The COVID-19 pandemic has driven companies to make sudden changes in the workplace with remote work gaining ground as part of organisations’ long-term survival strategies. Doing it well requires organizations to formalize a structure for remote working that mitigates its major challenges, such as outdated technology, lack of face-to-face interaction, and employee trust issues, as well as responses specific to COVID-19.
This is part of what Dell Technologies has been doing since 1984 when it was founded. In recent times the company has increased its investment in African markets including Nigeria where it has 35 people managing its clients.
At a recent Virtual Media Roundtable, where it provided insight into how it has faired during the pandemic, senior executives of the company in charge of emerging countries including said Dell was one of the few technologies to quickly respond and have experienced little or no negative impact.
Read also: COVID-19 crisis: To your tents O Nigerians!
One of the main reasons is that working remotely was already a culture in the company in view of its range of world-class technology products and services. It had also unveiled new technologies and products across commercial PCs, storage, and cloud including the PowerStore, a ground-breaking and newly mid-range storage solution built from the ground-up with superior technology and expertise to address the challenges of the data era; the PowerScale, designed for organisations that want to manage their data, not their storage; and the New Dell EMC VxRail systems and software that brings IT infrastructure and cloud capabilities to challenging and space-constrained edge environments.
Beyond remote work, Dell said it has also seen more and more companies adopting digitalisation which has in turn put a strain on existing infrastructure.
“In the last six months, one thing is clear – the pandemic did impact and disrupt the ICT industry globally and across Emerging Africa, where we’re seeing a lot of changes in the market in terms of the need to increase investments in digital technologies. In this time of intense change, we see technology as a key path to economic recovery and companies need to build and strengthen the foundations for their digital future. At Dell Technologies, we aim to simplify this journey for our customers and partners, with solutions that enable business leaders to use advanced technologies to drive growth and improve competitiveness.” Habib Mahakian, Vice President – Emerging Africa, Dell Technologies said.
In West Africa, the company sees digitisation transforming industries and contributing to national GDP in multiple ways while also promoting the growth of allied industries such as logistics, infrastructure, and payments. This is particularly evident in the financial sector where several digital innovations are being introduced to deepen financial inclusion.
“This leads to an increase in a country’s productivity and competitiveness – lowering unemployment rates, increasing access to technology-enabled services for citizens and creating higher-wage impact jobs,” Travers Nicholas, GM – Central West Africa, Dell Technologies, said.
In addition, as the future concept becomes a reality for organizations, employees demand the flexibility to work, collaborate, and innovate anytime, anywhere, and in any way they want. By working closely with customers from sectors such as government, financial services, oil and gas, healthcare and education, Dell Technologies is implementing world-class technologies that give organizations and their workforce a competitive advantage to succeed in a post pandemic business environment.
“Today, organizations are recognizing that workforce transformation is key to long-term business success and many have started to change their operating model to accommodate this need for change. In fact, across several countries in Emerging Africa, the remote workforce trend is growing and it’s now up to organizations to keep up with the changing needs of their employees. Businesses must re-evaluate their workforce skills and develop cohesive ecosystems of technologies, services, and products that are scalable and can connect with changing customer demands. At Dell Technologies, we offer real-world solutions that enable modern workforces to communicate effectively, access their data from any device, and empower them to be highly productive,” Nizar El-Masri, GM – East Africa, Dell Technologies said.
Another key aspect of Dell Technologies’ commitment to driving transformation across Emerging Africa includes its social impact initiatives. As part of its ‘Progress Made Real Vision 2030’ social impact framework, Dell Technologies is committed to harnessing the power of technology to drive change across four key pillars: advancing sustainability, cultivating inclusion, transforming lives with technology, and upholding ethics and data privacy. Through education and youth skills training programs, such as Solar Learning Labs, the company continues to focus on addressing the digital divide to drive long-term economic prosperity and equip youth with the skills they need to successfully compete in a digital era.
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