Recent Articles
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How to Negotiate with Oracle Post-Canary Swallowing
When it comes to sales and to negotiating licensing and support, Oracle has always been stocked with tough-as-nails negotiators. The company at times has attempted to domesticate its team, such as in August when it released its first-ever set of guidelines to instruct its direct sales staff in North America on how to play nice…
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Cisco to Buy Security Firm Protego
Cisco Systems’ announcement Monday that it will acquire privately held startup Protego Networks for $65 million adds a critical piece to Cisco’s strategy for becoming a security vendor. Over the course of the past year, Cisco has acquired other companies to build its self-defending network and its Network Admission Control technology. With Protego, those capabilities…
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A Chat With Microsoft’s OEM Chief
Not so long ago, Microsoft’s OEM division was seen as the dark heart of the “Evil Empire.” During the Department of Justice (DOJ) vs. Microsoft antitrust trial that dragged on throughout much of the 1990s, the business practices of Microsoft’s OEM unit and its then-chief Joachim Kempin came under tough scrutiny. When the government declared…
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EMC Gains Smarts to Improve SAN Troubleshooting
The acquisitive EMC Corp. Tuesday snatched up another software provider—this time in the network systems management space—with its agreement to acquire System management ARTS Inc., or Smarts. The Hopkinton, Mass., storage provider will pony up $260 million in cash for Smarts, which provides event automation and root-cause analysis for faults across networks, servers and applications.…
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Services as Commodity
The big theme for outsourcing and services in 2004? Without question, it was the rise of commodity outsourcing. The cautious rebound in IT spending has meant that IT budgets have had to run a gauntlet of skepticism at many companies. Gone are the days when the mere mention of IT was greeted with an open…
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IBM Gains Support for BladeCenter Spec
IBM has signed up more than 110 companies to build technologies to the open specification for its BladeCenter systems. IBM, of Armonk, N.Y., and chip maker Intel Corp. in September released the open specification, enabling outside vendors to build such technology as networking switches and adapter cards. The goal was to create an ecosystem around…
