Dell's Data Migration Service Will Raise the Bar on Dedicated Server Providers

Allan Leinwand, who used to be Digital Island's CTO, says he's intrigued with Dell's upcoming data migration service. Later this year, customers will be able to securely transfer not just their documents/photos/videos/songs - but also programs, drivers and settings from their current computers - to Dell's storage portal. Dell will install everything on their new machines during the manufacturing process, reducing migration hassles to opening a box.

Allan thinks other vendors should follow Dell's lead. Wouldn't it be cool to get a new Tivo that's pre-configured with your current settings? A new GPS that's pre-loaded with your frequently used addresses? A new cellphone with your contacts and calendar items ready to go?

Allan's post reminded me of the same conversation I had over and over while I worked at EV1Servers. At least once a day, a customer will say he wants to upgrade to a different server. We can move all of his stuff over, right? Right? With no down time??

I hated dashing their hopes. And if Dell's data migration service takes off, you will no longer be able to get away with saying no. Customers will increasingly take for granted that contents of Machine A can auto-magically be transported to Machine B without requiring them to lift a finger.

That's another disadvantage of standalone dedicated servers. Think about it... Is it easier to resize someone's entire infrastructure with a few clicks - or spend forever troubleshooting why code from their ancient Celeron won't run on a Quad Xeon? Because thanks to Dell, you - rather than the customers - will be doing the work.