Dell’s efforts to reinvent itself this year through a dramatic break from its direct-sales model, expanded services and new enterprise offerings have shown positive early results, but some users have lingering concerns about the company’s supply-chain management and support.

Weathering an accounting scandal and a slump in profit, founder Michael Dell reclaimed the helm of the company after CEO Kevin Rollins resigned in January. Dell quickly replaced top managers and in May announced plans to lay off 10% of the company’s workforce.

For years, Dell was the top PC vendor in the world, an acknowledged master of logistics in a business where margins can be razor-thin. It was efficient enough to keep prices low to ward off competition without suffering big setbacks in profits. But by 2006, when Hewlett-Packard unseated Dell as global PC leader, that was no longer the case.

Dell’s plans to regain its former dominance have resounded in the market. The company’s third-quarter results, announced two weeks ago, showed profit increasing year over year, and record revenue of US$15.65 billion. During the company’s earnings call, Michael Dell said the company will put products on more retail shelves worldwide while also helping business customers “simplify IT” and reduce maintenance costs via customized hardware, software and services.

The company has also moved to put accounting issues behind it, recently completing an internal investigation and restating its financial results from fiscal 2003 to the first quarter of 2007.