It seems that Hardware business is dominated by Software giants. First, IBM shifted to software business then HP bought service provider EDS in 2008 to further strengthen its position as a solutions provider, and now comes Dell Inc’s $3.9 billion buyout of Perot Systems Corp. The deal reflects largest personal-computer maker’s ambitions in the computer services industry. The deal marks a deliberate strategy from Dell to add IT services expertise to its mostly products business. Texas-based Perot Systems currently employs over 23,000 people globally. It has 8,500 people in India at Noida, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore and Hyderabad.

The company focuses on various verticals like Manufacturing, Logistics, Healthcare, Telecom, Government, BFSI, Engineering services and BPO. Once the acquisition will be complete, Plano, Texas-based Perot will become Dell’s services unit, and will be headed by Perot’s current CEO, Peter Altabef.

“Dell has been very gradual embarking on its services strategy and Perot offers something that can be complementary to the Dell business and at the same time, it is very digestible and integrate-able” says Dane Anderson, research vice president at Gartner. Most analysts believe that the deal is going to benefit India in the long-term as it is an important part of the both Dell and Perot’s global strategy. Both the companies have considerable presence in the country.

Over the years, the role of IT services has changed dramatically in the global technology space and services like IT infrastructure and other software services – has been in demand. Perot Systems would add consulting and other computing services, such as “Systems Integration,” to Dell’s business lineup. The merger will give Dell the strength to compete with the likes of IBM, Accenture, HP, Cognizant and Indian technology services providers such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro.