For One Partner, SaaS Is Phase 2

Microsoft partner Phase 2 International, sensibly based in Hawaii, is all over Redmond's SaaS (or, we suppose, S+S) play. Kurt Mackie has more about Phase 2's SaaS-y goings-on here .

Posted by Lee Pender on January 17, 20080 comments


Oracle Finally Gets BEA

Whatever Larry wants, Larry gets...and BEA, Larry Ellison wants you. Actually, the free-spending Oracle honcho has wanted BEA for a while , and this week, he finally got it -- for almost $8 billion More

Posted by Lee Pender on January 17, 20080 comments


VMware To Bulk Up Desktop Product with Acquisition

It's Product News Wednesday, so we're stretching VMware's acquisition of Thinstall from a financial story into a product story, as Thinstall's stuff will eventually make it into VMware's desktop virtualization offering.

Posted by Lee Pender on January 16, 20080 comments


Are You Preparing for a Recession?

Here in panic nation, with the sub-prime mortgage fiasco and the resulting credit crunch leaving blocks of houses empty, and the stock market tanking like the Cowboys in a playoff game, all the talk is starting to boil down to one word: recession.

The signs of an economic slowdown are everywhere, and presidential candidates are starting to address the issue -- and when politicians wake up and realize that something's going on, that's when you know that whatever it is they're talking about is at an advanced stage and is very much upon us.

More

Posted by Lee Pender on January 16, 20080 comments


Vista SP1 Beta Available

In case you missed it, a public beta of Vista SP1 has been out there since late last week. For those of you actually running Vista, that is.

Posted by Lee Pender on January 16, 20080 comments


Microsoft Unveils Dynamics Retail Application

Microsoft took the wraps off of a retail component of the Dynamics suite of business applications this week.

Perhaps hoping for better things from America's Team, Microsoft included in its press release More

Posted by Lee Pender on January 16, 20081 comments


IBM Rakes In the Cash

International Business Machines -- we just love full names like that -- gave Wall Street a much-needed jolt this week with earnings that beat expectations .

Posted by Lee Pender on January 15, 20080 comments


Meet the New Microsoft, Not the Same as the Old Microsoft

Bill Gates, you knew about. The press has written stories, sonatas and sagas (well, stories, anyway, and lots of them) about the departure of Microsoft's legendary leader. Redmond has worked to ensure his line of succession, with Steve Ballmer continuing as CEO mostly for the business side of things and Ray Ozzie taking over the technology reins.

But there's a lot more to Microsoft's transition than just Gates' departure. Bruce Jaffe, architect of some of Microsoft's biggest acquisitions -- including the massive aQuantive buyout -- will be gone by the end of February. And, perhaps more critically, Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division, the group responsible for a little product called Office, will be gone -- "retired" -- by the end of the summer of 2008.

More

Posted by Lee Pender on January 15, 20081 comments


Microsoft in Eurotrouble Again

Perhaps flush with the victory they scored in court last fall, European regulators are on Microsoft's back again -- this time, in part, because of (you guessed it) the Internet Explorer browser! Couldn't they just Goog...uh, we mean Live Search the U.S. antitrust settlement and figure something out? More

Posted by Lee Pender on January 15, 20080 comments


New Malware Toolkit Thwarts Anti-Virus

The word "malware," which we assume has its roots in Baudelaire , has always sort of made us snicker. But this new malware toolkit (whatever that is) that's making an end run around anti-virus applications doesn't sound too funny at all.

Posted by Lee Pender on January 15, 20080 comments


Ingram Micro Eases Financing for SMB Partners

The big distributor has some interesting leasing finance options for partners that work with SMBs. Launch yourself into the press release here .

Posted by Lee Pender on January 10, 20080 comments


Softchoice Keeps on Spending

From the "In Case You Missed It" file, hungry, hungry Softchoice announced the purchase of yet another company last week.

Posted by Lee Pender on January 10, 20080 comments