EMC`s acquisition of 26 companies in the past three years may appear arbitrary, but it is part of a long-term strategy, says John Pomeroy, the UK-based regional VP for the EMC software group.
"EMC`s double-digit growth for several consecutive quarters is proof that we are following the right strategy, but although we are a long way in and have already spent around $10 billion on acquisitions, there is still some way to go," he told customers and partners attending a briefing session in Sandton yesterday.
Frank Touwen, CEO of EMC SA, said although EMC was spending over $1 billion a year on research and development, the company would continue to use the cash pile at its disposal to acquire any intellectual property required to deliver a complete information infrastructure.
"Although EMC still supplies the fastest storage systems in the market, software is an important part of the company`s overall strategy, accounting for around $3.5 billion of the company`s total global revenue of $11 billion," said Touwen.
Pomeroy said EMC`s focus on achieving and maintaining leadership in information infrastructure was based on the evolution of market demand away from single applications, to systems capable of managing the rapid growth in data volumes and types, particularly in the past five years.
He said companies were facing the challenge of making more information of different kinds available to more applications throughout the organisation. They also have to ensure the secure storage and rapid retrieval of information to meet regulatory requirements.
Information complexity
"With the complex expansion of information at around 70% a year, companies are increasingly looking for an information infrastructure that will allow them to store any asset of information from any application according to set information lifecycle management policies," he explained.
Wrapping up the briefing session, Touwen emphasised EMC did not intend to take all the recently acquired technology and product lines in-house.
"While some companies, like Legato, have been folded into ESG, others like VMWare will continue to function almost independently through experienced partners and distributors to maximise market reach," he said.
However, Touwen said several larger customers had asked for EMC to be the single point of contact across the entire range of products in its stable. "We are managing our way through that."
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