EMC World: Tucci Passes Torch To Dell

EMC Chairman and CEO Joe Tucci on Monday gave what he said will be his last EMC World keynote as head of EMC, and set the stage for the pending acquisition of EMC by Dell by introducing the future head of the combined company, Michael Dell.

Tucci, who took the stage to a loud round of applause and left the stage to a standing ovation, told the customers and partners at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas that things will change with the merger.

"I can tell you right now, this is not the end of something great," Tucci said. "This is the beginning of something greater."

[Related: EMC World: VMware CEO Gelsinger Absent From Conference Stage]

While EMC shareholders have yet to vote on the merger, customers have already done so with their support for EMC, Tucci said.

"Hopefully, you'll say, I was here at the creating of this very special company," he said.

Tucci, at the end of his short keynote, brought Michael Dell, whom he called his friend, on stage. "This man is wickedly smart. … He truly listens to customers."

Dell returned the compliment. "I want to thank you for your friendship and your advice over the past years," he said.

Dell then set the stage for the expected close later this year of Dell's acquisition of EMC by announcing that the combined company will be known as Dell Technologies. Dell Technologies will include the current Dell business plus EMC Information Infrastructure, VMware, Pivotal, SecureWorks, RSA and Virtustream.

Going forward, the company's enterprise business will be known as Dell EMC, Michael Dell said.

Tucci said the IT industry is going through a digital evolution that will have an even greater impact on business than the Industrial Revolution did, with the more than 5 billion smart devices in use today expected to quickly grow to more than 100 billion devices, all of which are throwing out all kinds of data that has to be captured and used.

This is resulting in massive changes to how products are sold and distributed, and how software is written, which makes the decision for EMC to combine with Dell the right one, Tucci said.

"It's been an incredible journey for us," he said.