Published: 27 January 2017
Summary
The Dell-EMC merger has short- and long-term implications for I&O leaders in the areas of converged systems and storage. I&O leaders should insist on additional details about the company's roadmap and portfolio-rationalization plans before developing their integration plans and storage strategies.
Included in Full Research
- Dell EMC's short-term priority is to preserve and grow its existing product portfolio, which will minimize portfolio rationalization disruption for I&O leaders, but portfolio reduction is inevitable
- Many I&O leaders' IT greenfield, upgrade and replacement infrastructure needs will be addressable by the combined vendors' strengths from integrated systems
- I&O leaders need a migration strategy and contingency plan as Dell EMC promotes its native benefits in the longer term, potentially reducing partner enthusiasm and introducing channel conflicts
- The combination of the Dell and EMC storage portfolios may slow I&O leaders' development of a clear and defensible long-range, go-forward storage infrastructure strategy until Dell EMC publicly clarifies its storage product development and rationalization plans