Dell Acquires Scalent and Improves its Own Data Centers

Like any well-to-do PC maker, Dell makes a point of being at least as prominent on the enterprise front as it is on the consumer market. As such, it is on a constant lookout for ways to increase its portfolio of intellectual property (IP). Buying patents is, of course, one option to achieve this goal. The other is to acquire a company and integrate its own patent portfolio into its own. The PC makers seems to have done just that by acquiring Scalent.

Scalent is a company based in Palo Alto and specializes in software that let IT specialists manage both virtual and physical resources of data centers. The main goal that Dell attained through the deal is the access to AIM, the Advanced Infrastructure Manager that allows a single administrator to dynamically allocate storage, network and, of course, compute resources for physical and virtual workloads. Needless to say, such direct control will significantly boost overall productivity. The deal should close by the end of the ongoing month.

“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.”

“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,” he concluded.