vendor management - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Tech industry's biggest M&A deals of 2008

  The top 15 mergers and acquisition deals in the network industry for 2008 were worth nearly US$65 billion, and companies involved ran the gamut from those specializing in IT services to network routers to wireless and security. Carriers such as AT&T, Verizon Wireless and CenturyTel were among the biggest spenders. Given the practically nonexistent tech IPO market, buyouts proved to be a popular exit strategy for many this year.
  We've consolidated 60-plus tech M&A deals (and counting) from this year in our ongoing slideshow. Note that in many deals, the vendors don't publicly say how much they're forking over for their prize acquisitions, but here, we'll recap the top 15 based on publicly disclosed transaction values:

• Sun gives a hand to start ups

  Sun Microsystems has launched its Startup Essentials Program in Australia and New Zealand, which offers free and heavily discounted Sun products and services to newly established businesses.
  The program was launched in the US in 2006 and India and China in 2007 and is already supporting 100 businesses globally, according to Sun, the company said in a press statement.Sun Microsystems will work with its partners MCR and WebCentral to implement the program.

• Fronde unfurls a profit

  Managed services, banking solutions and software firm Fronde has announced a $1 million net profit for the half year to September 30.
  The result is in marked contrast to the $3.1 million loss for the same half year period last year, and exceeds the $700,000 profit achieved in the half year to March 31, 2008.

• Ricoh secures carbon neutral tick

  After becoming the first local IT business to achieve carbon neutrality through Landcare Research’s carboNZero programme, Ricoh is encouraging others to follow suit.
  Managing director Mike Pollok says that while the world is going through some tough economic times, businesses all need to become more environmentally responsible or there will be serious consequences in the future.

• Doing business with…

  Name: Graham Pullen
  Company: Open Text

• One quarter of SLAs not met

  While most organisations have adopted formal service-level agreements (SLAs), they only meet these agreements 74 per cent of the time on average, according to new research by Forrester Consulting.
  The research, commissioned by Compuware, found that the primary reason for missing SLAs is that the business unit has expectations out of the reach of IT.

• Tech players brace for crunch

  The technology sector is bracing for a string of earnings downgrades over the next month as rising fuel costs and a tightening of corporate belts rein in the surging growth that listed computing and communications companies have delivered over the past six years.
  Some information systems and services suppliers are already reporting a spending slowdown in key sectors such as consumer goods and transport and logistics as projects go on hold while the impact of spiralling oil prices is assessed.

• Queensland loses tech chief to Microsoft

  Microsoft spokeswoman Anne Flanagan confirmed yesterday that Peter Grant, Queensland state government chief information officer, had accepted a role at the company.
  The appointment is a significant coup for Microsoft as Mr Grant is one of Australia's most powerful public sector technology officers.