Dell Makes Another MSP Move

Michael Dell must be feeling aggressive. Less than a month after acquiring Silverback Technologies — a managed service platform provider — Dell is paying $340 million to acquire a company that specializes in automated asset management.

Dell’s latest target is ASAP Software, which offers Web-based software for asset inventory, software license compliance and software usage. Hmmm. At this rate, Dell will have a full suite of hosted and managed services by the end of 2007.

During CompTIA’s Breakaway conference in Las Vegas earlier this week, several VARs predicted that Dell would fumble away key opportunities in the MSP market. The VAR Guy disagrees. The Silverback deal was a smart move. And the ASAP acquisition is intriguing.

Businesses — and their VARs — certainly want tools that can allow them to better manage and meter software licenses. Chances are, Michael isn’t done spending…