Kevin Kettler told an audience at LinuxWorld that virtualisation and Linux was no longer such an odd combination.
"The two play to one another very strongly, particularly in the re-emerging trend of virtualisation," Kettler said.
Virtualisation software provides choice by enabling the creation of multiple virtual machines to run either Windows or Linux.
Kettler told the audience that pairing Linux and virtualisation to manage and consolidate enterprise data centres was something Dell was doing internally.
"Three thousand of Dell's own servers run Linux, including its mission-critical applications, such as the internal employee, supply chain and financial management systems," he said.