Dell exec: Too soon to comment on job cuts, but Israel an important hub

Both Dell and EMC have major operations in Israel, which continue to run independently while $67 billion sale is pending.

By NIV ELIS
Updated: NOVEMBER 12, 2015 22:41
The Dell logo [Illustrative] (photo credit: REUTERS)
The Dell logo [Illustrative]
(photo credit: REUTERS)
As long as the Dell-EMC merger remains incomplete, Dell cannot say whether the deal will lead to job cuts in Israel, Aongus Hegarty, Dell’s president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told The Jerusalem Post.
The $67 billion sale, which will be the largest tech acquisition in history if it is approved, will push Dell’s focus more heavily from PC and device sales to server, memory and services. Both Dell and EMC (which includes sister companies RSA and VMware) have major operations in Israel, which continue to run independently while the sale is pending. Whether the acquisition will lead to a consolidation remains unclear.
“We are in an acquisition phase, so all we can do in a kind of clean-room environment is do some planning,” Hegarty said. “We’re clearly not in a position to articulate what the strategy will look like until we get through the acquisition” EMC Israel general manager Erez Tzur told the Post that Dell’s and EMC’s respective development centers in Israel don’t overlap tremendously, and there should be little concern over large-scale personnel changes.
Hegarty also noted Israel’s importance to both companies, meaning that even a consolidation would not preclude future growth.
“This is a key location for us for development,” he said, adding that Israel is “the most significant hub of innovation” in the region, [and] “that will continue to be critical to our success going forward.”
In particular, he said, Israel is producing a lot of innovation around connected devices, known as the Internet of Things, focusing on sensors, embedded technology and analytics.
Hegarty said he was impressed by the wares on display at Israel’s booth at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
“I spent a couple of hours there,” he said. “I probably could have spent two days there.”As long as the Dell-EMC merger remains incomplete, Dell cannot say whether the deal will lead to job cuts in Israel, Aongus Hegarty, Dell’s president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told The Jerusalem Post.
The $67 billion sale, which will be the largest tech acquisition in history if it is approved, will push Dell’s focus more heavily from PC and device sales to server, memory and services. Both Dell and EMC (which includes sister companies RSA and VMware) have major operations in Israel, which continue to run independently while the sale is pending. Whether the acquisition will lead to a consolidation remains unclear.
“We are in an acquisition phase, so all we can do in a kind of clean-room environment is do some planning,” Hegarty said. “We’re clearly not in a position to articulate what the strategy will look like until we get through the acquisition” EMC Israel general manager Erez Tzur told the Post that Dell’s and EMC’s respective development centers in Israel don’t overlap tremendously, and there should be little concern over large-scale personnel changes.
Hegarty also noted Israel’s importance to both companies, meaning that even a consolidation would not preclude future growth.
“This is a key location for us for development,” he said, adding that Israel is “the most significant hub of innovation” in the region, [and] “that will continue to be critical to our success going forward.”
In particular, he said, Israel is producing a lot of innovation around connected devices, known as the Internet of Things, focusing on sensors, embedded technology and analytics.
Hegarty said he was impressed by the wares on display at Israel’s booth at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
“I spent a couple of hours there,” he said. “I probably could have spent two days there.”