DSEi 2011: Dell hit-list for defence communications

The next-generation of communications equipment will require 'mobility, security and efficiency', according to Joe Ayers, vice president and general manager for defense sales at Dell.

Speaking to Shephard at DSEi on 13 September, Ayers described a hit-list of requirements which communications specialists would be required to implement.

Mobility, he said, incorporated the expansion in the area of smart phones and tablets as well as provision of secure e-mail on the battlefield. In addition, he called for more secure networks as well as more secure supply chains. Finally, Ayers said costs would have to be driven down with particular emphasis on more efficient running of data centres.

'The military want the latest and greatest graphics,' he stressed while describing generic requirements from special operations forces for moving maps and improved graphics. 'They demand performance and price is not such an issue,' he added, again referring to special forces procurement processes.

'We have been conducting an internal review into how we can decrease costs,' he revealed while describing how Dell was continuing to push to make its range of Android and Microsoft-based smart phones 'more secure'. He referred to these handheld systems as 'hardened' smartphones.

'If you lose a phone, how can you be sure you can turn it off [remotely]?' he asked. 'That's what customers want.'

Finally, Ayers described how he had not witnessed a decline in the popularity of ruggedised notebooks during the rise of the smart phone. 'People like keyboards,' he urged.