibility of the open-source cloud, without the risk.”

If you are an enterprise customer, thinking of deploying your own private cloud, then this cloud offering along with Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS is certainly worth considering.

Dell, in association with its software management solution, Dell KACE, lately announced to revamp its renowned IT community site, AppDeploy.com, as ITNinja.

Dell has been operating the forum-focused community knowledge base, AppDeploy.com, since 2010 and gets near about 450,000 visitors per month. The site is regularly updated by IT professionals on how to deploy as well as automate software programs. However, AppDeploy.com, under the name ITNinja, will still continue to be the product-agnostic community wherein anyone can partake to share information and reply to questions to help the people make well-informed IT decisions.

“ITNinja builds on Dell’s established social media success to deliver a valuable community hub in which IT professionals can not only share tips and information but also form new connections with their industry colleagues,” said John Swainson, president, Software Group at Dell. “With one of the largest knowledge bases of software application topics on the Web, ITNinja will help the IT community find the answers to their software questions quickly so they can focus on innovation and do more.”

ITNinja is a comprehensive community with a prime focus on software topics, including software deployment methods, management solutions, and configuration settings. Above all, it will let the users to search answers and finest practices on varied compound IT issues.

Dell has announced its initiative to help the customers by easing the process of migration form EMC and NetApp storage products to Dell storage arrays. The Vice president and General Manager of Dell Enterprise Storage said, “The Storage Swap program enables customers to easily migrate to Compellent and EqualLogic and quickly gain better optimization and efficiency.”

EMC and NetApp provide data storage devices, which range from enterprise storage arrays to storage area network, and information security. The customers can upgrade to Dell storage system by making use of Fluid Data architecture by Dell. Dell has introduced various financial aids to stimulate the transition and make it easily manageable and versatile.

This in turn will bring better efficiency for the customers and will aid them in getting hassle-free independence from legacy IP. This will also help in reducing the price and risk involved in the betterment of businesses. Dell Storage Swap program will be available in the U.S. and Canada form July 31, 2012 onwards. To know more, read the official press release.

Dell has finally announced that it has taken over the reins of SonicWALL. This deal will add another feather to Dell Corporation. It will provide an edge to Dell security profile, which is comprised of cloud security, SecureWorks, Dell KACE, and other data encryptions.

SonicWALL has been a brand in providing solutions for network security, backup and recovery, and other security appliances. The solutions by SonicWALL to protect data and provide better Internet security have been acclaimed all over the world by small and large enterprises.

SonicWALL has a total of about 130 approved or pending patents that have also come under Dell. As told by the president of Dell Software Group John Swanison, this access to SonicWALL’s intellectual property will give a better position to Dell in the field of fast-growing software security. This acquisition by Dell will certainly prove a milestone for the company in coming years.