The alliance includes Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) agreements whereby each company will re-brand and sell specific Intel-based servers manufactured by the other company, desktop and notebook computer sourcing to Unisys customers, and new and expanded services offerings to Dell customers.

Both companies benefit greatly from this agreement, which provides Dell a very scalable high-end system to offer its enterprise customers, and Unisys with award-winning Dell PowerEdge server, Latitude notebook, and OptiPlex desktop systems, said Dell Vice Chairman Kevin Rollins. Our expanded services relationship enables Dell to offer a broader portfolio of services that are critical to our customers’ computing environments.

The alliance enhances the value proposition each of our companies can offer our customers, said Lawrence A. Weinbach, Unisys chairman and CEO. By reselling the CMP-based Unisys servers, Dell gives its customers a technology growth path to meet their most pressing requirements for transaction-intensive e-business computing. And the expanded services alliance creates significant new opportunities for Dell and Unisys customers to benefit from Unisys world-class technology consulting, support and managed network services.

The primary elements of the agreement are:

* Dell will acquire and sell 16- and 32-processor servers based on the Unisys CMP architecture under the Dell brand. Consistent with its business model, Dell will remain the single point of contact and accountability for customers, but will partner with Unisys to provide installation, maintenance, and technical services for the CMP servers.

* Unisys has chosen Dell as its partner for mid-range Intel-based servers. Under the agreement, Unisys will acquire and sell Dell two-, four-, and eight-processor PowerEdge servers under the Unisys brand. Unisys will provide support and services to customers buying these servers, as it does for a range of server and PC vendors.

* Unisys will be a Dell Preferred Service Provider for installation, warranty and support services, network services and systems integration services for select Dell products. Dell and Unisys are exploring additional opportunities to further expand their services relationship to include broader technology consulting services.

* Dell and Unisys will partner to provide Dell’s line of OptiPlex desktop and Latitude notebook personal computers and single-processor PowerEdge servers in selected Unisys services engagements, including managed network services, outsourcing, and technology standardization rollouts. Dell will fulfill these orders directly to the customer and Unisys will provide support services for these products.

This alliance expands the two companies’ existing services relationship, which began in 1998.