At first glance, EY (formerly Ernst & Young) is working with EMC Corp. to push deeper into midmarket managed services. But take a closer look and you'll find EY engaging the broader EMC Federation on a range of fronts. The move is particularly significant as Dell and EMC decide which technologies to retain -- and which offerings to potentially sell off -- as part of their pending $67 billion business combination.
Dell is expected to complete the EMC buyout between May and October 2016. In an SEC filings, the two companies say they are considering the potential sale of various assets. Already, Dell is rumored to be selling its IT services business (the former Perot Systems) to NTT Data for about $3.5 billion, but negotiations for that deal appear to be ongoing. Also, some experts speculate that EMC wants to sell its RSA security business.
What Is The EMC Federation?
EMC certainly has a range of assets across multiple IT sectors. The EMC Federation of companies includes:
- EMC
- Pivotal
- RSA
- VCE (now called EMC Converged Platforms Division)
- Virtustream
- VMware
As part of EY's alliance with EMC, EY has exploring deeper go-to-market relationships with each alliance member, according to Francis Nemia, EY's global sponsor for the EY/EMC Alliance. In fact, EY met with VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger at the recent RSA Conference in California. “The alliance strategy looks across the entire Federation of offerings — and explores opportunities around each aspect of the Federation,” Nemia told ChannelE2E earlier this week.
Statements like that reinforce EMC's vision for the federation, countering some Wall Street pundits who claim EMC's multi-company investment strategy is disjointed and poorly aligned with the company's core storage business.
The big question: Can EMC inspire more global system integrators and channel partners to engage across the EMC Federation of companies?
Next Dell-EMC Milestones
It's a safe bet some answers will emerge at EMC World 2016 in May. By that time, Dell and EMC may line up financing for their merger, And in fact, the merger may be completed in time for the conference.
Also by EMC World, it's a safe bet the company will decide which assets to keep and which assets, if any, to sell. While channel partners seem upbeat about the Dell-EMC business combination, they need clarity on EMC's long-term IT bets.
