Dell, the world's third-largest computer maker, is moving ahead with a solid growth strategy for its enterprise information technology (IT) services in emerging markets in another effort to offset shrinking computer sales.
Thailand is among the top 10 emerging markets for Dell to put more investment, said Philip Davis, the vice-president for enterprise solutions in Asia-Pacific and Japan.
Globally, average IT spending growth stands at 2.9% annually, while Thailand's IT spending is expected to grow by almost 10% this year fuelled mainly by cloud, big-data and security systems.
Mr Davis said up to 350 million employees are expected to use smartphones by 2016, with 200 million using their own devices to connect with companies.
IDC, a global research firm, predicts the big-data market will grow by 31.7% to US$23.8 billion over the next three years.
After transforming from a personal computer (PC) maker to an IT solutions provider five years ago, Dell has acquired 18 companies worth $10 billion.
Dell's enterprise service revenue accounts for one-third of revenue and half of the group's profit, Mr Davis said.
Matthew Johnston, the Dell Software Group's managing director for South Asia, said Dell set up a software group in April 2012 to boost business growth. Enterprise software generated $1.5 billion in revenue.
He said the proliferation of smartphones and tablets has increased mobile data traffic for organisations, so they need to invest more in applications and software.
Anothai Wettayakorn, Dell's managing director for Indochina, Asia-Pacific and Japan, said Dell plans to bid for the second phase of the state's electronic government cloud service after winning the first phase.
The company also plans to participate in the auction for the government's One Tablet per Child scheme to provide 40,000 tablets.
Despite the country's economic slowdown, Mr Anothai said it has no effect on enterprise IT spending due to the low penetration rate of only 20% for PCs in Thailand.