The Dell EMC combination, the largest in the IT market to date, closed on September 7, 2016. There was a great deal of excitement and angst leading up to this from the market, customers, and partners. It was well known that Dell assumed a great deal of debt and would have to sell off or spin off some of its assets. This raised questions on what would stay, what would go, to where and what would the go-to-market strategy be for those transitioned assets. Some of the details have been released such as the Dell Software Group being sold to Francisco Partners and Elliott Management, and will operate as two stand-alone businesses – Quest and SonicWALL. It is important to note, Dell EMC will retain key software assets including but not limited to VMWare, RSA, Boomi, etc. HP is making a similar but different type of move to spin out HPE’s Application Delivery Management, Big Data, Enterprise Security, Information Management & Governance and IT Operations Management businesses holding 50.1% of the deal it has inked with Micro Focus.
The new combined company has been very busy working behind the scenes to let both EMC and Dell partners know they are a key asset the company intends to keep close. The company will run the two channel programs (Dell and EMC) in parallel, planning for a combined program unit in the new Fiscal year stating February 1, 2017. With a keen eye on preserving its assets and the competitive landscape, Dell EMC extended the FastTrack program to EMC partners shortly after the acquisition was finalized. This will allow EMC’s top partners to join the Dell program with their current top-tier status receiving all the benefits out the gate. This includes pricing, discounts and MDF, which are currently made available to top Dell partners. Neuralytix applauds this move. It shows the partners where they stand. Equally important, it sends a warning shot over the bow of the ship to competitors such as HP, open hunting for partners is not only over, Dell EMC is stopping it before it could start.