Kathy Gibson reported from the Dell Executive Forum in Limpopo: In South Africa, all regulatory hurdles ahead of Dell’s acquisition have been cleared, and the local operation is ready to proceed as soon as all global conditions have been met. This is according to Doug Woolley, GM of Dell SA, who says that the Competition Commission has already cleared the acquisition, making South Africa one of the first countries ready to proceed.
The anticipated data for the official merger is still 1 February 2017, he adds, and the leadership structure has been defined.
The merged organisation will consist of three business units: the enterprise business, that talks to the global top 500 customers; the commercial business, which looks after the bulk of the sales and customers; and the consumer business.
“In addition, Dell has committed to the product roadmaps that exist currently,” Woolley says. “There is no intention to deviate off product roadmaps.”
For instance, he points out, the company recently signed another five years with Cisco on the VCE solutions.
“We will maintain all the products as long as there is customer demand, and for as long as support is required,” Woolley adds. “This gives customers a sense of comfort that we are not going to ditch any products, but will continue to develop and support them. So there is longevity in the products and the markets.”