Dell and Perot Systems Merger: Moving from the Desktop to the Cloud

This week’s main merger news—Dell’s $3.9 billion cash deal for Perot Systems—caused a flurry of discussions in our Pioneers’ group, since Perot Systems’ CTO, Jim Stikeleather, is one of our Ur-Pioneers. (Jim hosted our first 2-day Patty’s Pioneers’ meeting in the early 1990’s.) Of course, Jim couldn’t comment on the news, but we all had fun speculating about how the combined Dell/Perot Systems combination will transform Dell’s business (and the computing landscape). My take: Dell and Perot Systems will make a powerful combination as they shepherd clients into the brave new world of cloud computing powered by Dell hardware. Many of Dell’s customers are Linux-friendly and cloud-aware.  Perot’s services business is well-positioned in healthcare and government to reap the bounty of the U.S. government’s current obsession with health insurance “reform.”