Australian business' proclivity for exporting makes it imperative that local companies embrace technology as never before, according to Dell's Asia-Pacific President Steve Felice.
Delivering the Master Keynote, Felice recounted the tale of a local steel maker who recently asked Dell how it could reduce technology costs to ensure competitiveness across the region, but especially in China.

For Dell, Felice said achieving this outcome will be possible by planning a move to homogeneity and away from complexity, a shift he expects will see many business adopt x86 as their standard server platform and either Windows or Linux as their operating system of choice.

"Ninety two percent of all server units out there are x86 now," he said. "And they account for 55 percent of spend. Only 8 percent of server technologies are proprietary, but they are 45 percent of spend."

Such economics, he asserted, cannot continue as IT departments are pressured to achieve more.
And those achievements, he said, are now expected to do far more than just sustain a business.
"There is a proliferation of issues to deal with around security, privacy and regulation," he said. "At the same time you have time to market issues."

"IT departments simply cannot say 'I can't look at growth' because I am protecting the business."