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Supplier Report: 7/6/2014

Looks like it was a light week because of the holiday.  IBM’s up and down stock performance has only expanded talks of their demise.  HP continues to redefined their operating model and correct bad acquisitions by write off or sell off.  Oracle continues to get little press.

If you have been reading the last month worth of these reports, a funny side note, RackSpace is now talking about going private since they can’t find a buyer.

On to the report…

HP:

  1. HP Introducing cloud-enabled health centers in India:
    http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_h/hewlett_packard/20140704_ehealth_centres.html
  2. HP recruits new enterprise CIO from Clorox:
    http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/300073327/hp-goes-to-clorox-for-new-enterprise-group-cio.htm
  3. HP looks to sell off MPhasis stake
    http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/hp-hires-ubs-to-manage-mphasis-stake-sale-114070101452_1.html

IBM:

  1. Looking for confirmation on IBM’s sell off of semi-conductor business:
    http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2014/07/03/ibm-silent-earnings-near/12190903/
  2. IBM selling off DB management system:
    http://www.govconwire.com/2014/07/ibm-sells-database-mgmt-system-to-unicom-corry-hong-comments/
  3. IBM opening SoftLayer datacenter in London:
    http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2352554/ibm-will-open-london-data-centre-in-july-in-softlayer-cloud-computing-expansion
  4. IBM struggling to keep shareholders happy:
    http://seekingalpha.com/article/2296935-ibm-running-out-of-easy-ways-to-keep-the-shareholders-satisfied

    • IBM sales and profits are on a downhill run.
    • The company is masking its problems with happy talk and cost-cutting.
    • This kind of story seldom ends well.

Oracle:

  1. Oracle is estimated to grow:
    http://seekingalpha.com/article/2298395-oracle-well-positioned-to-grow

Other:

  1. SalesForce appoints new CFO:
    http://www.businesscloudnews.com/2014/07/01/salesforce-appoints-enterprise-it-veteran-mark-hawkins-as-cfo/
    NOTE: They seem to be poaching alot of HP talent.
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Supplier Report: 6/29/2014

HP:

  1. HP settling $11.1B lawsuit with Autonomy (nice summarized read)
    http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=170553&heading=Business
    and here is another article:
    http://www.bidnessetc.com/22328-hp-settles-shareholder-lawsuit-over-autonomy-saga/

That is all anybody is talking about with HP this week (and the typical – “the stock is bouncing back so get in while the gettin’ is good)

IBM:

  1. Decent article on IBM’s strategy with SoftLayer.  Keep your eyes peeled for any movement with this acquisition… Softlayer seems to be the keystone in their cloud strategy:
    http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2352531/softlayer-points-to-cloud-fuelled-ibm-distie-shake-up
  2. Here is an article about IBM connections ver. 5
    http://www.it-director.com/blogs/MWD_Advisors/2014/6/ibm-connections-5-0-bringing-on-prem-in-line-with-smartcloud.html
  3. Maintenance deal may save Lenovo’s service acquisition from IBM (US Gov doesn’t want Chinese company touch equipment, IBM to provide on site support for 5 years)
    http://channelnomics.com/2014/06/26/maintenance-key-ibm-lenovo-server-deal/#.U7AZsPldV8E

Oracle:

  1. Oracle is behind as a player in the cloud, but a realizing massive growth and fully realized SaaS solutions:
    http://marketrealist.com/2014/06/oracle-thinks-can-number-one-cloud-services-player/
  2. Another look at Oracle buying Micro Systems Inc and thoughts into their strategy:
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-23/oracle-eschews-flash-to-buy-micros-at-discount-real-m-a.html

Other:

  1. Tech CEOs and their retirement ages
    http://www.businessinsider.com/in-a-trend-citrix-ceo-wont-retire-2014-6
  2. Rackspace still can’t find a buyer
    http://www.benzinga.com/news/14/06/4667572/rackspace-down-7-on-rumor-it-cant-find-buyer?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+benzinga%2Fnews%2Frumors+(Channels+-+News+-+Rumors)
  3. Give yourself 24 hours to deal with failure and then move on.
    http://lifehacker.com/give-yourself-24-hours-to-deal-with-failure-and-move-on-1596134647
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Supplier Report: 6/22/2014

Oracle

There is finally some information about Oracle making it to the press!

  1. Deputy Mayor of London wants to take Oracle down:
    http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Why-The-Deputy-Mayor-Of-London-Wants-To-Take-5565655.php
  2. News on the Oracle stock slide and why they aren’t hitting their cloud numbers:
    http://www.techinsider.net/oracle-corporation-orcls-cloud-share-in-revenue-a-big-problem-lance-ulanoff/116352.html
  3. Oracle nearing deal to buy Micros (hospitality software) for $5B:
    http://www.rttnews.com/2338117/oracle-reportedly-nearing-deal-to-buy-micros-for-more-than-5-bln.aspx

IBM

  1. IBM not interested in Rackspace:
    http://www.texastechpulse.com/ibm_softlayer_chief_rackspace_buy_not_exciting/s-0055613.html

There is lots of chatter about IBM being in competition with HP and Microsoft at the moment (Microsoft just released an analytic platform called Azure).

Overall a slow week for both IBM and HP regarding news.

Other

  1. Tata may soon become the world’s largest IT employer:
    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/TCS-may-soon-be-worlds-second-biggest-tech-employer/articleshow/36677336.cms
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Supplier Report: 6/15/2014

** IBM **

IBM’s flash storage rated best in class by Gartner:
IBM may unload their chip business:
IBM is leveraging more open-source in their hardware to offset cost: (potential cip implication?)
IBM 3rd largest in security software
 
IBM shifting to same day delivery to compete with Amazon:
** HP **
Can HP pull an IBM?
NOTE: There are still alot of articles about HP’s hardware focus – so that is three weeks in a row of very hardware focused talk coming out of HP.  Not alot of chatter on cloud technology.
** Oracle **
Oracle developed database focused x86 server platform optimized for their DB products:
** Career **
Improve your communication skill:
Related: Becoming a better listener
Here is a long one with video:
Richard Feynman didn’t win the nobel prize by promptly answering emails:
“To do real good physics work, you do need absolute solid lengths of time…it needs a lot of concentration…if you have a job administrating anything, you don’t have the time. So I have invented another myth for myself: that I’m irresponsible. I’m actively irresponsible. I tell everyone I don’t anything. If anyone asks me to be on a committee for admissions, ‘no,’ I tell them: I’m irresponsible.”
I don’t encourage anyone to promote themselves as irresponsible, but I do support and advocate locking yourself away to focus on projects.
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Supplier Report: 6/8/2014

** IBM **

Is there a looming IBM turn around?
IBM’s Platform as a service… (covers softlayer)
Subtle article about Softlayer but what I think is going to grow into a dominate framework for IBM in the coming years:
Concur and IBM are getting cozy…
** HP **
There are lots of articles about HP laptops and chromebooks this week.  They are going for low end sub-400 dollar devices.
There were many posts about their strategy to get into “big data” and “cloud” but nothing that hasn’t been said already.
** Career **
How to write an effective out of office…  (more of an affirmation than a tutorial)
Cutting thank you from your speeches: