For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Case Study: How Vodafone Germany Became A Convergent Operator

Four Lessons In Strategy Implementation

by Mike Cansfield, June 24, 2009

Convergence is happening today in the communications sector at multiple levels. This creates opportunities for telecom companies — notably in information and communications technology (ICT), entertainment, solutions, and services — but also threats as . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Infosys Adapts To Global Market Change

The Axon Acquisition Denotes A Major Shift In Infosys' Global Growth Strategy

by Chris Andrews, September 22, 2008

With its proposed $753 million acquisition of UK-based consulting firm Axon Group, Infosys is taking a big step to reposition itself in an increasingly challenging market environment. Like most of its India-based competitors, Infosys is facing intense . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Momentum: Middleware Software Market, H1 2008

by Stefan Ried, Ph.D., September 16, 2008

The middleware software market continues to mature — from the bottom of the technology stack to the higher layers. A set of 15 representative vendors announced a healthy mix of new product innovations and the maintenance of existing products with successive . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Cognos Acquisition Puts IBM In Thick Of BI Race

Move Changes Competitive and Partnering Dynamics

by Boris Evelson, Paul D. Hamerman, December 27, 2007

IBM's planned acquisition of Cognos comes as little surprise following SAP's announcement to acquire Business Objects and Oracle's recent acquisition of Hyperion. IBM's move is cleaner in terms of minimizing product overlaps than the other two, but it . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

HP Software Improves Its Portfolio By Buying Coveted Assets

SWOT Analysis: HP Software, Q4 2007

by Peter O'Neill, December 7, 2007

HP has continued its series of major acquisitions that redefines the IT management software landscape. The combination of HP OpenView and Mercury provided a strong next generation of service-oriented solutions combining Mercury's strength in life-cycle . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Storage IPOs Hot, Acquisitions Not

Multiple Storage Firms Go Public As Pace Of Acquisition Slows

by Andrew Reichman, November 27, 2007

For the last several years, enterprise storage has been an acquisitive market, with big fish gobbling up minnows and even peer-sized firms at a dramatic rate. But during the past year, the pace of acquisition has slowed and a significant number of storage . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

D&B's Acquisition Of Purisma Signals Market Shift

Trusted Data Source Vendor Commits To Delivering CDI Technology

by R "Ray" Wang, November 21, 2007

On November 5, 2007, Short Hills, NJ-based Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) revealed its $48 million acquisition of Purisma, a Redwood City, Calif., provider of customer hub solutions. Until now, the majority of D&B's expertise had been applied to the . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Converged Service Delivery Voyage

How To Make CSD A Lasting Success For European Telecom Players

by Rolf Schonhowd, November 16, 2007

European telecoms are pursuing new opportunities to increase their revenues and protect their profit margins. Many providers are looking toward converged service delivery (CSD) as a market opportunity in this context. However, only a few players have . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Assess Your Enterprise Agility

Agree On Agility Objectives With Your Internal Peers

by Henry Peyret, November 12, 2007

Firms and government organizations are constantly buffeted by changes in their business environment — from changing customer tastes to economic changes affecting raw material prices to government regulations that make hitherto smart business strategies . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

SAP Changes Course With Major Acquisition

ERP Leader Accelerates Growth Strategy With Business Objects Acquisition

by Boris Evelson, Paul D. Hamerman, November 5, 2007

SAP, in a complete turnaround from its prior organic growth and "tuck-in" acquisitions strategy, announced its intention to acquire Business Objects on October 7, 2007. This move parallels similar big bang acquisitions by its application rival, Oracle, . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Wipro-Infocrossing Deal Changes The Competitive Landscape In Outsourcing

by Julie Giera, October 12, 2007

Wipro's latest acquisition of Infocrossing will accelerate the sweeping changes already affecting the IT services industry. It's just one more example of the consolidation of the midtier services market. The move separates Wipro from its offshore competitors . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Acer Creates A Global Titan With Gateway

This Strategic Move Will Thwart Lenovo And Give Dell And HP Real Competition

by J.P. Gownder, August 28, 2007

Acer's announcement that it will acquire Gateway is a clever plan, as Acer simultaneously improves its brand recognition, channel reach, and opportunity for gains in margin. Like IBM Deep Blue, Acer strategists calculated several moves ahead in the global . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Disney Buys Club Penguin

The Magic Kingdom Signals The Start Of A Phase Of Virtual World Acquisitions By Major Corporations

by Paul Jackson, August 3, 2007

After several months of speculation, Disney has acquired popular children's virtual world/social networking site Club Penguin — bolstering an already impressive range of online world services. This is likely to be the first of several, if not many, virtual . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Capgemini's Kanbay Acquisition Points The Way For Future Euro-Indian M&A Activity

by Richard Peynot, January 11, 2007

IT service purchasers should look out for more M&A activity between European service providers and their counterparts in India. Forrester, however, believes that this will not take the form of "big bang" acquisitions or mergers between major players . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Service Activation Market Heats Up

Vendor Acquisitions Change The OSS Landscape

by Michele Pelino, December 18, 2006

Service activation solutions configure and provide visibility into network elements and devices that support voice, video, or data services deployed by communications service providers. Oracle's recent $219.2 million cash offer for MetaSolv Software and . . .

Symantec's Acquisition Strategy

Today Security, Tomorrow The World

by Thomas Raschke, Bill Nagel, May 30, 2006

Since 2000, Symantec has been aggressively acquiring companies — 25 in total. Six years ago, the firm was a relatively small vendor chiefly known for its consumer antivirus software — but acquisitions changed all that, expanding Symantec's remit into . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Are Barbarians At The Gates Of Outsourcing?

Mergers And Acquisitions Could Dominate Outsourcing In The Next Two Years

by Julie Giera, March 14, 2006

The business press has been all aflutter recently with talk of potential buyouts of global outsourcers by private-equity firms. And why not? Attracted by double-digit growth in new deals, long-term contracts, and the popularity of outsourcing, equity . . .

Mastering M&A: The CIO's Game Plan

by Alex Cullen, January 9, 2006

Few IT organizations have expertise integrating IT after mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, yet business success is dependent upon IT's successful integration. Without a well-thought-out and effectively managed plan, IT risks an incomplete integration, . . .

Message To Telco CEOs: Stop The M&A Madness

by Lars Godell, December 19, 2005

Several European telcos seem hell-bent on expanding their empires, despite the questionable logic of this behavior and the poor track record of M&A activity in delivering shareholder value. Incumbent telco CEOs' fear of becoming a takeover target . . .

Financial Planning For The Early Stages Of Mergers

Phase 2: Preparing An IT Integration Budget

by Julie Giera, March 31, 2005

One of the most often asked questions of IT managers following the announcement of a merger or acquisition is how much will it cost to integrate IT? To make matters worse, deal makers have likely set expectations around IT costs and savings based on little, . . .

The Impact Of M&As On IT

Phase 1: Choosing An IT Integration Approach

by Julie Giera, March 31, 2005

When a merger is announced, one of the first things that executive management wants to know is how long the IT integration will take. Unfortunately, any estimates that IT provides at this stage are likely to be cast in stone, no matter what caveats and . . .

A Systematic Method For Managing Mergers

by Julie Giera, December 22, 2004

Mergers are on the rise again, and with them come new challenges for IT managers. According to recent studies by Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Watson Wyatt, more than half of mergers fail to generate business value. Part of that failure can be attributed . . .

Mitigation Of IT Risks In Early Stages Of Mergers

by Julie Giera, December 21, 2004

In 2001, Booz Allen Hamilton conducted a study of mergers. It found 53% of mergers in the prior three years failed to achieve expected results. And, of those that failed, 42% of the CEOs were gone within two years of the deal closing. There are many reasons . . .

Preparing For Divestiture

by Julie Giera, December 21, 2004

Forrester anticipates 2005 will be a banner year for mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. IT managers in volatile industries, such as manufacturing, banking, and utilities, should consider preparing their organizations for any potential sale or divestiture . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

Converge or Collide? Neither! Portal and WCM Markets Integrate

by Laura Ramos, April 12, 2002

Giga expects separate, but easily integrated, Web content management offerings to continue to be popular with portals; portal buyers want lower cost choices for managing content in portals, particularly when integrating existing products with new ones.