Dell steps up customer support in Asia

PENANG, Malaysia--You can expect more from Dell, including better enterprise customer support and a wider selection of non-PC products, CEO Kevin Rollins said.

Speaking at the launch of a new support facility for enterprises on Thursday, Rollins said he plans to expand in the region.

His expansion plans include bolstering the company's manufacturing capacity in Penang, Malaysia, and introducing a wider range of its non-PC products, such as televisions, in Asia.

The new enterprise command center in Malaysia offers support to Asia-Pacific enterprise customers who have bought Dell's server and storage products. Dell estimates that these customers, located in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, own about 250,000 systems in all.

The center's services include monitoring of news and weather events, and providing crisis management support.

The newly-launched center is Dell's fifth such facility worldwide and the third in the Asia-Pacific region, after China and Japan. The other two centers are located in the United States and Ireland.

Headcount for the region is also set to increase, noted Stephen Felice, Dell's vice president for the Asia-Pacific region and Japan, who did not offer any estimates. Dell currently employs 19,000 people in the region.

Vivian Yeo reported for ZDNet Asia from Penang, Malaysia.