Foe Sings IBM’s Praises

When Larry Hambly journeyed to Keystone, Colo., to speak at a GE Access conference for business partners, the Sun president of enterprise services hoped to articulate what made his company's strategy and vision superior to its competitors'. Unfortunately, he undermined his effort when he praised archrival IBM without even knowing it.

Midway through his presentation on Sun's enterprise road map, Hambly heaped praise on a TV ad that depicts a dot com's first day in business. Employees at the hypothetical com-pany cheer when the first orders pour in, but that joy and enthusiasm quickly evaporate when the site gets overwhelmed with orders. Hambly praised the ad because he said it accurately depicts the real-world needs of enterprise e-business customers. Unfortunately, virtually everyone in the room, save Hambly himself, recognized that the ad he referred to was, of course, an IBM e-business ad.

Hambly made a good case for picking the right e-business partner, but in hindsight, he probably wishes he'd made it for his own employer, not Big Blue.

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