ScriptLogic Goes to Quest
I'm always a little sad when an independent, third-party company gets swallowed
up by a larger outfit. In this case, ScriptLogic is in the process of being
acquired by Quest for $90 million.
There are two pieces of good news. First, Quest is a fine company -- great
folks, great products, all-around goodness as far as I can see (ScriptLogic
is the exact same kind of animal). The second bit of good news is that Quest
plans to have ScriptLogic operate as a wholly owned subsidiary. To me, that
means ScriptLogic will remain largely ScriptLogic. I hope so.
But these things have a way of changing sometimes. After Quest bought Aelita,
the Aelita identity disappeared (though Quest and Aelita had a lot of product
overlap, and I don't remember Quest promising to keep Aelita intact).
Anyway, congrats to the folks at ScriptLogic and Quest. I can see the two companies'
cultures meshing quite well!
By the way, here's
a Q&A Redmond Developer News did with ScriptLogic's top programmer,
Brian Bucklew.
And here's
the skinny on the acquisition.
Turnaround Expert, But Which Way?
Marc Andreessen (spell that last name three times fast!), one of the founders
of Netscape and considered the father of the browser, recently published a quick
tutorial to turning big companies around. I came across the item on
ZDNet.
I was ready to skewer Mr. Andreessen (when I covered Netscape, I had Andreessen's
name on a hot key so I wouldn't screw it up) because his company got thoroughly
clobbered by Microsoft. Who is he to give turnaround advice?
But before I criticize a major industry figure (who can sue me without checking
his bank balance), I like to do a little research.
It turns out (cut/paste) Andreessen (end paste) is a winner. Netscape, even
in its weakened state, sold for $4.5 billion to AOL and Sun. After Netscape,
(cut/paste) Andreessen (end paste) started Loudcloud. He sold the Loudcloud
hosting business to EDS and used to rest to form what is now Opsware. Opsware
sales have nearly doubled every year for the past four years, though it's still
losing money.
What really deflated my plans to rip (cut/paste) Andreessen (end paste) apart
is the fact that this advice is rather excellent (damn you, [cut/paste] Andreessen
[end paste]!)
In his blog, (cut/paste) Andreessen (end paste) advises large company CEOs
to:
- Stop talking to the press and figure out the company's problems.
- Once you have them figured out, announce your new strategy and then stop
talking to the press again.
He also advises making layoffs fast and deep, and putting your best people
on the most important projects. Here's
the blog.
Vista Way Secure, Microsoft Says
A few months after Vista shipped, Microsoft released
a report showing that its new OS was more secure than virtually anything
else on the desktop, such as XP, Mac and Linux.
Redmond Report readers bought the XP part, but fell all over themselves laughing
about the Mac and Linux findings.
Three months later comes the six-month
report, and once again Vista comes through with flying colors.
My take is that the sheer number of flaws is important, but not the final word
in security. It is possible that Mac and Linux have more flaws, but what really
matters is what hackers care to attack -- and they just love attacking Windows!
Risque Ballmer Business
Here's a cool
YouTube video (that I learned about from Redmond
Developer News) of Steve Ballmer talking sexy about his company.
What's your favorite technology-related video? Send your links to [email protected].
About the Author
Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the VP, editorial director of Redmond Media Group.