Wonderboy who built company brought back to save it.
Dell founder Michael Dell has been re-appointed as chief executive for the ailing computer and server manufacturer. He will also remain chairman of the Board.
Dell replaces Kevin Rollins, who served as the company's chief since July 2004.
The comuter maker started to slide under Kevin Rollins. In recent months it has ceded the position as the world's top computer maker to HP and it has been battling declining revenues and profits for the multiple quarters.
"The Board believes that Michael’s vision and leadership are critical to building Dell’s leadership in the technology industry for the long-term," said Samuel Nunn, presiding director of Dell’s Board.
"There is no better person in the world to run Dell at this time than the man who created the Direct Model and who has built this company over the last 23 years."
Dell is currently undergoing a reoganization in an attempt to move away from low end systems that offer slim product margins. By contrast, HP has successfully shifted its focus to developing high end systems and innovative designs that offer high profit margins and offer clear differentiators.
Dell also has been slow to embrace new technology trends. The company for instance was the last major computer maker to embrace AMD processors.
Michael Dell founded the computer maker as a student in 1984. The company rose to the top computer maker spot by using an innovative supply chain strategy. New computers are only manufactuered after an order had been placed, allowing the firm to minimize supply inventory and yield major cost savings. The Dell brand during the most recent downturn in the IT sector became synonymous with low cost industry standard systems.
The company's rise was one of the major forces behind HP's acquisition of Compaq in 2001 and forced Sun Microsystems into years of losses during the same period.