Dell enters networking game

Another battlefront for Cisco and HP.

Dell has put to rest rumours that it was in pursuit of Brocade by offering to buy a rival networking firm Force10 Networks.

Details of the offer weren't disclosed; however, Force10's technology was expected to give Dell a leg-up into “high performance datacentre networking”, Dell said today.

Dell’s move into networking was likely to intensify pressure on Cisco, which announced a 6,500 headcount reduction plan and sold off its Mexican plant this week.

Force10 had been seeking to have an initial public offering (IPO) since March last year in a bid to raise capital.

Gartner had in 2004 placed Force10 in its “visionary” quadrant, but it was dropped in 2009 because it no longer met the ranking system’s revenue requirements. 

Dell pointed out Force10 was a nearly $200-million company, based on “trailing 12 months revenue”, predominantly from North America, but it has operations in 60 countries, including Australian distribution.

The high-end local area networking company teamed up with Distribution Central for its 2007 Australian entry. 

Dell said it was "committed to maintaining and growing Force10’s channel program."

The key value of Force10‘s networking gear, according to a Dow Jones Investment Banker profile in March, were its higher-density switches, which allow more servers to connect to it, thus simplifying architecture.