Dell to acquire InSite One, boost offerings for health care industry

Dell said today that it will acquire InSite One, a cloud-based medical archiving company.

For Dell, the acquisition will make the company that much more attractive in the health care industry by not only allowing a more efficient way to store and access health care data but also to eliminate the technological obstacles that have kept medical professionals from sharing images with other professionals as they diagnose and treat diseases.

The company said it plans to integrate InSite One's software and storage services with Dell's existing Unified Clinical Archive offering. Because the technology is cloud-based and vendor neutral, medical professionals will be able to access and share images regardless of the technology used on either end.

The health care industry is one that Dell has been targeting. Earlier this year, Larry Dignan spoke to Dell's team about how the Streak - as opposed to smartphones or the iPad - is a better product for those working in the health care industry and how the Streak is poised for success there, even if it's a consumer flop. In that post, Dignan wrote:

Dell’s approach will be to use the Streak as part of a broader portfolio and make it part of an integrated IT package of hardware, software and services. In this scenario, doctors may initially drool over the iPad, but the chief information officer and hospital administrators may favor mobile devices in an integrated bundle that can work in a heavily regulated environment.

Sure, the acquisition makes Dell that much more attractive to health care professionals. But it also gives Dell a storage-as-a-service platform to archive digital content for companies in other industries, as well - either on a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis. In a statement, Dell said:

By moving archiving to the cloud, Dell can further reduce the overall cost of data storage and retention for hospitals, freeing up resources for critical business objectives and for improving the delivery of healthcare. InSite One’s data migration and recovery/backup services will also simplify the transition to the cloud for customers and ensure that information is managed safely and securely.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.