Why do some big mergers succeed while others fail? This seems to be a common question, and some of the research I’ve read about the Dell-EMC merger tries to connect it to the HP-Compaq merger, which apparently cost Carly Fiorina her job. I covered the HP-Compaq merger at length, and I was not a fan. I actually spoke to Compaq’s CEO and argued he should pull out to save his firm. There are some interesting backstories here that I think will provide color for the Dell-EMC merger.
Hi,
Nice article - still good to get details of such big moves.
However, I'm really disappointed by the end of the article.
HP did 129 acquisitions and you only highlighted the PALM one(which I still regret so much but in that context it's a pure buzzword) and you don't evoke the EDS, Aruba, 3COM, Scitex, Peregrine, Mercury ... and most of all lefthand & 3PAR acquisitions that definitely can be compare to the EMC merger in term of portfolio integration & challenges...
So for sure they won't follow HP "Compaq - 2002" tracks to merge with EMC but i'm definitely awaiting how they can beat HP in portfolio harmonization through acquisitions.
HP uses the more common method of ramming firms together and they are still gutting EDS, they eliminated most of the folks at 3Par who persevered that firm's culture, the top networking folks I knew have mostly left, same with security. The problem is the method. Which was why IBM created the method Dell uses, we realized it just didn't work.
Hi,
I definitely agree that not everything rolled well but do you truly believe that you can keep several different firm cultures into one (especially with the strong HP culture)... If you can look to the bright side EDS propulsed HP in the outsourcing services world, 3Par made them leader in the storage business, 3COM gave them a reason to still compete agaisnt cisco and peregrine & Mercury pushed them at the 5th rank of software editor (which is completely crazy for a pure HW company). I'm still awaiting on how Dell will deal with this huge merge - Hope they will take the good from HP past acquisition and not the bad.
Loading ...
Why Dell-EMC Won’t Follow in HP-Compaq’s Footsteps
Posted by: Rob Enderle October 26, 2015 05:00 AMWhy do some big mergers succeed while others fail? This seems to be a common question, and some of the research I’ve read about the Dell-EMC merger tries to connect it to the HP-Compaq merger, which apparently cost Carly Fiorina her job. I covered the HP-Compaq merger at length, and I was not a fan. I actually spoke to Compaq’s CEO and argued he should pull out to save his firm. There are some interesting backstories here that I think will provide color for the Dell-EMC merger.
Nice article - still good to get details of such big moves.
However, I'm really disappointed by the end of the article.
HP did 129 acquisitions and you only highlighted the PALM one(which I still regret so much but in that context it's a pure buzzword) and you don't evoke the EDS, Aruba, 3COM, Scitex, Peregrine, Mercury ... and most of all lefthand & 3PAR acquisitions that definitely can be compare to the EMC merger in term of portfolio integration & challenges...
So for sure they won't follow HP "Compaq - 2002" tracks to merge with EMC but i'm definitely awaiting how they can beat HP in portfolio harmonization through acquisitions.
I definitely agree that not everything rolled well but do you truly believe that you can keep several different firm cultures into one (especially with the strong HP culture)... If you can look to the bright side EDS propulsed HP in the outsourcing services world, 3Par made them leader in the storage business, 3COM gave them a reason to still compete agaisnt cisco and peregrine & Mercury pushed them at the 5th rank of software editor (which is completely crazy for a pure HW company). I'm still awaiting on how Dell will deal with this huge merge - Hope they will take the good from HP past acquisition and not the bad.