Something must be going right between Dell and EMC with both companies agreeing to extend the length of their storage partnership.

The vendors did not muck around with fanfare or too much self-promotion in announcing the deal on Monday and with good reason. Extending a storage reselling agreement can only be so exciting.

Dell signed on with EMC in 2001 to help both companies carve out a wide channel for midrange networked storage systems. The original agreement had Dell selling EMC's Clariion systems through 2006.

Now, both sides have agreed to ship on through 2008.

The relationship continues to have obvious benefits. It gives Dell a strong line of storage gear with minimal research and development costs and helps EMC scratch on the door of mid-sized companies - not its usual forte.

Dell has even taken on some manufacturing duties, building the cx200 system that sits at the bottom of EMC's Clariion line.

It will be interesting to see how the arrangement works out over the next five years. The software market is consolidating more and more with each passing moment . Should the hardware market collapse in similar fashion - as in times past - then Dell and EMC may be even closer chums. ®