Enterprise,<<<So, do you think Dell can successfully move up the food chain, to the Enterprise?>>>
I think IA64 is a done deal - nothing can stop it. Michael Dell and DELL is on board. No one and nothing can mess it up - not even Intel, Greenspan, the elections or the economy. IA 64 has a life and thrust of its own.
The question for both Intel and DELL is how to leverage it.
I think Craig Barrett is on the right track, but he is only the CEO. He doesn't own Intel. He works for a company that is not named after himself. He still has to take it to the Board of Directors and he still has succession issues. Personality wise, Craig Barrett has very little in terms of distractions. For me, the stockholder, even his little ranch is too much of a distraction - time away from his work.
Michael Dell, on the other hand, can do pretty much what he wants. On the one hand that is a tremendous advantage, but on the other hand, I share GVTucker's concern about Michael Dell's personality development. Can he overcome all the trappings of power that comes with such early success in life and the inevitable loss of touch with reality and with his business? DELL's great run can only be sustained if there is a visionary with a driving and unrelenting focus.
To think that you could do it on the cheap - dabble in a number of other very interesting pursuits - and leave the unpleasant stuff to underlings - is not realistic.
Mary |
