Over the years, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) has made only a handful of acquisitions. But as the company's market matures, this strategy doesn't make a lot of sense.

Well, we are seeing some signs that Dell is thinking about M&A.

This week, the company announced that it has agreed to shell out $340 million for ASAP software (in the past couple weeks, there was also a deal for Silverback Technologies).

Founded in the mid 1980s, ASAP provides IT services – helping customers "evaluate, purchase, deploy, and manage" software assets. Apparently, the company has much expertise in volume licensing.

As technologies get more complex, services become more important. So, ASAP should be a nice addition to Dell. It will also help with its competition against Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and IBM (NYSE: IBM).

According to Lindy Hanson, a senior analyst at Technology Business Research:

"Dell aims to use these acquisitions to engage with customers in new ways as of an overall effort to grow its services business. The company is building its managed services capabilities, one area it has not previously had a large presence in. I believe that, in growing its managed services business, Dell gains access to a larger pool of recurring revenue, in part from the ability to offer new services to its existing customers."

Also, to check out some more M&A transactions, click here.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.