Dell Is Ready to Go Public Again. But Has it Really Changed?

Dell Technologies is going public again, five years after going private to transform itself amid slowing personal computer sales. Dell has certainly changed in those years, but it needs to change even more if it doesn't want to find itself back in the same position.

Since going private, Dell has invested heavily in expanding its business selling hardware, software, and services for data centers. In 2016, it paid a record breaking $67 billion for the storage hardware giant EMC, including EMC’s stakes in business software companies VMware and Pivotal, which will remain independent. In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Dell now describes itself as “a strategically aligned family of businesses.” One thing hasn't changed: Founder and CEO Michael Dell owns a controlling stake in the company.

The EMC deal helped Dell withstand slowing sales of personal computers. In its fiscal year ended Feb. 2, revenue in Dell’s “Client Solutions Group” was slightly less than three years earlier. But revenue in the “Infrastructure Solutions Group,” which sells to businesses, more than doubled, as did Dell’s overall operating-segment income.