Dell Tries to Trademark 'Cloud Computing'

While Dell built its reputation as a low-cost maker of desktops and notebooks, the company has looked to shift focus in the last year to include more IT services and consulting in its portfolio, along with a new emphasis on storage and small and midsize businesses. The cloud is seen as one area where all these new Dell products and services can fit into one large-scale offering.

The question is whether the cloud will prosper as a model or occupy one niche within the IT arsenal. James Staten, an analyst with Forrester Research, wrote in his blog that it’s not the large enterprises that are interested in cloud computing at this time, but startup companies and tech-savvy entrepreneurs who are investigating this disruptive technology and interested in investing.

“Like other disruptive innovations in the technology space, such as cloud collaboration, software as a service (SAAS) and the iPhone, cloud computing targets the tech savvy business developer, startup and interactive marketer,” Staten wrote. “These business innovators don’t take their technology cues from the corporate standards set by infrastructure & operations professionals. They seek solutions that enable their ideas faster and cheaper. And cloud computing is the extreme programming of the IT deployment world.”