Dell's Acquisition of Compellent Technologies for $800 million

In February 2011, Dell successfully completed its acquisition of Compellent Technologies, Inc. Compellent is a leading provider of innovative storage solutions on the web with automated data management capabilities. The shareholders of Compellent also agreed on the terms of the acquisition during a stakeholders meeting.

The acquisition will allow Dell to broaden its storage solutions portfolio with Compellent Fluid Data technology through which Dell will be able to scale and manage more date in its enterprise and cloud date centers. By doing so, Dell will also expand its PartnerDirect channel program that will help its partners to improve their customer services. With the acquisition, Dell has established a new Storage Forum to provide better data management services and solutions to its users.

Dell’s acquisition of Compellent is looked upon by many as a strategic investment to gain a competitive edge in the market by expanding its popular, enterprise storage portfolio. It will allow Dell to make it possible for its customers to better manage their data, reduce costs associated with data storage and streamline IT infrastructure more easily.

By using a powerful data movement engine, Compellent Fluid Data technology provides innovative solutions that can decrease the storage costs as much as 80 percent. It also has intelligent software and brilliant hardware functionality that makes it even more useful to the customers. The advanced Fluid Data technology comprises of block-level intelligence that transfers the data to the relevant tier for optimal working and maximum cost effectiveness. Another reason for Dell’s acquisition of Compellent is that it offers an open design that can be integrated with any application and infrastructure easily. This allows users to work on a single platform without needing any upgrades. Yet, the biggest advantage of Compellent is that it has a Copilot Support backup that is unique and resolves problems automatically, even before they take place.

We can safely presume and predict that after the acquisition Dell will acquire Compellent’s technology to build a storage program unlike any other we have seen so far in the industry by working with its partners on new developments. Most surely, Dell will offer the best of what both companies have to offer, such as creating a new registration program that will combine the best features of both companies’ channel deal registration programs. What remains to be seen is what plans Dell have to improve the customer relationship it will make after selling the storage solution.

The acquisition has also helped Dell to expand its upcoming Dell Storage Forum 2011, which now features Compellent solutions and channel partners. While previously EqualLogic User Conference and Compellent C-Drive were held under different banners, these were merged into a single conference. It will feature keynotes and training sessions related to Dell storage portfolio, and will provide valuable information and resources to customers.

The acquisition happened with Dell paid $27.75 per share in cash to Compellent for a total equity of almost $940 million. The net cash value of Compellent is equivalent to $800 million, which also include shares Dell holds at closing.

On the acquisition, Dell’s Product Group vice president, Brad Anderson said that Dell is committed to invest in areas that assist customers in their data growth and management operations, and the acquisition is a step towards achieving that goal.

This article has been written by Nitin Aggarwal from Offshore Ally. His company is a leading provider of skilled virtual assistant and SEO link builders online. Connect with him via Twitter.