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To: Boplicity who wrote (5219)	11/20/2000 9:09:58 PM
From: tfrugal	Respond to of 10934

Off the top of my head, I would guess that an end to end solution would be a powerful selling point. Dell is a well managed co, and I think they will do well. The question remains: Does NTAP have any storage related expertise/solutions that no other player has? If so, how long can they keep it from the other players?

To: Boplicity who wrote (5219)	11/20/2000 9:13:03 PM
From: Uncle Frank	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10934

>> Along the way they could develop the software savvy. Granted, and they could grow wings, too. But nothing in their corporate history or corporate culture shows that they have any expertise in software. Their success has been based on being a low cost of fulfillment box maker. Dell can surely make low cost raid boxes, but the margin is in the value added, and here they most likely fall on their faces. jmho, but remember that I was a dellhead, too. uf

To: Boplicity who wrote (5219)	11/20/2000 10:00:31 PM
From: pinhi	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10934

Oh exactly. That's why one would have to be concerned IMHO. I would never short Michael Dell. He may be successful in storage and maybe not. He maybe successful and NTAP at the same time due to expanding market-I have know clue. But I will be watching closley-Hell I watched it go from 152 to 61. BTW, what is bowler? Pinhi

To: Boplicity who wrote (5219)	11/20/2000 10:42:54 PM
From: DownSouth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10934

Greg, all Dell did to win the Navy contract is provide commodity products (PC's and servers) at a lower price than anyone else. That what Dell has always done. Dell is not a "standard". The PC and server architecture of WINTEL is the standard. The NMCI contract provides a way for the NAVY to buy these standard platforms and services to support them. The words "standardize on Dell" came from Michael, not the Navy. This contract does not show how far Dell has come in the food chain! These contracts used to be won by tiny 8(a) firms that built this stuff in rented warehouses! And they sold 100's of millions of dollars worth of PCs and servers. What it shows is that the Dell has come a long way in its mfg capacity and is willing to sacrifice margin to use that capacity. By the way, the biggest PC contract every let 'til this one was a DoD contract to Sperry (Unisys). How far are they on the food chain as a result? BTW, building the most powerful PC's in the world on the world's biggest, most efficient assembly line will not teach you a damn thing about software, except for the supply chain software that you need to run the operation. I really think you should sell or short NTAP and go long Dell IF you really mean what you are saying.