4. The Battle With HPE Heats Up

No firms could have chosen more different paths than Hewlett Packard, Dell and EMC, and their chief executives haven't passed up too many opportunities to criticize the other's decisions.

HPE CEO Meg Whitman has argued that her company's split into two separate businesses made HP more nimble, more efficient and more able to innovate and lead the market. She's also called out Dell Technologies for the massive amount of debt it's taken on.

In response, Dell Technologies Chairman and CEO Michael Dell has said being big won't hamper the company's ability to innovate. He's also argued that being privately held means Dell Technologies is free to develop corporate strategy away from the prying eyes of earnings-hungry investors. Dell Technologies' debt payments, he said, will be less than HPE's stock buy-backs and dividends.