Dell Technologies APEX

Dell Technologies APEX
Industry	Computing, Cloud computing, Web services
Predecessor	Dell, EMC Corporation
Founder(s)	Michael Dell
Headquarters	Round Rock, Texas, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Michael Dell (CEO)
Products	IaaS, DBaaS, DaaS, SaaS
Revenue	$25 billion (2023, Q4)
Website	delltechnologies.com/en-us/cloud/

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Dell Technologies APEX is a VMware-powered portfolio of consumption-based and as-a-service solutions by Dell Technologies that "delivers multicloud by design, empowering you to optimize the placement of data and workloads for maximum value within your organization."^[2] Solutions include Dell APEX Cloud Platform (DACP) for Azure, VMware, and Red Hat OpenShift; Dell APEX Hybrid Cloud for VMware; and Dell APEX Storage, among others.^[3] The Dell Technologies APEX solutions support the Alibaba, Amazon, Dell, Google, IBM, and Microsoft public and private clouds, among others.^[4]

On May 5, 2021, Dell Technologies announced that it had rebranded its Dell Technologies APEX platform to Dell Technologies APEX.^[5]

Provider research

This section uses public information to provide some answers to the 18 questions posed in Chapter 6 of the wiki-based guide Choosing and Implementing a Cloud-based Service for Your Laboratory. In some cases, public information could not be found, and a recommendation to further discuss the question with the cloud service provider (CSP) is made. Additionally, as a hybrid cloud provider, some of the questions from Chapter 5 (e.g., "How segregated is our cloud data from another customer's") are not relevant, as they are not providing public cloud services.

1. What experience do you have working with laboratory customers in our specific industry?

It's not clear what laboratories have adopted Dell Technologies APEX solutions. However, Dell does discuss putting some of its cloud-scale systems to use in the laboratory realm with its solution brief on Dell EMC PowerScale. A Dell Technologies APEX representative is likely to be able to supply more examples of laboratories that use or have used Dell Technologies APEX.

2. Can your solution readily integrate with our other systems and business processes, making it easier for our end users to perform their tasks?

Dell promotes integration of existing legacy cloud and on-premises platforms with other private and public cloud platforms largely through its Dell Technologies APEX Platform (DTCP) and strong VMware integrations. APEX instances have "standardized combinations of compute and memory resources—defined by a fixed physical memory-to-core ratio—and powered by Dell VxRail. They are optimized for your virtualized and containerized workload requirements, ranging from small (4GB/Core) to extra-large (32GB/Core) memory-to-CPU core ratios."^[6] On the VMware side, the company adds that "VxRail, powered by Dell PowerEdge server platforms and VxRail HCI System Software, delivers deep integration across the VMware ecosystem. This means you can rapidly deploy secure on-premises cloud infrastructure and take advantage of a full stack single-click lifecycle management experience."^[6] These technologies further enhance integration with business processes and systems by allowing for workloads to be seamlessly transferred between public and private cloud infrastructures. For more on this topic, discuss it with a representative.

3. What is the average total historical downtime for the service(s) we're interested in?

Dell Technologies APEX is not a public cloud, and as such, this question is not fully relevant. That said, Dell Technologies provides disaster recovery as a service for hybrid cloud platforms using its Dell Cloud Disaster Recovery and PowerProtect DD for helping laboratories limit the repercussions of their public or private cloud going down.

4. Do we receive comprehensive downtime support in the case of downtime?

Dell Technologies APEX is not a public cloud, and as such, this question is not fully relevant. However, Dell still provides support services for its service offerings. Per its Dell Technologies APEX service offering description, the "Dell APEX Service includes ... support from Dell for the Dell APEX Service," as described within the document. Be sure to confirm the support terms for the service you select.

5. Where are your servers located, and how is data securely transferred to and from those servers?

Dell Technologies APEX is not a public cloud, and as such, this question is not fully relevant. That said, it will be useful to understand the underlying technology supplied by Dell in regards to data transmission to public and private cloud instances. Cloud-based data protection services from Dell such as Kubernetes Data Protection, PowerProtect Cyber Recovery, Cloud Disaster Recovery, and more may be of additional interest.

6. Who will have access to our data (including subcontractors), and what credentials, certifications, and compliance training do they have?

Dell Technologies APEX is not a public cloud, and as such, this question is not fully relevant. That said, Dell Technologies does state its policies on secure development of products and applications, stating^[7]:

"Dell provides security training to employees on job-specific security best practices and policies to create a security-aware culture across its entire employee community."
"Dell has established a comprehensive security program, which ... includes analysis activities such as threat modeling, static code analysis, and security testing to discover and address security defects throughout the development lifecycle."
"Dell has also designed a baseline set of security capabilities to meet customers’ security objectives and compliance requirements."

7. Will our sensitive and regulated data be stored on a machine dedicated to complying with the necessary regulations?

Dell Technologies APEX is not a public cloud, and as such, this question is not fully relevant. However, as noted in the prior question, as well as Dell's compliance statement, the company attempts to embed strong data protection and compliance mechanisms into its offerings.

8. How segregated is our cloud data from another customer's, i.e., will lapses of security of another customer's cloud affect our cloud? (It typically won't, but asking the question will hopefully prompt the provider to better explain how your data is segregated.)

Dell Technologies APEX is not a public cloud, and as such, this question is not fully relevant.

9. Do you have documented data security policies?

Dell Technologies documents its thoughts and practices on security in several places:

10. How do you test your platform's security?

Many points about security and testing can be found in prior questions (e.g., 6 and 9). For further details, discuss this with a Dell Technologies representative.

11. What are your policies for security audits, intrusion detection, and intrusion reporting?

Dell Technologies APEX is not a public cloud, and as such, this question is not fully relevant. That said, Dell's implementation of VMware Cloud Foundation in some of its cloud technologies allows for setting up firewall rules, antivirus scanning and intrusion detection in their hybrid cloud.^[8]

12. What data logging information is kept and acted upon in relation to our data?

Dell Technologies APEX is not a public cloud, and as such, this question is not fully relevant.

13. How thorough are those logs and can we audit them on-demand?

Dell Technologies APEX is not a public cloud, and as such, this question is not fully relevant. However, in its Dell Technologies APEX Services Terms of Service (presumably for its SaaS services), Dell does mention that it^[9] :

monitors and collects telemetry data relating to Your use thereof. Dell may collect certain information related to the Service Offering through a telemetry collector (“Collector”). Such information may include, without limitation, diagnostics, configurations, usage data, performance, deployment location information, and system information sent to Dell automatically by Dell’s systems and tools (“System Data”).

However, it's not clear if customers can audit this data on-demand. Consult with a representative to learn more.

14. For HIPAA-eligible data (e-PHI) we may have, will you sign a business associate agreement?

Dell Technologies APEX is not a public cloud, and as such, this question is not fully relevant. That said, it's worth noting that the Dell Technologies APEX Services Terms of Service actually mentions HIPAA, stating "If Customer is subject to the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) and Customer has not executed a Business Associate Agreement (“BAA”) with Dell for the APEX Service, Customer acknowledges that the Dell BAA ... applies to Dell and Customer for the APEX Service."^[9] As such, if data and information governed by HIPAA gets stored on Dell Technologies APEX machines, it sounds like yes, a business associate agreement will be signed.

15. What happens to our data should the contract expire or be terminated?

The company states in its Dell Technologies APEX Services Terms of Service the following^[9]:

If Customer has elected to terminate the Dell APEX Service at the end of Customer’s Subscription Term, Customer will have thirty (30) days from the time Dell notifies Customer and Customer’s Dell Channel Partner, as applicable, of its intent to pick up the Dell APEX System, or if no notice is provided, then thirty (30) days from the last day of the Subscription Term, as applicable, within which to delete Customer Content from the Dell APEX System. If the Subscription is terminated prior to the end of the term, Customer will have thirty (30) days from the time Dell notifies Customer and Customer’s Dell Channel Partner, as applicable, of termination, within which to delete Customer’s Content from the Dell APEX System.

For more clarity, discuss this with a Dell Technologies representative.

16. What happens to our data should you go out of business or suffer a catastrophic event?

Presumably, if Dell goes out of business, you may have to return equipment, but not without first being able to back up data from that equipment first. You'll have to clarify this with a representative. As for catastrophic events: "To the extent that Dell has any liability for loss of Customer Content, Dell will only be liable for the cost of commercially reasonable and customary efforts to recover the lost Customer Content from Your last available backup."^[9] Read the Terms of Service and discuss with a representative to confirm.

17. Can we use your interface to extract our data when we want, and in what format will it be?

As a hybrid solution, you should be able to extract data at whim to another private of public cloud location.

18. Are your support services native or outsourced/offshored?

It is unclear if support personnel are local to the customer or if support is outsourced to another business and country. Discuss this with a Dell Technologies APEX representative.

Managed security services

Dell doesn't appear to explicitly advertise "managed security services." Dell does, however, offer a standard managed services portfolio through its Dell Technologies Managed Services offering.^[10] One of the offerings in that managed services portfolio is "Dell Technologies Managed Detection and Response Pro Plus." Dell describes these services as a "fully-managed, 360° security operations solution [that] helps you prevent and respond to attacks and recover if a breach occurs."^[11] This managed service is described as having four components: agent rollout assistance, thread detection and investigation, response and active remediation, and remote cybersecurity incident response.^[11]