EMC Corporation (stylized as EMC²) was an American

multinational corporation A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...

headquartered in

Hopkinton, Massachusetts Hopkinton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, west of Boston. The town is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriots' Day each April, and as the he ...

, which sold

data storage Data storage is the recording (storing) of information (data) in a storage medium. Handwriting, phonographic recording, magnetic tape, and optical discs are all examples of storage media. Biological molecules such as RNA and DNA are con ...

information security Information security is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorized or inappropriate access to data ...

virtualization In computing, virtualization (abbreviated v12n) is a series of technologies that allows dividing of physical computing resources into a series of virtual machines, operating systems, processes or containers. Virtualization began in the 1960s wit ...

, analytics,

cloud computing Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...

and other products and services that enabled organizations to store, manage, protect, and analyze data. EMC's target markets included large companies and small- and medium-sized

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

es across various vertical markets. The company's stock (as EMC Corporation) was added to the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

on April 6, 1986, and was also listed on the

S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices and in ...

index. EMC acquired Iomega in 2008, and a 2013 partnership with

Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, trading as Lenovo ( , zh, c=联想, p=Liánxiǎng), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, servers, conv ...

resulted in the rebranding of Iomega as LenovoEMC. EMC merged with the computer systems manufacturer

Dell Inc. Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

in 2016 to form

Dell Technologies Dell Technologies Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Round Rock, Texas. It was formed as a result of the September 2016 merger of Dell and EMC Corporation. Dell Technologies ranked 48th on the 2024 Fortune ...

. This merger led to the joint venture with Lenovo dissolving; at that time, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' noted EMC's "focus on developing and selling data storage and data management hardware and software and convincing its customers to buy its products independent of their other IT buying decisions" based on "best-of-breed." Dell used the EMC name with some of its products under the Dell EMC brand until around 2020.

History

EMC, founded in 1979 by Richard Egan and Roger Marino (the E and M of EMC), introduced its first 64-

kilobyte The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for Computer data storage, digital information. The International System of Units (SI) defines the prefix ''kilo-, kilo'' as a multiplication factor of 1000 (103); therefore, one kilobyte is 1000&nbs ...

(65,536 bytes) memory boards for the

Prime Computer Prime Computer, Inc. was a Natick, Massachusetts-based producer of minicomputers from 1972 until 1992. With the advent of Personal computer, PCs and the decline of the minicomputer industry, Prime was forced out of the market in the early 1990s, ...

in 1981. EMC continued to develop memory boards for other computer types. In the mid-1980s, the company expanded beyond memory to other

computer data storage Computer data storage or digital data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and Data storage, recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The cent ...

types and networked storage platforms. EMC began shipping its flagship product, the Symmetrix, in 1990. While some of EMC's growth is credited to acquisitions of smaller companies, Symmetrix was the main factor in EMC's rapid growth during the 1990s, from a firm valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars to a multi-billion dollar company. In 2009 EMC signed a two-year deal to be the principal shirt sponsor for English Rugby Union club London Wasps in a deal worth £1 Million. This was later extended until the end of the 2013 season. Michael Ruettgers joined EMC in 1988 and was CEO from 1992 until January 2001. Under Ruettgers' leadership, EMC revenues grew from $120 million to nearly $9 billion 10 years later, and the company shifted its focus from memory boards to storage systems. Ruettgers was named one of ''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

''s "World's Top 25 Executives"; one of the "Best Chief Executive Officers in America" by '' Worth'' magazine; and one of ''

Network World International Data Group (IDG, Inc.) is an American market intelligence and demand generation company focused on the technology industry. IDG, Inc.'s mission is centered around supporting the technology industry through research, data, market ...

''s "25 Most Powerful People in Networking". Ahead of their acquisition by Dell, EMC gained a reputation for oppressive non-compete agreements and non-compete lobbying through AIM (Associated Industries of Massachusetts)

Acquisition by Dell

On October 12, 2015,

announced its intent to acquire EMC in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $67 billion, which as of 2021 remains the largest-ever acquisition in the technology sector. The combination of Dell's enterprise server, personal computer, and mobile businesses with EMC's enterprise storage business was a significant vertical merger of IT giants. Dell offered $24.05 per share of EMC, and $9.05 per share of

tracking stock Tracking stock, also known as letter stock and targeted stock, is a specialized equity offering issued by a company that is based on the operations of a defined business within the larger organization (such as, for instance, a wholly owned subsid ...

in VMware. On September 7, 2016, Dell Inc. completed the merger, which involved the issuance of $45.9 billion in debt and $4.4 billion common stock. At the time, some analysts claimed that Dell's acquisition of the former Iomega could harm the LenovoEMC partnership.

Products and services

In addition to those of the majority-owned Pivotal company, Dell EMC sells products and services, including products from other

companies, designed to allow IT departments to move to a cloud computing model and to analyze

big data Big data primarily refers to data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data processing, data-processing application software, software. Data with many entries (rows) offer greater statistical power, while data with ...

. LenovoEMC, formerly Iomega, sells storage products.

Major acquisitions

The following table includes the listing and timeline of EMC Corporation's major acquisitions of other companies since 1996.

Big data projects

In 2012, EMC sponsored The Human Face of Big Data, a globally crowdsourced media project focusing on the ability to collect, analyze, triangulate and visualize vast amounts of data in real-time. The Human Face of Big Data, produced by Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt, includes "a number of fascinating stories ...

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

represent some of the most innovative applications of data that are shaping our future".

References

External links

{{Use mdy dates, date=June 2015 1979 establishments in Massachusetts 2016 disestablishments in Massachusetts 1980s initial public offerings 2016 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1979 American companies disestablished in 2016 Companies based in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Hopkinton, Massachusetts Companies based in Round Rock, Texas Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Computer companies established in 1979 Computer companies disestablished in 2016 Computer storage companies Customer communications management Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Defunct software companies of the United States Software companies based in Massachusetts Software companies based in Texas Software companies established in 1979 Software companies disestablished in 2016 Storage Area Network companies