How "Dell Technologies" Will Challenge HP and Other Competitors

Independent consumers and channel partners alike are taking in the rebranding of Dell to Dell Technologies after its merger with EMC. The changeover is in some ways reminiscent of the recent HP rebranding — yet striking differences also exist.

One thing is clear. Whether you prefer old school branding, or appreciate the willingness of both companies to keep changing with the times, it’s helpful to know how each technology giant is currently organized.

The Dell Announcement

The May 2, 2016 statement from founder Michael Dell confirmed that Dell, founded in 1984, would be rebranding various components of the company. The move follows Dell’s acquisition of EMC Corporation, a storage and software giant. The sale, first announced in October 2015, will officially made EMC a subsidiary of Dell.

Under the new arrangement, the corporation as a whole will undergo a name shift from “Dell” to “Dell Technologies.” This new umbrella name reflects the combination of the original Dell with new acquisitions and brands — specifically, EMC, RSA, Virtustream, SecureWorks,VMware and Pivotal.

As a nod to the past, the Client Solutions divisions will be known as “Dell.” Michael Dell explained that the legacy of the one-word brand is best used for Client Solutions, calling the “brand equity” of the original name “irreplaceable.”

At the same time, the enterprise component of Dell Technologies and its acquisition, EMC, will now be known as “Dell EMC.” Enterprise computing systems offer businesses a customizable system for a broad range of needs, such as databases, cloud storage and spreadsheets, which can be programmed to work together.

In a letter to his employees, Michael Dell explained why the new division name reflects both of its originators. “Both companies stand for something very special to you and our customers. And our combination is absolutely about bringing together the very best of us both.”

The merger with EMC will officially bring to a close what was, at times, a bitter rivalry between Dell and EMC over the market for enterprise storage, and the competition for channel partners. The $67 billion deal is the largest of its kind in the technology world.  

The Importance of the Channel

According to Michael Dell, the rebranding and merger will position Dell Technologies to dominate the market, led by Dell EMC. That’s because each of the now-merging companies have particularly strong channel partners, including retailers, independent sales representatives, and distributors.  

Dell asserts that the combined power of Dell and EMC’s channel partner network is so vast that looking for a new customer base won’t be the focus for Dell EMC. Instead, the division will concentrate on retaining loyalty from, and demonstrating commitment to, those channel partners — so that as they grow, Dell EMC systems remain an integral part of their corporate planning.

Comparison to HP

Dell’s acquisition of EMC and other divisions, along with this new branding, represents an almost opposite approach to the one taken by the company commonly referred to as HP, according to their respective CEOs.

While Dell Technologies is growing under a single umbrella corporation, the former Hewlett Packard has been going in the opposite direction. In November 2015, the company officially split into two separate entities HP Inc. (generally known as HP)  and Hewlett Packard Enterprise  (HPE), both of which are publicly-traded.

HP currently makes hardware, including computers and printers. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, as the name suggests, focuses on the enterprise side of the tech industry, much like the now-merged Dell EMC.

The Bottom Line

Now that the waiting period for merger review is over, industry analysts are predicting that the newly formed Dell EMC will be a robust division. Forbes reasoned that, given that EMC already had about three times the market share on data storage system that HP had, that the infusion of Dell’s technology infrastructure with EMC’s vast enterprise foundation, will only gobble up more of the marketplace.

Ultimately, the moves over the last one to two years on the parts of both Dell and HP were meant to make them — in their new incarnations — stronger corporations. For businesses and individual consumers who already had good working relationships with either entity for hardware or software and storage systems, there’s no reason to believe that any of the divisions and rebranded businesses within the Dell and HP families will be going away any time soon.