Dell completes Quest acquisition in enterprise software push

Dell has completed its acquisition of Quest Software, making the software company a division of the PC maker.

The PC making giant continues to vie for the enterprise market with a range of business intelligence, and systems and security management software.

The deal, which had been on the cards for some months, according to analysts, closed at $28 a share, or $2.4 billion, in July. The price tag was approved by Dell stockholders on September 25, 

Dell still expects to report about $1.2 billion in annual revenue, despite the hefty price tag on the Quest purchase.

Quest provides a range of software solutions -- including databases and cloud storage services -- which Dell wants to bolster its offering the PC customers in its enterprise market. But the human capital in the acquisition is also key; the Quest purchase hands over more than 100,000 customers and 5,000 partners to Dell, along with 1,500 sales and marketing resources and 1,300 software engineers, according to Dell's Tom Kendra in a blog post.

The purchase will form the "kernel" of Dell's software business. Dell already has a range of software acquisitions, such as SonicWall and AppAssure, but Quest remains the jewel in the crown of the PC maker's enterprise software strategy by offering BYOD-ready policies, mobile applications and virtualization, and software deployment services. It's the package deal Dell is now offering, rather than the PC-and-go strategy most others dish out.

Until more recent figures emerge, Dell is pegged at fourth in the global worldwide PC vendor list by shipments according to comScore, while IDC puts Dell at third place. HP remains on top, while Lenovo is still expected to take the market leader crown if PC sales by the traditional vendors continue to stagnate across the board.