Kodak is a case study in business, but unfortunately, not for the right reasons.

Kodak used to be the 800-pound gorilla in the photography market. The transition to digital cameras happened. Kodak had all the fundamentals to be a leader in the digital camera space. Of course, you know the rest.

Shifting the industry, let us explore the origin of the hyperscalers and the cloud providers marketplace. Amazon launched AWS to cater to its internal requirements- but that requirement was technology hardware at a massive scale. In its initial avatar, cloud services rented hardware with associated software, primarily infrastructure-as-a-service

Now let us go back to 2006. When AWS built small data centers to get started, which organization had decisive leadership in B-2-B technology hardware and data centers? Dell. Despite the delay in recognition, even if it could not recognize the opportunity early on, it had enough prowess to be where Azure is.

When Microsoft entered the cloud fray, the crux of the offering was still centered around offering hardware for rent with associated software. Imagine if Dell had entered the market with its foundational expertise and the same level of aggressiveness with which Microsoft scaled Azure.

Of course, that did not happen. Dell is now trying to pitch itself as a hybrid cloud player, but the scenario is competitive for the company. On-premise and even private cloud hardware demand is shrinking. That remains Dell’s expertise and what it is primarily known for. On the PC side, competition is cutthroat, with relatively new players like ASUS gaining ground in a highly fragmented market. For Dell, the chances of the future still lie on the B-2-B side of their business.

And then there is the public cloud. What started as infrastructure-as-a-service has been turned into ecosystems by AWS and Azure. These hyperscalers can provide a one-stop-shop for companies to build enterprises of the future. And these ecosystems are the future. Even large software giants like SAPs and Oracles of the world are either already on the path of building their ecosystems or will have to work on building their own.

Entering the public cloud race at this point is challenging for Dell. The speed and scale needed to build an ecosystem is an uphill task. The next best strategy is to be a significant component of one or several large ecosystems.

But the vast (and actual) ecosystems are all hyperscalers competing with Dell. Others are still working on building their ecosystems.

Dell may be pursuing a strategy to become a component in solution
landscapes. For example, be one of the components in an Industry 4.0 setup. The challenge is that while it ensures survival, thriving in their core competency will not happen with this strategy.

Dell missed the ample opportunity, like Kodak, but is still firmly in the game. However, whether it will survive for the next few years, or make moves in the next few years to thrive and rise again, depends on how aggressively and strategically it builds partnerships. Partnerships with companies that can together provide a one-stop shop to transform their entire enterprise digitally.

That needs to be the pivot of Dell’s strategy to dig itself out of the also-ran scenario it is currently in.