ShadowRAM: March 22, 2004
Among the dry discussions about code are links to the group's swag at CafeShops.com, including products for sale showing a big, sideways smiley face with the phrase, "Don't Worry, Be MAPI," and the slogan, "Friends Don't Let Friends Virus-Scan The M: Drive." OK, so what do you want? They're developers.
Microsofties might be MAPI, but Steve Ballmer probably wasn't too happy last week. The Microsoft CEO sped off to Brussels for last-minute negotiations with EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti as the European Union prepares to announce fines and significant remedies for the company's alleged antitrust activities. The transatlantic trip meant Ballmer had to cancel his keynote at the company's management software summit in Las Vegas, where attendees had hoped to hear his latest take on another top priority,security.
Hewlett-Packard Executive VP Duane Zitzner was spotted sporting a new Rolex watch during a recent CRN photo shoot. No big deal for some high-tech execs, who seem to have a Rolex for every day of the week, but Duane prides himself on being extremely frugal (we know he drives used cars,and not high-end ones). He must have been late for a recent meeting with big boss Carly Fiorina and decided the old Timex had to go.
IBM says it is courting dozens of former BEA partners and has lured Viador, SEEC, Chariot and Bristlecone, which are adopting WebSphere for both product performance and the established benefits of partnering with IBM. In fact, Viador, a Redwood City, Calif.-based systems integrator that was one of BEA's major partners, now leads with IBM's middleware stack.
In BEA's defense, the company did launch a restructured channel program a few weeks back. And BEA is saying partners have played a vital role in bumping IBM out of its customer landscape. A BEA spokesperson said its technology replaced WebSphere at 142 different customers in BEA's fiscal 2003, which ended in January, and a systems integrator or ISV was involved in 65 percent of those deals.
BEA hasn't, however, quite lived up to IBM's savvy track record in advertising. According to an item last week in The Cincinnati Enquirer, BEA placed an ad in The Wall Street Journal looking for salespeople, using a stock photo of a male model it acquired through Getty Images of Seattle. Unfortunately, the same image was recently used in a brochure distributed by Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals beneath a headline touting a one-a-day tablet for, um, natural male enhancement.