IT administrators in midsized organizations are under constant pressure to do more with less – to ensure security and compliance, to improve the accuracy of IT inventory and to speed help desk responsiveness. That’s why Dell is expanding its systems management offerings with innovative solutions that give these customers simple to use and comprehensive control of their daily operations.

The company said today it has agreed to acquire KACE, a leading systems management appliance company with solutions tailored to the requirements of midsized businesses and public (government, education and healthcare) institutions.

“We talk directly to thousands of these customers and they tell us they need systems-management tools geared for their environment,” said Steve Felice, President, Dell Consumer and Small and Medium Business (CSMB). “The KBOX family of appliances is highly capable, quick to deploy, simple to use and provides a rapid return on investment, exactly the sort of best-value solutions we’re delivering to customers.”

KACE, headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., provides comprehensive and affordable solutions through the award-winning KBOX systems-management and deployment appliances which carry a wide range of capabilities, including:

• Device discovery, system inventory, and asset management;
• Configuration management, including operating system deployment, power management software distribution, application virtualization and scripting;
• System Deployment, Imaging and Windows 7 Migration;
• End-point security via patch management, security-policy enforcement and vulnerability scanning; and,
• Service management through integrated service desk, user portal and alerting.

Such appliances are ideally suited for midsized operations that typically are staffed by IT generalists. An industry report recently said that many organizations with fewer than 5,000 PCs are buying PC configuration lifecycle-management solutions for the first time. Most KACE customers report having deployed their KBOX appliances in a week or less, and almost two-thirds said that the products paid for themselves in less than three months.

KBOX appliances support heterogeneous operating systems including Windows, Mac and Linux, and deliver next-generation system management capabilities such as integrated application virtualization. KACE products are available as both physical and virtual appliances, directly from Dell or through Dell and KACE partners.
Terms of Dell’s acquisition of KACE were not disclosed. The purchase is subject to customary closing conditions.

About Dell
Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) creates, enhances and integrates technology and services customers count on to provide them reliable, long-term value. Dell provides system-management solutions for customers of all sizes and system complexity with its own offerings and by partnering with best-in-class solution providers. Learn more at www.dell.com.

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