There is no denying that there has been a lot of press buzz around the announcement of Dell’s acquisition of EMC; in fact, it’s been touted as the biggest technology deal in history.

But given the uncertainty of the newly combined entity’s market strategy, even the staunchest EMC loyalists can’t ignore the need to develop a contingency plan – one that should include identifying alternative technology partners and establishing a multi-vendor strategy.

While most of us in the industry tend to think of it as simply “the Dell-EMC deal,” it’s actually more accurate to think of it as the purchase of EMC by both Dell and its financial partner Silver Lake, a private equity and venture debt firm (here’s a Bloomberg profile of Silver Lake). Vendor consolidations tend to be disruptive for customers at the best of times – key executives move on, often to competitors; trusted product lines disappear; channel partners and resellers seek new supplier relationships. But in a private equity deal the turmoil can be much exacerbated. All eyes are on whatever can boost cash flow; all strategies turn inwards, as the organization works to decide what goes and what stays. By the time the company can turn once again to external realities, like rebuilding customer relationships, things have moved on, and the recovery period can be protracted.

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