While my country mates back in Canada are celebrating Victoria Day, I’m down in Orlando for EMC Worldwhere I’m getting a crash course in all things EMC, and theirstrategies for both information infrastructure (on-premises) andvirtual infrastructure (with partner/subsidiary VMware).

Such is the life of an intrepid IT journalist. I’m sure Her Majesty would have understood.

I’ll have more on the news that’s been released at the conference sofar a little later. The opening keynotes just wrapped-up though, withEMC president and CEO Joe Tucci and VMware president and CEO PaulMaritz doing the honours. But here’s a hint: the cloud meets the datacentre.

But news aside, EMC is also sending signals that it may be lookingto be a buyer in this down economy. During a morning press briefing, anEMC spokesperson made a point of noting, in addition to its continued(but slowing) profitability, EMC’s very strong cash position: US$9.8B.Not too shabby.

That got me to wondering if EMC would be looking to spend some ofthat cash to consolidate market share. After all, in a down economylike this the pickings are ripe and the price can be right.

And as he wrapped-up his keynote, Tucci indeed signaled this will bepart of EMC’s strategy. As he outlined EMC’s principles for dealingwith a downturn he likened to the Great Depression, and how the companyintends to emerge from it a stronger player, Tucci again referencedEMC’s strong cash position and said “opportunistic m&a” will beemployed to strengthen all of EMC’s competitive product line.

Which makes the next question, of course, what companies might be onEMC’s shopping list? I doubt Tucci will be tipping his hand, but ofcourse can still speculate. Where do you think EMC should considerdropping some of its cash?

BTW, for frequent updates and observations from EMC World, be sure to follow @CompDealerNews on Twitter.