Cisco's splashing the cash again, this time on a company that somehow aids in routing information to mobile devices (hopefully not the Sidekick, which will just lose it, anyway). Cisco's price tag for this venture? Nearly $3 billion.
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/13/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Microsoft and SAP have long had a funny little history of coopetition in the ERP market, the Duet combo of Microsoft Office and a SAP back end being one example. Well, now Microsoft is sneaking up on its bigger rival (in the ERP market, anyway) by doing a little end-around with Capgemini, which will help Microsoft software integrate with SAP's ERP stuf.
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/13/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
We generally try to stay away from rumors here, but we just love this one. Apparently there's a fair amount of buzz that a hardware company -- which one, we don't know, just a hardware company of some sort -- might be looking to buy Tech Data in order to be a bit less reliant on the shrinking hardware market.
OK, here's the real reason why we love the rumor. It comes from Robert Trigaux of Tampabay.com, who is to be lauded for his excellent use of links in his blog entry on the topic. Yes, that's right! The venerable Mr. Trigaux linked to...RCPU! We're "industry observers" who recently noticed Tech Data's financial rebound! Yes!
And it's not a totally unfounded rumor, either. In fact, it has legs. According to Mr. Trigaux, TheStreet.com (there's a video here) has Tech Data on its acquisition watch for several reasons. Those reasons -- more like indicators, really -- include a recent bump in Tech Data's stock price (which this industry observer noted, sort of) and lots of recent sales of shares by company insiders.
Seriously, though, we're thinking that the channel needs an independent Tech Data. That's what we don't like about this rumor -- the thought that it might be true. Tech Data is a distribution monster and a company critical to the success of many, probably most, Microsoft partners. Shoe-horning it into some hardware company's portfolio would likely introduce, at the very least, some serious conflicts of interest and complications for Tech Data itself as well as for the channel players that rely on it.
Of course, all of this is just at rumor stage for now, so it shouldn't be more than a passing concern or a topic of a "what if?" conversation. But, as industry observers, we will, of course, keep tabs on the situation. So, Mr. Trigaux of Tampabay.com and everybody else out there who has a stake in this story, watch this space.
What would happen if a hardware vendor bought Tech Data? What would you think of that sort of deal? How would it affect you? Spill your thoughts at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/08/2009 at 1:22 PM4 comments
The ongoing, nasty and extremely expensive regulatory battle between Microsoft and the European Union seems to have reached a sort of armistice -- and it involves Microsoft conceding to using the infamous browser ballot screen.
Quoth Bloomberg:
"Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft in July accepted a key EU demand that it give consumers a choice of browsers through a so-called ballot screen. Under the settlement, consumers who buy new personal computers will be given a choice of the 12 most widely used browsers to install in addition to, or instead of, Microsoft's Internet Explorer, the commission said.
"The agreement, which would last five years, would allow PC makers to install competing Web browsers, set them as a default program and to disable Internet Explorer, the EU said."
Disable Internet Explorer? Wow, that's a long way from just offering the browser ballot screen. Of course, users would surely be able to enable it again (right?), but the browser war really is on now -- or it will be in Europe as soon as this settlement becomes official. Well, it will be for the 12 browsers (we're not sure we can name 12 browsers) that will make the final ballot screen cut.
We haven't been big fans here of the EU's treatment of Microsoft for the most part, but give those Eurocrats some credit; they don't give up. Microsoft is a convicted monopolist in this country, but it never really paid very heavily for committing that "crime" (which is fine by us). Not so in Europe -- the EU has been an absolute beast in going after Microsoft. Agree with the EU or not (and we mostly don't), we can respect that.
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/08/2009 at 1:22 PM1 comments
It's a CRM and unified communications -- whatever that is -- combo with an eye on the cloud. If you want to read more about it, you'll just have to click here for Stephen Swoyer's excellent story on RCPmag.com. (Yes, we're trying to drive traffic to the Web site. It's part of why we're here. And while you're on RCPmag.com, have a look around. Stay for a while.)
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/08/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
So, social networking is critical for business, huh? Well, it might be, but it isn't likely to be so important during work hours with more than half of companies in a recent survey saying that they block social networking sites in the office.
And good for them, we say. Not because of productivity and all that but because just about anything that hastens the demise of the completely ridiculous notion that is Twitter is something we like. By the way, we'd like to remind you that you can follow RCPU on Twitter at http://twitter.com/leepender. Just probably not from work. And hopefully not for long.
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/08/2009 at 1:22 PM1 comments
If anything Microsoft does deserves the description "underwhelming," it has to be Windows Mobile. Lagging in market share, innovation and general relevance behind several other competitors (not just the iPhone), Windows Mobile is the ne'er-do-well relative of the Windows operating system, the gin-soaked brother-in-law who sleeps on the couch when he gets kicked out of his apartment and just needs a place to crash for a few days, man.
Windows Mobile is, for now, a money drain on Microsoft, a product so forlorn that even Steve Ballmer can't manage to be upbeat about it. So, this week's appearance of some smartphones based on WinMo 6.5, despite Microsoft's officially sunny take on the whole thing, didn't exactly cause a massive, iPhone-style stir. In fact, it mainly seemed to draw attention to how far behind Windows is on the small screen.
But, as always, Microsoft has something cooking. The long-rumored project "Pink" appears to be Microsoft's attempt to get into mobile hardware and doesn't seem to have anything to do with Windows Mobile at all (probably not a bad thing). Exactly what Pink is, we're not sure. And, apparently, as Mary Jo Foley tells us in the link just above, Microsoft won't talk about it at all or even acknowledge the codename.
As usual, however, there have already been leaks of what Pink phones might look like -- if they're ever going to look like anything. And now (get this), there's word coming from stealth sources in Seattle that Pink might be dying, if, of course, it even exists. Or maybe it'll never be born. Or something. As best we can tell, there's massive confusion at Microsoft around Pink, WinMo 7 and the whole mobile strategy at Microsoft in general.
And so Windows Mobile remains the Roger Clinton or Billy Carter of operating systems, except without the ironic charm of the aforementioned brothers or former presidents. What WinMo remains, really, is an embarrassment for a company that worries immensely about its image and -- a few dorky ad campaigns aside -- does a pretty good job of preserving it. Worse, WinMo is a money loser in Redmond and, we're guessing, not exactly a pot of gold for partners.
If this slothful houseguest of the Microsoft family is going to get himself cleaned up and make himself useful, he's going to need some help from the family in Redmond. But Microsoft seems to be executing at about Vista level with WinMo, which means that the drunken brother-in-law will probably go on embarrassing his relatives and crashing on couches for a while to come.
What could Microsoft do to make Windows Mobile better? What should Microsoft's mobile strategy be? Sound off at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/07/2009 at 1:22 PM4 comments
The news earlier this week that Hotmail had been caught in a phishing net brought out the Microsoft haters in full voice. But the naysayers seem a bit quieter now that other Web-based e-mail services -- including the sainted Gmail, which, by the way, your editor uses for personal purposes -- have fallen victim to the attack.
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/07/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Talk about epic fail: Vista was such a disaster that even Steve Ballmer has stopped pretending that it was any kind of success. Ballmer told a U.K. newspaper this week that the company's reputation still hasn't recovered following the Vista debacle. Surely Vista has to have achieved something along the lines of New Coke-level failure now. Or maybe Ryan Leaf drinking New Coke while driving a Yugo. In any case, it's bad.
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/07/2009 at 1:22 PM3 comments
Hey, you Mac zealots, we know your secrets. We see those PCs hidden in your home offices and those Dell laptops on your living room sofas. We know now that 85 percent of you -- that's a lot -- not only have a Mac but also a PC. So, stop the smug act, OK? (Linux users, you may still be smug...for now.)
And speaking of the smug act, we loved this hilarious bit of commentary on the PC-Mac dichotomy from a grouchy U.K. writer and PC user who hates both the PC and Mac fans -- a position we can understand to a great extent (beware, this is a tad nasty and has a hint of a dirty word or two...but it's also funny).
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/07/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Believe it or not, there are still some Lotus Notes users out there -- lots of them, actually -- and IBM is still an e-mail vendor. Now, it's a vendor with a cloud-based e-mail option for the enterprise, something known as LotusLive iNotes.
The name has it all -- the word "Live," a la Microsoft, two words PutTogether, as has been popular in the industry for a while, and the lower-case "i" before the word "Notes" in what we can only guess is a loving tribute to the iPhone (and a bunch of other Apple stuff). Way to make that new service really stand out, IBM. In other news, we're changing the name of RCPU to the "InformatonWorld ComputerWeek iNewsletter." Not really.
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/06/2009 at 1:22 PM1 comments
No, really. Red Hat has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to outlaw software patents.
Outlaw! Now, we're going to go on another pro-patent rant here, but first we'll say this: No, we don't like patent trolls. Yes, the system needs reform so that some make-nothing patent hog can't tear a legitimately innovative company (that actually makes things) to shreds.
But outlawing software patents? Baby, bathwater, throwing one out with the other -- those are the words that come to mind. It's too much. Red Hat's argument is that patents stifle innovation. We would argue that patent trolls do that, but that patents themselves encourage innovation because (in an ideal world) they let the people who invent things make money off of them, which provides pretty good incentive to invent. We won't hold our breath waiting on the Supreme Court to respond to this.
Posted by Lee Pender on 10/06/2009 at 1:22 PM0 comments