Tuesday November 3, 03:16 PM
UPDATE 1-Cisco, EMC plan tech partnership, not merger
By Jim Finkle
BOSTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Tech heavyweights Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO - news) and EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC
- news) dampened speculation the two companies would merge as they announced on Tuesday a broad partnership to develop data center technology, taking on rivals IBM (NYSE: IBM - news) and Hewlett-Packard Co.
The two have spent three years developing technology and ironing out details of a deep partnership through which they will bundle Cisco's networking equipment and server computers with EMC's storage and virtualization technology.
Their goal is to become a top provider of data center products as the industry switches to technology focused on providing so-called 'cloud' computing services from central data centers that can be accessed over the Internet and corporate networks.
As they announced that partnership, top executives from both companies suggested that persistent speculation Cisco plans to acquire EMC has been unfounded.
EMC Chief Executive Joe Tucci said in an interview that the rumors may have been sparked as investors got wind of the close talks between the two companies that led to the partnership over the past few years.
Cisco CEO John Chambers said in the same interview, that 'Our tendencies are to partner together. I think we do that remarkably well.'
When specifically asked if he was interested in buying EMC, as investors have long speculated might be the case, Chambers said: 'You buy big-to-small. You partner big-to-big.'
(Reporting by Jim Finkle, editing by Maureen Bavdek) Keywords: CISCO EMC/
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