There has been a lot of chatter within the MSP channel community of late and I'm hearing quite a few opinions related to Dell and their purported plans to go private. Add to this mix the rumors that Microsoft might be getting involved and you've got some pretty interesting things taking place in the MSP community.
Why go private?
The Dell move makes sense, if only from a financial perspective. Dell's stock hasn't been doing all that great recently and competitive challenges from other sectors, most notably cloud computing, could be forcing the PC manufaturer into despartate measures. Yes, the US stock market has been taking a beating over the last few years and laws like Sarbanes-Oxley do not make it any easier for publicly traded companies to exist and thrive. Hence, the desire to go private.
Going into the completely unfounded world of speculation here, there have been rumors going around that Microsoft is interested in funding the buyout of Dell. If this is true (and the numbers being discussed are accurate), Microsoft's stake in a private Dell corporation could make the software company one of the largest shareholders in Dell. If I was a MSP I might be interested in this relationship.
Microsoft & Dell
Yes, a Microsoft stake in Dell makes perfect sense. Microsoft would have a strong position to influence its own software and technology in Dell products and services and be able to offer Dell a competitive edge that few other tech companies possess. The obvious target behind this move would be Google.
Again, for the last several years of the "cloud era", Microsoft, Google, and others, have been engaged in an all out turf war that has transcended channel politics. Cloud computing has left the channel behind in some regards. Now that technologies like the cloud are out there for all consumers and businesses to see, tech giants like Microsoft and Dell are likely to be less concerned with what the channel (most notably MSPs) think.
Now, I know that if you asked the channel managers of these companies they would continue to say that they are 100% committed to the success of their channel partners. What MSPs have learned is to watch what they do, not what they say. And so they should do with this deal.
