Dell Buys Cloud Client Computing Company Wyse To Expand Desktop Virtualization Products

Dell has just announced the acquisition of cloud client computing company Wyse Technology to expand its desktop virtualization offerings. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Wyse portfolio includes thin, zero and cloud PC client solutions with advanced management, desktop virtualization and cloud software supporting desktops, laptops and next generation mobile devices. Wyse independently partners with datacenter, networking and collaboration providers within its global partner ecosystem to help businesses move to a secure cloud in a private, public, government or, even in a personal cloud.

Source: TechCrunch

As Dell Shifts To Software & Services, Announces Plans To Buy SonicWall

Computer manufacturer Dell announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement that will allow it to acquire SonicWall, a security vendor specializing in firewalls, network security and data protection. The move will help Dell round out its security solutions portfolio, the company reports, which currently includes Dell’s SecureWorks security services, cloud security solutions, data encryption solutions and Dell KACE vulnerability and patch management.

The acquisition is more than just a “beefing up” of Dell’s security line up, though – it’s representative of a shift in Dell’s overall strategy as a technology firm.

The move comes shortly after last month’s announcement regarding the formation of a new Software Group within the company, designed to enhance Dell’s solutions capabilities. Dell hired John Swainson to serve as President of the Group. Swainson, whose background includes over 26 years at IBM, and 4 years as the CEO of CA, Inc., took the position on March 5th – only a week ago. And boy, did he move fast.

Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, SonicWall is no small potatoes. In 2010, it was bought for around $717 million led by private-equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC.

Founded in 1991, SonicWall got its start selling Ethernet cards, hubs and other networking equipment. It later shifted into firewalls and VPN appliances for the SMB market and went public on NASDAQ back in 1999. Today, SonicWall has 300,000 customers in 50 countries, 950 employees and a channel program with 15,000 retailers, which Dell plans to integrate into its own PartnerDirect program. When the deal closes in Dell’s Q2 2013 (early August), resellers from both Dell and SonicWall will be about to sell the enhanced security line up.

SonicWall also has over 130 patent apps, with 64 issued to date, which Dell rightly states as another reason why the acquisition has value.

Explains Swainson in a release, “SonicWALL gives Dell access to unique intellectual property resources and technology that position us well in fast growing parts of the software security business.”

Dell also told Wall St. this morning that SonicWall had approximately $260 million in revenue over the last 12 months, and it expects the acquisitive to be accretive to earnings in the second half of its fiscal 2013.

The acquisition, beyond being an attempt to beef up Dell’s security portfolio, is also indicative of a bigger shift for the computer maker – a move to software and services boosted by acquisitions, with a special focus on business customers. The change is reflective of an overall shift in computing, and especially in personal computing, which is a decreasing part of PC manufacturers’ business, and Dell’s in particular. In Dell’s last earnings call, the company noted that in its consumer business, revenue was down 8% year-over-year and client growth was down 6% in the same time frame.

Companies that once made their bread-and-butter putting PC’s in every home – Dell, HP, and IBM, for example – are now moving towards high-margin software and services to make up for the fact that consumers are now using mobile devices and Apple computers in increasing numbers

(Sources - http://techcrunch.com)

Spending on Security Companies Booming, PwC Finds.

By John E Dunn, techworld.com Dec 4, 2011 10:10 pm

The $60 billion global computer security industry has become a hot sector for a range of investors, including mainstream IT companies, aerospace, defense giants and private equity, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) analysis has reported.

With the exception of the recessionary year of 2009, the last three years has seen an M&A mini-boom with spending on security companies rising every year to reach record heights in 2011, which has already recorded $10.1 billion of deals.

This figure was exaggerated by the huge $7.8 billion Intel paid for McAfee in February, but there have been other notable deals in the current year including the $612 million Dell paid for SecureWorks, and Raytheon's $490 buy of Applied Signal Technology.

The rationale for buying security companies varies from sector to sector. Defense contractors want to diversify as military spending is constrained by financial deficits in many NATO countries, while rival tech companies simply see security as a lucrative element to add to their portfolios.

Private equity and the wider investment community, meanwhile, have simply noticed the sudden interest in security companies and turned up to reap some of its rewards.

Publically-quoted security companies have also benefitted, seeing their price earnings multiples range from the humdrum 14.1 for mature businesses such as Symantec to as much as 51 for smaller companies Fortinet and Sourcefire.

PwC sees no letup in the interest in security on the back of a predicted growth rate in spending on the industry's products of close to 10 percent per annum for at least the next three to five years.

Even with a possible second recession in three years, underlying trends almost guarantee this growth; security is playing catch-up against threats that have evolved more rapidly than people thought likely only half a decade ago.

"Growing threats and awareness, and changes in technology such as mobile devices and cloud computing are key drivers of spending growth in the cyber security market," said PwC's Barry Jaber.

(Source - http://www.pcworld.com)

See more like this: online security, intel, McAfee, dell, mergers

Dell goes networking, acquires Force10.

By Larry Dignan | July 20, 2011, 4:53am PDT

Summary: Dell said it will wrap Force10’s networking gear into its data center portfolio, which features servers, storage and services.

Dell said Wednesday that it will acquire Force10 Networks as it aims to move into networking.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

In a statement, Dell said it will wrap Force10’s networking gear into its data center portfolio, which features servers, storage and services.

The big picture here is that servers, storage and networking are increasingly being bundled together. And on the networking front, it appears that every hardware vendor is nibbling at Cisco Systems. Cisco entered the server market with its Unified Computing System. HP responded by buying 3Com and hurting Cisco margins. Cisco is cutting costs and jobs to deal with the new market realities. On Tuesday, Intel said it planned to buy Fulcrum Microsystems, a fabless chip company that makes Ethernet fabrics. Now Dell is buying Force10.

Simply put, every tech vendor is looking to create these data center building blocks of storage, servers and networking for cloud computing.

Force10 has almost $200 million in annual revenue. Dell characterized the Force10 purchase in the same mold as Compellent and EqualLogic. The plan is to take the technology and products and move it through Dell’s sales channels.

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