EMC's Howard Elias On Prospects For Winning New Customers After Dell Merger: 'Bingo!'

The top EMC executive in charge of integrating the data storage giant with Dell is taking aim at other vendors in the industry, saying the combined Dell-EMC will draw customers that did not work with either vendor previously.

In a blog posted to EMC's employee intranet, Howard Elias, EMC chief operating officer and co-leader of the Dell-EMC integration, said a recent study indicates that more than half of customers that don't currently work with either Dell or EMC expect to do so once the two companies finalize their $67 billion merger later this year.

An excerpt of Elias' blog was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

[Related: Dell's Regional Sales Reorganization Allows Partners To 'Work More Closely' With The Vendor]

Elias said an ESG survey of customer perceptions conducted in late January came to that conclusion. Customers, Elias wrote, "think the combined Dell-EMC has incremental new value."

"When asked what factors would prompt these non-customers to move to Dell-EMC from their current IT provider," he wrote in the post, "technology innovation and end-to-end service and support were among the responses most frequently mentioned. Bingo!"

"There is even more upside with non-customers and underpenetrated accounts and great potential for our sales teams," Elias said.

Partners say Elias and the survey he's quoting seem to both be right.

"Most customers we're engaged with see value in the merger, absolutely," said Dan Serpico, CEO of FusionStorm, a San Francisco-based Dell and EMC partner.

Stephen Monteros, vice president of business development at Sigmanet, an Ontario, Calif.-based Dell and EMC partner, said Elias' note is a good way to signal that the merger, which is strategically and financially complex, is on track.
"It tells me the deal continues to move forward," Monteros said.

Dell announced its intention to acquire EMC in October. At $67 billion, it would be the biggest IT industry acquisition in history and create a privately held, $80 billion powerhouse. The deal is expected to close between May and October.

Both Dell and EMC have made adjustments to their channel partner programs in recent weeks. Dell's reworked its sales organization around a regional structure while EMC readjusted its partner program to provide greater incentives to more entry-level partners.

Elias and Dell Chief Operating Officer Rory Read are spearheading the firms' integration efforts.

"Based on some of the very early work by the revenue/market capture team, … I am even more excited than ever about the growth opportunities we have ahead of us," Elias said in the blog.