Dell Software

Dell Software, a division of Dell Inc., is a multinational provider of IT solutions with headquarters in Round Rock, Texas.^[3] Dell Software was created after Dell Inc., the third-largest maker of PCs and now a privately held company, built out its software offerings to provide end-to-end solutions for data center and cloud management, information management, mobile workforce management, security and data protection for organizations of all sizes.^[4]

History

Dell Inc. formed the Dell Software group in February 2012, after a series of 37 acquisitions strengthened the company’s focus on software and services.^[5] The new group helped unify the acquisitions, which included the following companies, among others:

• KACE Networks, specializing in computer appliances for IT systems management and software for security, application virtualization and systems management products. KACE solutions specialize in software inventory and distribution, operating system deployment, and mobile device management. On February 10, 2010, the company acquired KACE Networks a leader in Systems Management Appliances. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.^[6]

• Boomi, makers of AtomSphere, on-demand integration technology that uses pure SaaS technology to connect any combination of SaaS, cloud and on-premise applications without needing to install and maintain integration software or appliances.^[7] On November 2, 2010, Dell acquired Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) integration leader Boomi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.^[8]

• AppAssure Software, which developed a series of backup solutions for Windows and Linux servers. The AppAssure solution provides global deduplication, overall reduced recovery time, enhanced scalability, and granular object-level recovery for both files and application-level objects, such as emails. On February 24, 2012 Dell acquired backup and disaster recovery software solution provider AppAssure Software of Reston, VA.^[9] AppAssure delivered 194 percent revenue growth in 2011 and over 3500% growth in the prior three years. AppAssure supports physical servers and VMware, Hyper-V and XenServer. The deal represents the first acquisition since Dell formed its software division under former CA CEO John Swainson. Dell added that it will keep AppAssure’s 230 employees and invest in the company.

• SonicWALL, creators of various internet appliances primarily directed at content control and network security. Solutions include devices and services for managing network firewalls, unified threat management (UTM), virtual private networks (VPN), backup and recovery, and anti spam systems for email. In March 2012, USA Today said that Dell agreed to buy SonicWall, and the acquisition was completed 9 May 2012.^[10] A company with 130 patents, SonicWall develops security products, and is a network and data security provider.^[11]

• Quest Software, the makers of Toad (software), a productivity tool used by millions of database professionals. Quest also produced products that help develop, manage, monitor and protect packaged and custom software applications. On July 2, 2012, Dell announced that it was buying Quest Software.^[12][13][14] The acquisition was completed on 28 September 2012^[15]

• Enstratius, providers of a cloud-computing infrastructure-management platform that addresses governance issues associated with deploying systems in public, private and hybrid clouds. More than 20 public and private clouds are supported, as well as configuration management tools such as Chef and Puppet. The Enstratius platform supports both SaaS and on-premise deployment models.

• StatSoft, a provider of advanced analytics solutions that help organizations better understand their business, predict change, increase agility and control critical systems.^[16] With capabilities for data mining, predictive analytics, desktop data modeling, and data visualization, StatSoft enables users to forecast trends, identify sales opportunities, explore “what-if” scenarios, and reduce the occurrence of fraud and other business risks.^[17] StatSoft was founded in 1984^[18] and was acquired by Dell in March 2014. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.^[19]

On March 5, 2012, John Swainson became president of Dell Software. Previously, Swainson was Senior Advisor to Silver Lake Partners, a global private equity firm. Prior to Silver Lake, he was CEO and director of CA Inc., from early 2005 through 2009.^[20] The purpose of forming the new group was to build on Dell’s software capabilities and provide research and organizational support for achieving Michael Dell’s vision of delivering end-to-end IT solutions to customers.

Michael Dell started PCs Limited in 1984^[21] at the age of 19.^[22] In its first year, the company grossed $73 million. By 1988, Michael Dell was running a global, publicly held^[22] company with the new moniker Dell Computer Corporation. In 1992, Michael Dell became the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Over the years, the company achieved success selling computers directly to consumers online. By 2003, with the company rebranded as today’s Dell Inc., product offerings had expanded beyond PCs to include additional electronic and IT devices.^[23] In 2013, Dell Inc. went private after shareholders approved a $24.9 billion buyout that would allow Michael Dell to, “…continue building Dell into the industry’s leading provider of scalable, end-to-end technology solutions.^[24]”

Solutions

Dell Software offers software solutions in five key areas:^[25]

• Data center and cloud management
• Information management
• Mobile workforce management
• Security
• Data protection

Data center and cloud management solutions help speed deployment and simplify IT management for evolving data centers. These solutions assist organizations adopting virtualized and cloud-based computing models with IT modernization by supporting a range of cloud platforms and automating key management tasks for applications, performance, virtualization and Windows servers.^[26]

Information management solutions enable businesses to better manage complex and big data, simplify data access, improve application and data integration, increase productivity, and improve business and data analysis. Dell Software solutions integrate with most legacy systems and provide secure tools for understanding customer data, improving business performance and identifying new opportunities.^[27]

Mobile workforce management solutions help streamline the deployment of desktop virtualization and offer secure remote connection. Mobile users can access organization resources from any location. Security protects devices and corporate networks from a range of threats, and endpoint management systems centralize IT admin tasks.^[28]

Connected security software solutions help organizations manage risks and security compliance holistically, including identity and access management, network defense, remote access, endpoint control and email protection. Solutions span from the endpoint to the data center to the cloud, helping thwart advanced persistent threats (APTs), cybercriminal activity, spam, malware and loss.^[29]

Data protection software and appliances offer customized backup, replication and recovery systems for physical, virtual, application and cloud environments in any size of organization. Solutions provide efficient management tools for enterprise backup and recovery, virtual protection, application protection and disaster recovery. In addition, the solutions help businesses prevent intrusions, block malware and gather application intelligence.^[30]

References