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What can $9.6 billion get you these days?
Last week it bought Compaq Computer Corp. some much needed respect with enterprise customers when the PC vendor agreed to pay that price for Digital Equipment Corp. Those billions also bought Compaq a major-league service and support organization and a boatload of new hardware and software.
Once a supplier of desktopto-data center systems second only to IBM, Digital more recently has become better known for its service and support organization.
The division employs more than 15,000 people and generates $6 billion in revenue annually. It keeps existing VAX and Alpha-based machines up and running and has been dubbed the leading Windows NT systems integrator by Microsoft Corp.
While enterprise service and support is the single biggest draw for Compaq, which previously did not have a large-scale services arm, the computer giant also picks up a slew of Digital's hardware and software products.
Sorting through what assets will fit nicely into Compaq's overall plans will take 18 months, said Joe Barkan, research director with Gartner Group, Inc., in Stamford, Conn. "They have to dig through the Digital rubble piece...