Dell is planning to launch a European IT services programme targeting small and medium-sized firms "within weeks". The offering, which represents the direct PC manufacturing giant's first foray into outsourced services in Europe, will see Dell offering its customers packages including IT maintenance and data centre support.

In an interview yesterday with Financial Times Deutschland , Kevin Libert, director of enterprise systems at Dell, said the project will kick off in before the end of the month.

Dell move to extend its Internet-centric business model to higher margin services appears to be part of a broader strategy of diversification. It comes hot on the heels of Michael Dell's announcement last week that the firm he founded will branch out and begin producing non-PC devices including flat-screen televisions, film projectors and digital media players. ®