Dell’s planned acquisition of EMC, combined with the upcoming split of HP, highlights a problem that has faced enterprise IT since the beginning of the computing era.

The problem is the shifting focal point of the enterprise portfolio.  In the beginning, we had the centralized resources (mainframe, supercomputer, VAX, CDC, etc).  And the workflow, purchasing, manpower, etc were all centered around it.   Then we hit decentralized computing (minicomputers), distributed computing (UNIX), open source computing, mobile computing, and so forth. We have gone from proprietary OS to more standard OS to open source OS to mobile platforms and so forth.

Here is my point: we no longer have a central focal point, and the enterprise portfolio is now more diverse, more disseminated and from that point, harder to predict or protect. With cloud models and subscription pricing, we even go further down the decentralized path.

IT purchasing has been about decision making at a central point in the organization. And as computing has disseminated into the organization, the ability to sell and create profit as in the previous times has stumped the more centrally oriented IT salesforce. IT vendors need to reorganize themselves to look more like the portfolio of the enterprises they serve.

Just my humble opinion. #backseatdriver