Dell going for a revamp

Slashdot It! Michael Dell has begun an effort to reinvigorate the upper management ranks of Dell as part of a larger effort to create a "Dell 2.0" that is once again an industry leader.Chairman and founder of Dell is personally overseeing efforts to find a new chief of its computer services arm. When that post is filled, Dell plans to recruit other high-ranking industry executives to address trouble spots at the company, which many analysts say has become hidebound to the business strategies that made it an industry icon until a year ago. Getting not so hot Sources say Dell's recruiting efforts represent more than just routine hiring efforts. Instead, Dell is contemplating major changes for the first time at a company where the famous "Direct from Dell" business model seems to have run out of steam after fueling 20 years of hypergrowth. Until now, the company has prospered by using its super-efficient manufacturing system and Net-based sales operation to sell garden-variety gear far more profitably than its rivals.

But with hardware sales slowing and rivals improving their games, Dell can't expect to grow much faster than the computer market or satisfy Wall Street's desire for top-line growth. According to several job candidates, Dell intends to expand its horizons beyond its bread-and-butter business, selling basic PCs and storage gear to corporations. Rather than remaining primarily a basic box maker, Dell needs to become more a "solutions" company that can mesh various technologies together to solve particular problems, like IBM.