Lenovo Data Center Group Further Accelerates Telecommunication Infrastructure and Internet of Things Focus

• Expansion of new telecommunication (telecom) and Internet of Things (IoT) segment focus announced, following highest Lenovo Data Center Group revenue quarter in two years

• Lenovo unveils two integrated solutions for operators capable of providing a robust backbone for virtualized networks: Lenovo Reference Architecture for NFV and Intel Select for Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Program at Mobile World Congress

• Lenovo to showcase the industry’s first centralized scaling of C-RAN for 5G base station implementation in collaboration with China Mobile

• New executive hires and appointments to further enhance Lenovo data center momentum

Lenovo announced an expansion plan to deliver customer-centric, disruptive software-defined solutions to support telecom and IoT infrastructure. Building on the momentum of the highest revenue quarter in two years, Lenovo Data Center Group (DCG) continues to accelerate its transformation journey to develop customer-centric innovation and disrupt the status quo of expensive legacy solutions.

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Lenovo has seen significant progress as it shifted its data center focus to meet the needs of hyperscale customers, high performance computing (HPC) customers and enterprise customers by accelerating their cloud and artificial intelligence initiatives with the latest technologies – resulting in new levels of operational simplicity. The next phase of the transformation is focused on the telecom infrastructure and global IoT requirements.

“Lenovo is accelerating our telecom and IoT plans based on strong global customer demand,” said Kirk Skaugen, executive vice president and president of Lenovo Data Center Group. “Our goal is to earn customers’ trust as the world’s most trusted data center and communications infrastructure provider, unencumbered by the protectionism seen from providers driving proprietary and expensive legacy solutions. We are also thrilled to be hiring some of the best talent in the industry with a focus on expanding on our position as #1 in x86 server customer satisfaction and reliability.”

The expanded Lenovo telecom organization will focus on creating joint innovation platforms to deliver customer-centric solutions, building on Lenovo’s unparalleled expertise in reliable standards-based hardware. As 5G deployment plans further solidify across the globe, Lenovo will build and partner on NFV hardware and software solutions based on The Open Compute Project and other standards.

In the newly created IoT division, Lenovo will help customers turn their traditional end-points into smart and connected devices, transforming them into analytical engines to further drive productivity and efficiency. Lenovo will focus on embedding server-class equipment in IoT solutions to enhance connectivity and build a set of edge platforms that can analyze massive amounts of data for real time decision making – all while tightly aligning with system integrators and other Lenovo partners to bring full vertical solutions to market.

Telecom and IoT Software-Defined Solutions at Mobile World Congress
At the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Lenovo is unveiling a performance optimized offering based on Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650/SR630 servers and switches, Red Hat OpenStack, and Mellanox ConnectX-4 NICs for accelerated packet processing. In addition, Lenovo is joining the ‘Intel Select Solution for NFV’ program and offering a solution specially optimized for encryption and compression based NFV workloads. The solution is comprised of Intel QuickAssist Technology (QAT) and Intel XXV710 NIC enabled on Lenovo SR650/SR630 servers.

“Lenovo’s leadership and adoption of Intel® Select Solutions is enabling rapid prototyping and deployment of next generation communication services, enabling increased opportunities and higher customer value,” said Sandra Rivera, senior vice president and general manager of the Network Platforms Group at Intel Corporation. “Our collaboration with Lenovo will encourage the adoption of Intel® Select Solutions for NFVI and will speed time to market while offering a verified solution configuration that is optimized for performance capability.”

Leveraging its #1 position in x86 server reliability*, Lenovo will also demo the industry’s first 5G-ready base station with software and virtualized implementation of the centralized and distributed units (CU/DU) – made possible through customer-led, joint collaboration with China Mobile.

Demonstrations of Lenovo’s ‘device to datacenter’ solutions can be seen at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 26 – March 1 at the Lenovo Showcase in Hall 3, Space 3N30. In the Intel booth, Lenovo will showcase a ‘self-optimizing 5G network’ solution based on Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 servers.

Executive appointments enhance data center momentum
Building on the strong bench of recent hires, effective March 1, Robert Vrij joins Lenovo as senior vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) president and head of worldwide global accounts including global communication service providers for Lenovo Data Center Group. Vrij was formerly the CEO of Alcatel Lucent Americas and Alcatel Lucent EMEA, and CEO of Openwave Systems. Most recently, Vrij was responsible for leading Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s company sales across the Americas. Robert’s expertise and telecommunications background will help accelerate solutions to meet customer needs across EMEA and in building deeper relationships with our service provider and channel customers. He will also be responsible for the strategy and growth for DCG channel partners, leveraging his extensive relationships at the senior level.

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Wilfredo Sotolongo has been appointed the new vice president of the IoT segment for Lenovo Data Center Group. With over 32 years of experience in the IT industry, Sotolongo has held numerous worldwide leadership positions at both Lenovo and IBM. His deep customer mindset and experience will be critical to Lenovo’s further growth in customers’ IoT solutions needs.

Since joining Lenovo in May 2017 to lead the data center infrastructure business, Kim Stevenson has played a critical role in Lenovo’s transformation journey. Stevenson will expand her role by overseeing all data center business segments, including these expanding focus areas of telecom and IoT. Prior to joining Lenovo, Stevenson was the COO of Intel’s client, IoT and system architecture group followed by holding the Intel CIO position for six years.

Renée Ure has joined Lenovo as vice president of global supply chain for Lenovo Data Center Group. Ure joined Lenovo from IBM where she was most recently vice president of global operations and integrated supply chain. She oversaw a staff of 7,000 professionals in 50 countries. Ure is a natural disrupter with an exceptional ability to build and empower global teams. She will harness the Lenovo team to ensure a secure and vertically integrated supply chain, and further grow from Lenovo’s current position as a Gartner Top25 Supply Chain company.

Beverly Crair will take an elevated role as vice president of product development and quality for Lenovo Data Center Group. Crair commands over 30 years of expertise in developing and leading teams to build sophisticated mission-critical systems. Prior to joining Lenovo in August 2017, Crair held numerous leadership positions at Intel where she was vice president of the storage group as well as strategic software initiatives. Crair is focused on designing solutions for a seamless customer experience and overseeing quality assurance and product development across all Lenovo Data Center Group segments. She replaces Tom Shell who has recently retired after a long and successful Lenovo career.

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