Thu. Nov. 01, 2007
Michael Dell said to Bloomberg in July "We have an enormous opportunity in front of us, but it will require some changes''. Dell Shares, our new investor relations blog is among those changes and opportunities. It's an exciting initiative for all of us on the Investor Relations team.
It is an opportunity for us to go beyond posting information on the investor relations section at dell.com and to be accessible and available, share perspectives and build and maintain relationships with our investors, potential investors and anyone and everyone who is interested in joining the conversations here.
Dell Shares is not just about us and Dell financial information. It is also about you. Relationships are two way streets with shared benefits and responsibilities. So, we expect to listen and learn from you - our investors and those participating in this journey.
Twenty three years ago, Dell was founded on the premise that direct relationships with customers was a tremendous competitive advantage. It was and still is. To keep growing and meet changing markets, however, Dell's businesses are also expanding into other sales and distribution channels.
So it is with communicating to investors. While we speak to thousands of current and potential investors every year using traditional communications tools, this is an evolution to communicate using some of the web-based tools that foster more interaction. To keep growing and enhance our relationships with investors and others who might be considering our stock, we see that markets, information sources and how people want to interact are changing. Credible and relevant organizations today are taking advantage of technology and the Web to share information and connect directly with customers, suppliers, employees and other stakeholders.
There is no reason we shouldn't take advantage of these trends and reach beyond the traditional media and analysts to connect directly with investors or others interested in our company. Dell's direct business model and the work of our colleagues demonstrate the value of our direct relationships with our customers. It is part of our corporate DNA and an asset to the company. Therefore, Dell Shares is about Investor Relations at Dell expanding beyond the traditional approaches to IR with a view to being involved in direct relationships with our shareholders and potential shareholders.
You may have already seen the fruits of our early efforts in the form of our new IR RSS feeds, email alerts, investor tools, and other innovative programs. Dell Shares keeps us moving forward. We expect to not just push out information, but to share perspective and understandings. We hope that means that the information will be given context and meaning, that it becomes more digestible and accessible, that you can share the information, perhaps we could say we want to democratize financial information beyond just filing public data. While we urge you to review the Dell Shares and Dell Online policy statements, you can expect timely posts from the IR team (and sometimes company executives) on business performance and strategy.
We'll also post your comments and questions, which we'll respond to- where appropriate - in a timely manner. Dell Shares is a new effort, maybe among the first in the industry, to establish an Investor Relations blog that not only increases the flow of information, but also opens up a dialogue. As Michael Dell recently noted there are conversations going on about us all the time and we want to be part of those conversations -- to listen, to learn and to contribute. We hope Dell Shares will be among your choices of places to come for perspective and commentary on Dell.
Sometimes, however, we may be quiet, as there are periods of the quarter and various topics we can't talk about, such as forward looking statements or non-publicly disclosed information (see RegFD). We hope you will understand some of the constraints and legal obligations that may, from time to time, limit our commentary. Also, have a little patience with us, because some of these limitations may also slow us down as we learn and sort our way through this new field.
However, we do want you to seize this opportunity and take on the responsibility to educate yourself and become an informed and knowledgeable Dell investor. Ideally, this blog will serve as an additional source of information to your own informed and sound financial decisions.
We look forward to making Dell Shares an example of an unfiltered view of company strategy, performance, and results and place where direct shareholder relations are strengthened. We also hope Dell shares offers you a great place to become more informed as an investor.
As Michael Dell said to Bloomberg on winning back investor confidence ``it will take as long as it takes...we are making investments, investments we believe will be required for the long term. We are not looking to do something in the short term that will dramatically improve our results but cause a problem later on.''
Dell Shares is also about an investment in the long term that will dramatically improve our direct relationships with our owners and the information you have to make informed financial decisions. We are excited about the journey we are embarking on with you.
We look forward to hearing from you.