Stacking IT Up: Comparing Dell & HPE SMB solutions

Comparing Dell and HPE offerings and ecosystems against the Techaisle SMB IT solution stack model

This 25-page report is designed to help SMB buyers and suppliers identify IT stack requirements, and to compare the offerings and ecosystems of the two current market leaders, Dell and HPE, against Techaisle’s definition of essential business technologies. The report is structured in three parts:

• The IT stack: The report begins by outlining the technologies that SMBs require – and require integration across – in order to support current and emerging business requirements.
• Vendor comparison: an evaluation of Dell and HPE offerings, including core products, non-core products and partner-delivered capabilities, against the stack requirements outlined in the first section.
• Evaluating stack suppliers: advice on how to use the stack comparison, and additional Techaisle research findings, to evaluate Dell and HPE strengths.

Please note that this report is specifically focused on IT requirements of small and midmarket businesses (1-999 employees) and does not cover consumer or enterprise requirements. Please note as well that the comparison includes only Dell and HPE and does not consider other suppliers.

Table of Contents

• Understanding buyer preferences: single source vs. multi-source
  • Preference for a single supplier
  • Single source vs. best-of-breed
  • Finding the center(s) of balance
  • ‘Best of breed’ is a complex issue
  • Products, services or both?
  • “Us” power
• Defining the SMB IT solution stack
• Vendor comparison: Dell and HPE
  • Vendor comparison: Data center system solutions
    • Client devices
    • Server technologies
    • Storage technologies
    • Virtualized solutions and networking
  • Vendor comparison: Data center security and backup solutions
    • Backup and disaster recovery
  • Vendor comparison: Software solutions
    • Application software
  • Vendor comparison: Services
• Additional considerations in comparing SMB IT stack providers
  • Ecosystem management
  • Financing
  • Feature, function, value
• Final Report Card
  • Report card 1: Single supplier scenario
  • Report card 2: Sales Motion

List of Figures

Figure 1. Preference for a single large IT supplier
Figure 2. IT procurement preferences
Figure 3. Defining ‘best’ in SMB IT terms
Figure 4. The Techaisle SMB IT Solution Stack
Figure 5. Dell SMB IT Stack
Figure 6. HPE SMB IT Stack
Figure 7. The role of financing in SMB technology decisions