Tech mega-mergers practically always fail, so Dell EMC will hit the proverbial iceberg — it’s just a matter of when, right? Maybe not.

There is a key difference with Dell EMC that might steer it clear of danger, according to Peter Burris (@plburris) (pictured, center), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, in a conversation with fellow co-hosts Paul Gillin (@pgillin) (left) and John Furrier (@furrier) (right). (* Disclosure below.)

“If you take a look at Dell and EMC, neither of them had problems. They weren’t buying each other’s problems,” Burris said today during Dell EMC World in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is an anomaly in the history of mega-mergers where typically one or both companies were in trouble at the outset, he stated.

“When Compaq got a hold of DEC [Digital Equipment Corp.], that DEC sense of internal competition took over Compaq. And then when HP took over Compaq that maelstrom of internal competition took over HP — they used to call it the Red and Blue wars, and it was ugly,” Burris said.

There does not appear to be any conflict among Dell EMC’s holdings; even the server and hyperconverged appliance companies appear friendly, Burris pointed out.

VMware a ‘frenemy’?

However, this is not the whole picture; some companies Dell acquired through EMC have relationships with Dell’s fiercest rivals, which could certainly generate tension. “They’re allied with their foes now through the acquisition,” according to Gillin. For example, VMware Inc.’s highly-touted deal with Amazon AWS is taking shape.

And it gets even more complicated. “Dell has a very strong relationship with Microsoft; VMware is a competitor to Microsoft,” he added.

This partnering maze underscores the complexity of technology today compared to yesteryear, which many customers would like to minimize. “More than likely, the future is going to be composites of services operations on multiple different cloud-like instances, including on-premise. And who’s going to offer the best end-to-end control pane?” Burris asked.

This, plus data management and data monetization strategies, are the major draws for customers right now, according to Burris.

Customer count, at the end of the day, trumps all. “I think Amazon Web Services proves that a dark horse can come out of nowhere and be the behemoth that they are, because they served customers,” Furrier said.

Interestingly, Dell EMC World’s keynote schedule for the full three days at Dell EMC World does not feature a single customer, according to Gillin. “I don’t think that says good things about where Dell is really focusing its message right now,” he said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Dell EMC World 2017. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Dell EMC World. Neither Dell nor other sponsors have editorial influence on content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE