EMC Tells Wall Street About Recent Successes

EMC highlighted its VMware and Smarts acquisitions as management made its annual pilgrimage to Wall Street and boasted of plans to beat analysts' 2006 revenue predictions of $10.87 billion.

"Information has been EMC's central focus for the last 15 years," EMC president and CEO Joe Tucci told a gathering of some 300 investors, analysts, and journalists Thursday. The longtime pacesetter in external storage, EMC has been emphasizing its drive into information lifecycle management (ILM) and virtual infrastructure areas in recent months.

EMC trumpeted the success of the firm's acquisition campaign that has resulted in 25 acquired firms in the past five years. With more than $3.5 billion in cash on its books, EMC has indicated it will continue on its buying spree.

VMware president Diane Greene said the EMC unit will step up its drive into the server virtualization market. EMC indicated that the Smarts systems management division will be receiving more attention, as EMC seeks to map out more enterprises and sell hardware and services in the resulting systems' architectural schemes.

Tucci predicted revenue will rise 17 percent this year; profits will be 50 or 51 cents a share, according to media reports. By the end of 2006, as software profits kick in at a higher rate, EMC is expecting the improving software picture will contribute to increased profitability.