I have one thing to say to MacBook users at EMC: Whoops

EMC/Dell deal Here are a few of my thoughts on Dell's announcement that it plans to buy EMC.

1. In a world where IT companies have been busy splitting themselves up – think HP, Symantec, IBM all divesting from server business – it seems a brave move to build a new IT behemoth.

2. However, some of the restructuring already announced hints at a potential split in how Dell does business. Dell Enterprise will now be run out of Hopkinton and using EMC’s Enterprise smarts in this space.

3. Dell has struggled to build a genuine storage brand since going its own way; arguably its acquisitions (Compellent, EqualLogic, and so on) have under-performed.

4. VMware is already under attack from various technologies. VMware being under control of a hardware server vendor would have been a problem a decade ago but might be less so now because people have more choices for both virtualising heritage applications and cloud-scale. VMware absolutely now has to get its container strategy right.

5. EMC can really get to grips with how to build its hyper-converged appliances and get access to Dell’s supply chain.

6. That EMC has been picked up by a hardware vendor just shows how hard it is to transition from a hardware company to a software company.

7. A spell in purdah seems necessary for any IT company trying to change its business model. Meeting the demands of the market seems to really hamper innovation and change. EMC was so driven by its reporting cycle, I think it drove very poor corporate behaviours.

8. All those EMC guys who transitioned away from using Dell laptops to various MacBooks… oh dear...

I doubt this is yet a done deal and expect more twists and turns. But good luck to all my friends working at both companies. ®

For full coverage of Dell's EMC buy, click here