Dell expands reach with Perot buy

Dell's acquisition of Perot Systems for $3.9 billion, say analysts, will give the former an enlarged footprint in India, as well as give both companies a chance to diversify, while making Dell a services' powerhouse, globally and in the country, too, reports Business Standard.

Perot Systems is relatively small, with $2.7 billion in sales, whereas Dell is a much bigger, $54 billion company. Dell, in a statement, said this would mean a better positioning of the company. It can provide a broader range of IT services and solutions, extend the reach of Perot Systems' capabilities, and supply Dell computer systems to even more Perot Systems customers.

Dell's service globally is largely centred on its (dwindling) hardware/infrastructure sales, while Perot Systems is a provider in infrastructure services and outsourcing. Dell needs to shore up its sagging revenues, while Perot acquires an enviable international client base.

Large Indian IT firms such as TCS, Wipro, and Infosys have reported a momentum in new outsourcing contracts in the past few months, reflecting an improvement in the global IT spending environment, says The Hindu Business Line.

The contract wins are more prominent in verticals such as energy and utilities, healthcare, retail and telecom, while banking and financial services - the largest spender on IT - also seems to be opening up slowly.

A majority of the recent contracts have emerged from the non-US markets, mainly in Asia-Pacific and Europe. The Indian vendors are also seen benefiting from the recent vendor consolidation exercise at large IT spenders such as BP, Telstra and Aviva, among others.

Due to an increase in the outsourcing of supply chain processes and systems, organisations are losing visibility at a time when agility and responsiveness are a must for the customer-driven supply chain, experts warn, according to Procurement Leaders News.

"Manufacturing and demand-supply networks are continuing to grow in complexity. Because of this complexity, it has become difficult for companies to stay informed and in control of every stage of the supply chain life cycle," said Viktoriya Sadlovska, Aberdeen Group analyst.

"At the same time, these organisations are working to move towards a more customer-driven supply chain. Therefore it is critical for companies to better align their outsourcing and customer-service efforts to attain agility and enable better responsiveness to minimise supply chain risk."