A Great Deal for Dell

If there is one recent happening
which raised the eyebrows of many in the channel community, it would
be Dell's venture into the networking industry. By foraying into
the networking industry, Dell has created many expectations among the
channel community. Also, with the acquisition of Force10, another
leader in networking, Dell has once again scored on its acquisition
strategy. THE DEAL The acquisition of Force10 was Dell's latest
investment to broaden its networking port folio to deliver its
virtual network services infrastructure. Through Force10, Dell took
an open and integrated approach to data center solutions. Similarly,
Force10 solutions sup port open, standards based systems, and
management tools. They provide enter prise perfo rmance and
resiliency while reducing overall total cost of ownership and
simplifying network deployment. Dell expects the transaction to be
accretive to earnings in the second half of the next year and plans
to hire several hundred new team members in engineering, sales and
marketing, and services jobs at Dell Silicon Valley and Chennai R&D
centers. Dell Force10's technology allow customers to transform net
work infrastructures into an open, reliable, and scalable data center
and cloud computing fabric. With the combination of Force10 and
Dell's current PowerConnect portfolio, the company now offers a
comprehensive switching strategy for data center, enterprise and
campus/branch environments.

WHY FORCE10?

“The Force10 product portfolio
runs on an open, modular net working opera ting system-a stable,
resilient, and extensible soft ware plat form, which provides common
management functionality and a common user inter face across pro duct
lines. It sup ports policy-driven automation. Adding essence to that,
Force10's history of product innovation and technology leadership
in data center networking is complementary and very much aligned to
Dell's networking strategy,” said PA Sathyaseelan, executive
director, enterprise solutions, Dell India. He further added,
“Networking is a key component to Dell's data center solutions
approach. It is the logical third component to the company's
industry leading server and storage portfolio. Force10's industry
leading products and technologies will greatly enhance Dell's
existing enterprise data center solutions.”POST-

AQUISTITION TRANSFORMATIONS

The employees of Force10 Networks
were inte grated into Dell, including its existing operations in San
Jose, California and its R&D operations in India. With the
combination of Force10 and Dell's current Power Connect portfolio,
the company now offers a comprehensive switching strategy for data
center, enterprise, and campus/branch environments.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

Asked about what impact this
acquisition will have on the networking industry across the globe,
Sathyaseelan answered, “Dell believes that data center is the
central connecting point for users to access the information they
need to run their businesses. Whether the data center architecture is
that of a traditional data center or a cloud environment, users can
demand access to their data and applications anytime, anywhere. Data
center net working is going through a significant transformation to
meet the needs of end users, applications, virtualization, and IT
administrators.”

He fur ther added that to address
the changing market scenario, Dell has developed a differentiated net
working strategy. Dell's Virtual Network Services Infrastructure
(VNSI) enable changes in a data center network at the speed of the
business. VNSI directly addresses a simpler, more open net working
environment, that is easier to view, manage and control, and one that
can scale for requirements for today and for the future.

FOR THE CHANNEL COMMUNITY

As with past acquisitions of
Compellent and EqualLogic, Dell is committed to maintaining and
growing the existing Force10 channel program. Dell will offer its
channel partners, an opportunity to join Dell's current
PartnerDirect program which will enable them to preserve investments
made with Force10 Networks. The new enhanced structure for channel
partners is designed to expand their abi lity to deliver value for
their customers and reward their investments in key Dell solutions,
while helping partners drive business growth. The new pro gram
features a new structure with increased rewards for certification and
training, including new rebates for premier partners, expanded deal
registration terms, financial incentives, and marketing and technical
assistance. The new structure rewards education and training,
positioning partners for long-term success with Dell solutions.

DAYS AHEAD

The company now has the strongest IT
solutions portfolio in its history. Dell has under taken a
significant transformation to leverage its leadership position in the
hardware business to become a meaningful player in the solutions
market. Dell is clearly focused on delivering long-term value crea
tion, balancing profitability and growth through focus on 3 key
areas-next-gen computing solution and intelligent data management,
services, security and cloud and end-user computing.

CHANNEL VOICE

Even though the acquisition has been
grabbing headlines, many partners, even some key opinion leaders have
refused to comment on the issue terming it as an organizational
decision. “It is a good move by Dell. However, I think there will
not be much impact on the channel community,” said Y Srinivasa Rao,
MD, NEcX, Hyderabad. “It seems that Dell has found more potential
in networking sector. However, I do not think that it will have a big
impact among the channel community,” said Manoj Rathi, a partner
from West Bengal.