The third-largest computer maker in the U.S. by sales, Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) agreed to buy privately held Wyse Technology for an undisclosed sum. Wyse specializes in making technology for close computing, representing a move for Dell into a new sphere -- with a new set of competitors.

According to Dell, Wyse's 12-month trailing revenue was about $375 million, with operating margins in the double digits (via MarketWatch).

"Faced with soft PC sales, Dell of late has been increasing its focus on high-margin business products, including storage systems, security, services and networking," according to MarketWatch. However, this move into cloud computing brings on a new set of competitors, including Amazon.com.

Business section: Investing ideas
Dell stock has risen about 15% over the last year. Do you think that adding cloud computing onto its list of offerings will boost the share price even higher?

For a look at the competitive landscape, we ran a screen on cloud computing companies traded on U.S. exchanges. Do you think Dell will have success entering this arena? (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)

1. Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL): Designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. Market cap at $559.00B. Price at $618.63.

2. Akamai Technologies: Provides services for accelerating and improving the delivery of content and applications over the Internet in the United States and internationally. Market cap at $6.53B. Price at $36.73.

3. Amazon.com: Operates as an online retailer in North America and internationally. Market cap at $92.16B. Price at $198.05.

4. BMC Software: Develops software that provides system and service management solutions for enterprises in the United States and internationally. Market cap at $6.60B. Price at $40.71.

5. Concur Technologies: Provides business services and software solutions that automate corporate travel and expense management processes in the U. Market cap at $3.13B. Price at $57.93.

6. salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM): Provides customer and collaboration relationship management (CRM) services to various businesses and industries worldwide. Market cap at $21.17B. Price at $157.18.

7. Equinix: Provides data center services for the protection and connection of information assets to enterprises, content providers, financial companies, network service providers, and cloud and IT services companies. Market cap at $7.35B. Price at $158.65.

8. Google: Is the world's most popular search engine. Market cap at $208.49B. Price at $646.92.

9. Microsoft: Develops, licenses, and supports a range of software products and services for various computing devices worldwide. Market cap at $270.69B. Price at $32.29.

10. NetSuite: Provides an on-demand integrated business management application suite to businesses and divisions of companies worldwide. Market cap at $3.49B. Price at $49.95.

11. NetApp: Engages in the design, manufacturing, marketing, and technical support of networked storage solutions. Market cap at $16.25B. Price at $45.05.

12. Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL): Develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and services database and middleware software, applications software, and hardware systems worldwide. Market cap at $145.07B. Price at $29.53.

13. Rackspace Hosting: Operates in the hosting and cloud computing industry. Market cap at $7.78B. Price at $57.44.

14. Red Hat: Provides open source software solutions to enterprises worldwide. Market cap at $11.54B. Price at $60.80.

15. AT&T: Provides telecommunication services to consumers, businesses, and other service providers worldwide. Market cap at $185.15B. Price at $31.45.

16. VMware (NYSE: VMW): Provides virtualization and virtualization-based cloud infrastructure solutions primarily in the United States. Market cap at $47.77B. Price at $114.40.

Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned above. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.


Kapitall's Alexander Crawford does not own any of the shares mentioned above.