Dell and EMC 'going as fast as we can' on merger

EMC's Goulden claims Dell and EMC will create 'winning alternative' to IBM and HP

Michael Dell has said he would rather his company's planned takeover of EMC happened "sooner rather than later" but insisted things are "moving along at a steady pace".

In a "virtual fireside chat" between execs which was made available online to EMC employees, Michael Dell issued a progress report on the planned $67bn (£46.9bn) merger and once again reiterated his view on the benefits of the deal.

"We are right on the same schedule that we said when the deal was announced back in October," he said. "It's that May-to-October time frame. We would certainly like it to happen sooner rather than later. We're going as fast as we can. We have to follow all the requisite rules and that sort of thing. The integration teams are making great progress and regulatory things are happening at exactly the pace you would expect them to happen. We haven't found any difficulties. We're moving along at a steady pace."

News of the planned merger has brought about some concern among staff, EMC said.

But its president of global sales and customer operations Bill Scannell urged his troops not to worry.

"I will tell you that having worked with Joe Tucci [EMC chief executive] for 15 years, he cares about us, he loves us," he said. "He cares deeply about this company. He's putting us in very good hands."

When Dell and EMC first announced the plans to merge back in October, they claimed it would create an "enterprise powerhouse". EMC Information Infrastructure's chief executive David Goulden went a step further during his presentation and said "Dell and EMC are going to come together to create a winning alternative to IBM and HP."