But inside the company, Dell had already begun restructuring some of its marketing and sales operations, according to a regulatory filing by one of the Round Rock, Texas-based company's marketing and sales contractors. Rainmaker Systems, in a prospectus filed earlier this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, revealed that last year Dell accounted for 38 percent of its $49 million in net revenue.

Rainmaker also said:

. . . (I)n March 2007, Dell informed us that it was restructuring a portion of its business for which we provide contract sales services. As a result, we now expect our revenue from Dell for 2007 to be flat from 2006. Any further restructuring by Dell, or any similar restructuring by one of our other clients, could reduce the volume of services we provide and further reduce our expected future revenues, which would likely have a material adverse effect on our financial position, cash flows and results of operations.

Rainmaker, which also does work for Dell rival Hewlett-Packard, provided no other details.

But this information comes after Dell said it had abruptly cancelled plans to open a major retail "experience" store in the New York area, and as it tries to stop double-digit declines in its U.S.-based PC operations.