Dell’s first ever European Storage Forum ended today in London. It was similar in format to the Florida event I attended, about which I wrote this post. This meant senior execs flying in to first of all meet customers, but also channel partners, industry analysts, bloggers etc. And to participate in hospitality with the attendees.

My observations from June 2011 still stand because the company strategy is unchanged: ramping up the storage business to become a serious global top-3 player. It is pushing forward with implementing its file system across its disk system portfolio. And similarly with its de-dupe IP. The acquired companies EqualLogic and Compellent continue to operate in their original locations but with much increased engineering staff.

What I did not mention 6 months ago was the emphasis on the Co-pilot services organisation which came from Compellent. And that fact continued to be laboured at the London event. What had grown was the number of named partnerships with other ecosystem vendors which Dell nurtures through a partnership program.

The Dell event was not timed to coincide with major announcements, but did contain a new DR4000 disk based backup appliance.

Investing in storage events may sound odd during times of economic austerity, but Dell chooses to do so in order to for storage professionals to exchange ideas on how to maximise their storage assets. And while other industry players may have to hold back, Dell relished the chance to bang its own storage drum. This is a sensible priority for a company with a strategy focused on rapid growth. Now it will be interesting to study how the Dell organisation delivers and executes against its ambitious goals.