The Source

IBM

Light news cycle for IBM this week in light of the HP split.  Most of the news this week is PR fluff about Watson.

1. IBM building a Watson facility in NYC
   http://www.bidnessetc.com/27063-ibms-watson-facility-opens-in-new-york-city/
2. Samsung is going after IBM and Apple:
   Note: They are seeing a 60% drop in profits for Q3 2014
   http://seekingalpha.com/article/2551995-samsung-cio-wages-war-against-apple-ibm-and-blackberry-in-enterprise-mobility
3. IBM scores a canadian government contract to provide data centers…
   

   IBM Canada has won a multi-year contract to provide and manage one of the new data centres the federal government needs as it consolidates IT infrastructure under its Shared Services program.

   http://www.itworldcanada.com/article/breaking-new-ibm-wins-federal-data-centre-contract/98060

 

Oracle

1. Has the easy money already been made at Oracle?
   http://seekingalpha.com/article/2553795-has-the-easy-money-already-been-made-in-oracle
2. Update on the Google vs. Oracle copyright case:
   http://www.stockwisedaily.com/google-inc-googl-wants-copyright-case-with-oracle-corporation-orcl-decided-by-u-s-supreme-court/236821/
   Many high tech developers believe that if the Supreme Court upholds the ruling by the appeals court, it will have a big impact on software innovation
3. Oracle’s $13B buyback:
   

   Between the shift in the C-suite and the company’s disappointing financial results for the quarter, most analysts paid little attention to Oracle’s announcement that it had authorized a stock repurchase plan under which it could spend as much as $13 billion on its shares

   http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/10/08/will-oracle-corporations-13-billion-buyback-plan-p.aspx

HP

You know the big story this week is going to be the HP split since they announced it last Sunday night (and missed my news cycle).

1. Why the HP split could be the biggest news story of the year:
   

   Roughly one-third of HP’s total assets consisted of Goodwill alone during its most recent quarterly report. It’s a company that has simply become too large, too complex, and too reliant on unsustainable growth strategies to go without the kind of drastic overhaul we saw this week.

   https://time.com/money/3490785/hewlett-packard-hp-split/

2. More on the split:
   

   Another expected change announced by HP is in the current chairmanship. Dion Wiesler, the existing Head of PC and printer department, will take over as CEO. Meg Whitman will step down to nonexecutive chairmanship.

   http://stocks.org/company/the-hewlett-packard-nysehpq-and-hp-saga/26457/

3. Like I was telling some of you this week, this HP split has me thinking the EMC merger is still alive:
   

   EMC Corp., the $58 billion data-storage company, is speculated to be among targets Whitman is eyeing. None of Hewlett-Packard’s past deal disappointments — from Autonomy Corp. to Palm Inc. — approached that size. While talks with EMC are said to have stalled because of disagreements over price and other issues, Whitman made remarks this week that led some analysts to think a transaction is still in the works.

   http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-08/hp-s-deal-flops-are-whitman-s-cautionary-tale-real-m-and-a

4. More on the EMC and post-split HP merger thoughts:
   http://www.bidnessetc.com/26895-emc-and-hp-could-merge/
5. And here is an article on why a merger would be a bad idea:
   http://www.eweek.com/servers/why-its-still-not-a-great-idea-for-hp-and-emc-to-merge.html

Other

1. An account planning guide to buying salesforce (but it can be used for any supplier – I want you to read this one, good stuff)
   http://customerthink.com/12-steps-to-account-planning-in-2015/
2. Infographic of SalesForce users (interesting demographic info):
   https://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/mintigo-infographic-rgb1.jpg
3. Did anybody know that Symantec was also splitting?
   

   The Symantec divide will split its security and storage divisions from one another, as declining PC sales in the age of mobile are causing demand for its Norton antivirus software to lag.

   http://investorplace.com/2014/10/symantec-symc-stock-split-hpq-ebay/

Career

1. When work-life balance doesn’t work, try work-life integration (this is my general approach):
   http://mashable.com/2014/10/04/work-life-integration/
2. Defeat hard tasks with a concentration circuit:
   http://calnewport.com/blog/2014/10/08/deep-habits-conquer-hard-tasks-with-concentration-circuits/

 

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