Dell to Acquire Scalent

Dell Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire Scalent Systems, Inc., a private company that provides software that makes data center infrastructure dynamic, scalable and efficient.

Dell will integrate Scalent technology into its Advanced Infrastructure Manager (AIM) solution. Subject to customary closing conditions, Dell expects to complete the acquisition in its second fiscal quarter.

Dell AIM simplifies data center management by enabling a single administrator to dynamically allocate compute, storage and network resources for physical and virtual application workloads. This solution enables dynamic deployment and repurposing of infrastructure without the need for physical server, cable or storage area network changes. The solution has built-in high-availability, helping organizations manage infrastructure failures without service disruption. Dell AIM works with industry-standard servers, Ethernet switches and Fibre Channel switches, allowing customers to transition quickly to a highly-dynamic data center using existing infrastructure investments. This open architecture enables customers to leverage their existing infrastructure, dramatically lowering the cost of implementation relative to other industry solutions.

"Scalent provides a critical building block for our Virtual Integrated System, the most open, capable and affordable converged infrastructure solution available," said Brad Anderson, Dell senior vice president, Enterprise Product Group. "This acquisition will solidify an important component of our enterprise solution portfolio. We know that Scalent software, in combination with Dell servers, storage and network platforms, provide increased efficiency and value for our customers. Scalent’s open architecture is an example of Dell’s ongoing commitment to provide customers with solutions that don’t lock them into proprietary hardware or gateways."

"Scalent brings an open, software-based approach to managing virtual infrastructure," said Benjamin Linder, CEO of Scalent. "We are very excited about bringing our talented team of professionals into Dell and look forward to Dell’s investment into accelerating our innovation curve."

Dell’s new solutions and flexible services free customers to capitalize on the ‘Virtual Era’ of the technology industry and realize new levels of efficiency, with a goal of reducing data management costs by up to 50 percent and making room in budgets for the strategic investments they need to make now. Dell’s Virtual Integrated System brings together an end-to-end solution of state-of-the-art servers, storage, networking, software and management tools to work as one dynamically configurable entity that is open and pragmatic. The result is rapid deployment and responsive infrastructure that helps businesses respond to customers’ and employees’ changing needs. Dell’s solution is a distinct alternative to the closed nature of competitors’ proprietary and vertically integrated stacks.

"Blackboard trusts the operations of its managed hosting business to Dell AIM. As a happy Scalent and Dell customer for numerous years, I am excited to see Dell’s acquisition and look forward to seeing the technology evolve within Dell," said Jonas Hirshfield, vice president of Infrastructure Technology at Blackboard Inc., in enterprise technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and learners around the world every day.

"We wanted an end-to-end data center solution from a company that can offer open solutions. We picked Dell because of its commitment to open standards, which provides us greater flexibility in our operations as we migrate between generations of multi-vendor hardware at the storage and network layer in the future. Dell AIM gives us one operational management platform to utilize all servers, storage, and networking in a simple, easy-to-use resource pool," said Peter Yang, Chief Systems Architect, Regional Technology Center of the Santa Clara County Office of Education.