Archive for the ‘Dell’ Category

We launched an IdeaStorm for healthcare today… Chris gets what we are up to

In the “you’ve gotta take a look at this department,” check out Ideastorm for Healthcare from DELL. Their original Ideastorm project was about giving voice to a community to better improve Dell products and services. Ideastorm for Healthcare gives a specific community a place to come and talk about things from their perspective.

Take note of this idea. They’ve given voice to a segment of their community that matters to them. It’s obviously the sign of things to come, and not a bad way to show that you’re listening. It’s also great for your product marketing teams as well as better customer service.

It’s a win, provided your community rushes in to respond and do their part. Remember, it’s not exactly sexy for customers to talk about you and your product unless they come away with the feeling that they’re being equipped for further success. Meaning, people love when you listen by giving them exactly the product they want/need/crave.

We’ve placed a big emphasis on being the greenest technology company on the planet… more evidence of realizing that vision today. New Strategic Oxygen research out this morning has Dell edging Apple and HP in a national survey of consumers. Key findings include:

• “Saving energy” ranks first in importance to U.S. consumers considering green electronics (54 percent); “design” (5 percent) is near the bottom of the list of attributes and “image” (4 percent) is dead last.
• The number one barrier to green sales of consumer electronics in the U.S. is “lack of awareness” (53 percent) – that is, brands are not adequately educating consumers on the energy savings and other environmentally-friendly aspects of their products. The number two barrier to purchase is “price” (45 percent).
• Consumers say they rely heavily on information on a product’s “packaging” (33 percent), a “brand’s web site” (32 percent), and “independent brand comments online” (28 percent) rather than seeking green product input from “friends / peers” (13 percent).
• Consumers still are reticent to pay premiums for green gadgets: 57 percent say they do not expect to pay premiums and are not willing to pay. Only 15 percent of consumers say they are expecting premiums and are willing to pa

Our Q1 earnings are out if you are interested… Some of the highlights if you missed them:

1. Overall, we increased revenue to $16 billion, up 9 percent year-over-year.
2. We announced the best earnings per share (EPS) in 9 quarters, a 12 percent increase.
3. Our operating expense (OpEx) is the lowest that we’ve seen in a long time at 12.9 percent of revenue.
4. We are the only large server vendor to grow volume and share – grew 3x industry.
5. Our revenue outside the U.S. surpassed inside the U.S. for the first time in Dell history!
6. Global Consumer was profitable and revenue up 20 percent year-over-year. Units grew 47 percent year-over-year.
7. Emerging Countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) grew 58 percent and was 9 percent of our company revenue.
8. EqualLogic revenue grew more than 100% year-over-year.
9. Partner Direct is live in all regions – nearly 16K partners and approximately 300 new partners every week.
10. Notebooks were our fastest growing product category, increasing sharply at 43 percent and 1.2 times the industry. Revenue grew 22 percent year-over-year. Just wait until our customers see the new e-Family series we’ll launch in a few months.