Dell Inc. (DELL) unveiled an expanded global alliance with
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) in which the companies will introduce a new
enterprise infrastructure offering that provides the computer
maker's customers with access to Oracle's technology.
Dell, the struggling computer maker that plans to go private in
a leveraged buyout transaction, has been striving to compete
aggressively to retake some of its lost share in the market for
personal computers and servers.
The companies also plan to streamline customer-support offerings
to provide a single point of contact from Dell. The company expects
the integrated offering will be available in the second half of
this year.
Oracle President Mark Hurd said the partnership "is an extension
of Oracle's engineered systems strategy where we simplify IT and
reduce integration costs by delivering hardware and software
together."
Marius Haas, president of enterprise solutions for Dell, said
the company "is growing fast in the data-center and gaining market
share across the world in our three core businesses. In part, this
success is due to the fact we are focused on building and
optimizing Dell infrastructure."
Further terms weren't provided.
The alliance was announced at the company's enterprise forum,
where Dell also highlighted some of its new enterprise
offerings.
Dell shares were up two cents at $13.47, while Oracle was down
by two cents at $34.38 in recent trading.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@dowjones.com
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