Dell Dives Into SaaS

April 28, 2008: Dell has wound up its US$155 (AU$) million acquisition of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) specialist MessageOne, fulling a large part of its new strategy to use SaaS applications and remote management tools to deliver configure-to-order IT infrastructure services over the Internet.

MessageOne focussed on enterprise-class e-mail business continuity, compliance, archiving and disaster recovery services, and alongside its acquisition, Dell has also picked up SilverBack Technologies, Everdream Corp., and ASAP Software Express. This combination of companies and the infusion of their technology will help Dell build an integrated service delivery platform of SaaS applications, enabling it to remotely monitor, maintain, troubleshoot and address the majority of routine IT infrastructure issues.

Dell expects that services such as patch management, anti-virus, online backup and recovery, asset tracking, software license management and e-mail continuity delivered and managed over the Internet will reduce the cost of infrastructure management.

“Companies currently spend 70 percent of their IT budgets maintaining their current infrastructures and dealing with routine issues,” said Steve Schuckenbrock, president of Dell Global Services.

“We are building a services supply chain that integrates the world’s leading SaaS-based technologies to simplify the purchase, delivery and management of IT infrastructure services for companies and improve its price/performance.”

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