Dell buys cloud software firm Enstratius

Dell said Monday it had acquired cloud software firm Enstratius as part of the computer maker's efforts to diversify and reduce its dependence on the slow-growing PC segment. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The announcement comes with Dell seeking to go private in a buyout plan led by company founder Michael Dell. The Dell board is also considering an alternative plan led by corporate raider Carl Icahn. Dell said in a statement that the acquisition of Enstratius "further enhances Dell's end-to-end solutions strategy, bringing key capabilities to deliver cloud-management solutions to our customers." Enstratius helps companies manage more than 20 public and private cloud platforms, including OpenStack, VMware, Rackspace, Amazon Web Services and Windows Azure, according to the statement. "As enterprises increase their use of public, private and hybrid clouds, the need for controls, security, governance and automation becomes more critical," said Tom Kendra, vice president and general manager for systems management at Dell Software. "Dell, together with Enstratius, is uniquely positioned to deliver differentiated, complete cloud-management solutions to enterprise customers, large and small, empowering them with the efficiency and flexibility in the allocation and use of resources." The Dell board is still reviewing the buyout plan to take the firm private in a $24.4 billion deal. Icahn would inject an additional $5 billion into Dell, paying $15 per share for up to 58 percent of Dell shares. Another offer from the Blackstone Group was withdrawn last month.