Looks like we will have to wait until early in the New Year to see exactly how the Compaq Computer Corp/Tandem Computers Inc integration pans out, but at the moment there is apparently a lot of management time being spent on just how the two companies will come together. Compaq employees in the UK are being introduced to their opposite numbers in Tandem, and are enthusing about how much they have to learn from each other, how few overlaps there are and how much synergy exists between the two companies. Time will tell. While there is no comparison between the two in revenue terms, Tandem sees annual revenues of around $2bn while Compaq boasts an extra zero at around $20bn, the two companies are far closer in terms of number of employees, thanks mainly to Compaq’s distribution channel strategy versus Tandem’s direct sales model, which means it employs a lot more people directly. The companies admit the task of ‘integrating’ all these people is proving to be a lengthy one. While most can see the obvious benefits of adding a high volume, lower end systems market leader with a low volume, high availability high-end systems market leader, the question in most people’s minds is will the merger move Compaq up the food chain, or Tandem further down.
