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Dell Confronts Consulting Envy

If you're a large IT hardware vendor, you just have to have a large IT consulting arm. IBM built its own over the decades, HP bought its way into consulting with EDS, and now Dell is joining the crowd by buying Perot Systems. (H. Ross Perot is batting two for three here!)

I may not find consulting terribly interesting, but as systems get more complex, it's awfully important.

Dell actually is the easiest hardware vendor to understand. Where IBM and HP have multiple lines, both proprietary and open, Dell pushes a singular Intel-compatible PC and server architecture augmented mostly by standard third-party products. This should make the work of Perot consultants relatively simple and straightforward.

What do you look for in a consulting company? Any success or horror stories? Send 'em my way at [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on September 23, 2009


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