Dell is buying ASAP Software for $340 million in a move that will help boost the PC makers software offerings, the two companies announced Aug. 2.
The acquisition of ASAP will allow Dell, of Round Rock, Texas, to offer its enterprise customers additional management tools and services for monitoring software licensing, purchasing, renewals and compliance. In a statement, Dell officials noted that many of their customers have been asking for additional ways to better manage their software tools.
ASAP, based in Buffalo Grove, Ill., is a subsidiary of Corporate Express. The company sells most of its management tools and services to larger companies as well as government organizations.
In addition, ASAP has its own subsidiary—License Technologies Group—that specialized in licensing and e-commerce services for software publishers. License Technologies will be included in the Dell acquisition as well.
This latest purchase by Dell follows up on its announcement July 18 that it will buy SilverBack Technologies, one of the leading managed service platform companies that offers IT monitoring and management services through resellers.
The SilverBack deal is expected to help Dells budding channel strategy and boost its services portfolio. When the deal was announced, a company spokesman said it was part of Dells strategy to offer customers “IT simplification.”
Since his return to the helm in January, CEO Michael Dell has been pushing his company hard to remake itself in the face of falling PC shipments. This has included new technologies, an emphasis on the consumer segment, job cuts and some acquisitions to bolster areas such as services and software.
The deal with ASAP Software is expected to close in the third quarter. ASAP has about 600 employees in North America and Europe.