Dell acquires UK services specialist ACS

Dell has bought UK-based IT services company ACS to bolster its custom application and consulting capabilities.

The company hasn't disclosed the financial terms of the deal, beyond assuring shareholders that the purchase won't impact its results.

Nor has it provided any indication as to when the acquisition will be finalised, although it has confirmed that ACS staff will transfer to the employ of Dell once the deal is done and dusted.

ACS uses an application packaging technique that writes installation routines based on specific customer requirements.

Once the acquisition has gone through, Dell plans to add this methodology to its managed services portfolio.

"ACS is a highly respected specialist in providing application management and deployment services, and infrastructure consulting," said Stephen Murdoch, vice president of solutions and services for Dell in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

"...With the expertise we acquire with ACS, Dell extends its existing capabilities to support the full lifecycle of our customers' application deployments. By engaging earlier in the planning phases, we can help ensure critical changes such as Microsoft Vista migrations are well planned, designed and executed," Murdoch said.

The acquisition of ACS will boost Dell's business in the UK as the former boasts a number of high profile clients, particularly in the financial services arena, according to Eamonn Kennedy, research director at analyst Ovum.

"Although not the first, an acquisition by Dell is nonetheless a rare event, having consistently relied on organic growth generated by its 'Dell effect' over the years," he said.

Maggie Holland

Maggie has been a journalist since 1999, starting her career as an editorial assistant on then-weekly magazine Computing, before working her way up to senior reporter level. In 2006, just weeks before ITPro was launched, Maggie joined Dennis Publishing as a reporter. Having worked her way up to editor of ITPro, she was appointed group editor of CloudPro and ITPro in April 2012. She became the editorial director and took responsibility for ChannelPro, in 2016.

Her areas of particular interest, aside from cloud, include management and C-level issues, the business value of technology, green and environmental issues and careers to name but a few.