Into the fold

Buying a nearly $4 billion company is one thing, but successfully integrating it is a whole other challenge.

When Dell Inc. committed to buy Plano-based Perot Systems Corp. for $3.9 billion, it followed the lead of rival Hewlett-Packard Co., which last year bought another Plano company founded by Ross Perot, Electronic Data Systems Inc., for $13.1 billion.

But the question arises whether Dell executives can follow HP’s lead again and pull off the largest acquisition in Dell’s history.

The answer may lie in David Johnson.