Jacqueline Emigh

IBM has placed Oracle on its radar with its planned $1 billion acquisition of Informix. “We are Larry Ellisons worst nightmare, and it just got worse,” says Steve Mills, group executive of IBM Software Group. IBMs existing DB2 Universal database will continue to be its lead database product, as it rolls some Informix technologies into […]

Fourth place isnt good enough for Sybase. The vendor—which trails IBM, Oracle and Informix in the database market—is poised to swoop into new areas through its pending $373 million acquisition of New Era Of Networks (NEON). Sybase CEO and president John Chen says his company will use NEONs integration technology for new tools that will […]

Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Digital River was founded way back in 1994. Not surprisingly, in light of the current implementation with Crystal Decisions, the companys initial focus was on product fulfillment for software vendors, both through downloads and software disks. After starting to expand its activities two years ago, Digital River is now addressing the “entire […]

Crystal Decisions web site is a rare gem. The companys online revenue has doubled since last year, and nearly 50 percent of its online sales come from software downloads. The tidal wave of activity can be traced back to Digital River, a solutions provider that specializes in site development, Internet hosting and various e-commerce activities. […]

Microsofts bold move to create a professional-services organization has been greeted with mixed reactions from solutions providers. While some are offering optimism, others fear that the software maker could easily eat their lunch. The new organization consolidates Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) and Product Support Services (PSS) into a single entity with a staff of 13,000, […]

Supporting Linux and AIX alike, IBMs new AIX 5L operating system and p660 and p620 servers are part of the companys ongoing push to take over the Unix market lead through a combination of direct sales and partnerships. IBM VP Mike Kerr thinks that IBMs just released midrange SMP servers, bundled with AIX 5L, will […]

Content management isnt just for high-end publishing enterprises anymore. As manufacturing, travel and pharmaceutical companies continue to store digital data, doors in this space are opening wider for integrators, solutions providers and ASPs. Sometimes called digital asset management, content management provides “archiving” or storage for digital data such as text, images, audio and video. Many […]

SAPs planned $400 million buyout of TopTier Software is the latest in a flurry of acquisitions to kick off consolidation within the enterprise portal software market. “Its a shopping center out there,” says Mark Wesker, president and COO of Sequoia Software. Wesker speaks from first-hand knowledge, because Sequoia is positioned to be acquired by Citrix […]

One year ago, internet consultancy Groundswell was armed with a fistful of VC dollars and a goal to build Web-based business communities. Now, with the boom gone from the dot-com economy, the company has repositioned itself as a portal integrator and evangelist. “One of the things we want to do is to dispel customer confusion […]

As the overall fate of the ASP market remains up in the air, individual providers are trying harder to nail down solid outposts in this quicksand-like turf. But those that are staying afloat are getting a little bit of help from their vendor partners. While dozens of ASPs have gone out of business, and some […]

As Novell transforms its model to one that provides product and services, it still will need the help of solutions provider partners. The proposed $240 million acquisition of Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) was highlighted by Novell executives at BrainShare last week. Officials touted the deal as the culmination of a two-year hunt to find a […]

As part of a plan to catch up to the U.S. in Internet technology, the Japanese government is now inviting 30,000 foreign experts to work in Japan. I-Mode, a technology from Japans Docomo, is the envy of just about every country on Earth for wireless Internet access. Ironically, though, Japan finds itself in just about […]