Dell has announced an extension of its partnership with EMC, which allows Dell to sell EMC storage hardware alongside its own enterprise hardware offerings. The deal was signed in 2001 and will now run until 2013.

"By broadening and extending our deep alliance, Dell and EMC are able to deliver fully integrated datacentre solutions as the pre-eminent storage partners to customers worldwide," said Dell founder and chief executive Michael Dell.

"Today's economic realities place an emphasis on efficient solutions that consolidate and virtualise which, through our long-standing partnership, we are well positioned to deliver."

News of the deal came as little surprise to industry analysts. Pund-IT principal analyst Charles King called the news "one of the year's least surprising announcements".

"Both companies have done quite well from the deal," he added. "However, more recent announcements, including the data warehousing and data de-duplication efforts, suggest the pair's collaboration has deepened beyond simple co-branding and sales optimisation."

King suggested that the longevity of the partnership, which dates back to the last major economic crisis, could work to the advantage of both companies in the coming months.

"In both cases, the companies came under pressure that required them to reconsider the fundamental business value of technology," wrote the analyst.

"The severely tightening IT budgets that many expect during the next 12-24 months heighten the critical importance of solutions that are as cost-effective as they are technologically innovative."