Dell 2011 Annual Report Download - page 6

Table of Contents
PART I
All percentage amounts and ratios were calculated using the underlying data in thousands. Unless otherwise noted, all references to time periods refer to
our fiscal years. Our fiscal year is the 52 or 53 week period ending on the Friday nearest January 31. The fiscal year ended February 3, 2012 ("Fiscal
2012") was a 53 week period.
Unless the context indicates otherwise, references in this report to “we,” “us,” “our” and “Dell” mean Dell Inc. and our consolidated subsidiaries.
ITEM 1 — BUSINESS
General
Dell is a global information technology company that offers its customers a broad range of solutions and services delivered directly by Dell and through other
distribution channels. We are focused on providing technology solutions that are more efficient, more accessible, and easier to manage.
Dell Inc. is a holding company that conducts its business worldwide through its subsidiaries. Our global corporate headquarters is located in Round Rock,
Texas. When we refer to our company and its business in this report, we are referring to the business and activities of our consolidated subsidiaries.
Business Strategy
Dell built its reputation as a leading technology provider through listening to customers and developing solutions that meet customer needs. A few years ago,
we initiated a broad transformation of the company to become an end-to-end technology solutions company.
We are expanding our enterprise solutions, which include servers, networking, and storage offerings. In services, we are adding more capabilities to provide
end-to-end technology solutions to our customers, including managed security services focused on threat intelligence and security consulting. We are also
focused on growing our end-user computing business, which includes desktop and mobility offerings. Software is a critical part of enterprise solutions and
end-user computing, and we are expanding our capabilities in this business. Since the beginning of Fiscal 2011, we have acquired more than ten companies
whose offerings and intellectual property enhance our solutions business. We will continue to focus our organic and inorganic investments on opportunities
that we believe will enhance our solutions capabilities.
We are committed to this transformation as we have experienced its benefits. We seek to balance revenue growth with an appropriate level of profitability. In
addition, we will continue to manage our businesses to grow operating income and cash flows over the long-term. We believe our strategy will benefit our
customers, drive greater efficiency and productivity, and create value for our shareholders.
Operating Business Segments
We operate in the information technology industry, and we manage our business in four global customer-centric operating segments that we identify as Large
Enterprise, Public, Small and Medium Business, and Consumer. We believe our business segments allow us to serve our customers with faster innovation and
greater responsiveness.
•Large Enterprise — Our Large Enterprise customers include large global and national corporate businesses. We believe that a single large-
enterprise unit enhances our knowledge of our customers and improves our advantage in delivering globally consistent solutions and services to
many of the world's largest IT users. Our efforts in this segment will be increasingly focused on delivering innovative solutions and services
through data center and cloud computing solutions.
•Public — Our Public customers, which include educational institutions, government, health care, and law enforcement agencies, operate in their
own communities. These customers have a broad range of unique IT needs and we strive to expand our leadership and address their urgent IT
challenges through the delivery of technology solutions that help them achieve their mission.
•Small and Medium Business ("SMB") — Our SMB segment is focused on helping small and medium-sized businesses get the most out of their
technology by offering scalable products, services, and solutions. As cloud computing and workforce mobility become a routine part of a growing
business's operations, server and storage virtualization facilitate achievement of the organization's IT goals. Our SMB segment continues to create
and
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