Friday March 8, 9:18 pm Eastern Time
WSJ:Dell Computer To Boost European Tech
Consulting Staff
By: Gary McWilliams, Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
AUSTIN -(Dow Jones)- Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) will "significantly" boost its technical consulting staff in Europe this
year in a bid to expand its network server business in Europe.
Russell L. Holt, Dell's vice president of enterprise systems, said his unit's hiring this year is concentrated in technical
consultants who help customers design new computer and disk-storage projects.
"It's where the bulk of our head count (additions) is being added along
with our EMC (Corp. storage) push," he said. Holt would not disclose
the number of new positions being created. The consultants provide
technical assistance to customers planning large computer and storage
installations.
(This story and related background material will be available on The
Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)
Holt said the company expects its share of server sales in Europe to
expand as a result of its recent agreement with storage developer EMC
Corp. (EMC), of Hopkinton, Mass. Under the agreement, Dell sells
EMC storage products along with its servers.
International Data Corp. Friday said Dell continued to hold the leading share of U.S. network server shipments in the fourth
quarter. It estimated Dell at No. 1 with a 28% share of those shipments, compared to 25% for No. 2 supplier Compaq
Computer Corp. (CPQ).
In Europe, Dell has about a 10% share of network servers, well behind arch- rival Compaq, he said. "We are seeing growth
there but not the accelerated growth we'd like to see," said Holt.
Holt said since Dell began selling EMC storage products in January, sales of big-ticket servers have increased. "In two-thirds
of Dell-EMC wins that I've seen we've also had a server pull with it. We're seeing 8-way and 4-way [ servers] going with"
the storage sale, he said.
Share gains in Europe, the second largest market for network servers, is key to taking the international share crown away
from Compaq. "We think we have a shot at it this year," said Holt.
IDC said Compaq was No. 1 in worldwide network server shipments in the fourth quarter with a 26.4% share, compared to
Dell's 19.2% share.
-By Gary McWilliams, The Wall Street Journal; 713-547-9206
(This story was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires) |
