Briefs: November 15, 2004

PEOPLESOFT POISED TO REJECT ORACLE TAKEOVER BID

In the release, Oracle Chairman Jeff Henley wrote: "PeopleSoft's shareholders now face a very simple decision. They can accept our all-cash $24-per-share offer on Nov. 19 or it will be withdrawn. We leave it to PeopleSoft's shareholders to decide whether PeopleSoft's current management can deliver better shareholder value now, or within any reasonable investment horizon."

VMWARE SLASHES PRICE ON GSX ENTRY-LEVEL SERVER
As it faces new competition from Microsoft Virtual Server, VMware has significantly slashed pricing on its low-end GSX virtual server software.

The company unveiled a new price point of $1,400 for a two-CPU license of GSX Server, and $2,800 for an unlimited license that supports systems with up to 32 processors.

The two-CPU license formerly cost $2,500. The unlimited license, at $2,800, replaces the $5,000 four-CPU license and $10,000 eight-CPU license previously offered by VMware.

GSX, which supports both Windows and Linux as a host operating system, is an entry-level version aimed at server consolidation, disaster recovery and application migration and testing.

Observers speculated that VMware would cut prices on its software after Microsoft entered the market with Virtual Server 2005 in September. VMware, however, is not lowering the price on its full-featured flagship product, ESX Server, which is designed for enterprise use.

BEA, GLUECODE TO HIGHLIGHT JAVA SOFTWARE AT APACHECON
Vendors this week plan to release new software that gives developers more options for building Java applications using open-source software at the Apache Software Foundation's ApacheCon show in Las Vegas.

BEA Systems will be showing off the first official release of the Apache Beehive Project and extend support for Beehive to the Apache Geronimo and Jonas open-source application servers. Beehive, an open-source version of the application development framework from BEA's proprietary WebLogic Workshop tool, already runs on the Apache Tomcat Java servlet container.

Also at ApacheCon, Gluecode will unveil a suite of Java infrastructure software optimized for the Intel Itanium 2 processor. Gluecode JOE comprises a set of open-source offerings from Apache, including Apache Geronimo, Apache Agila business process management engine, Apache Pluto portlet container and Apache Derby database management system. The binary code for Gluecode JOE, Standard Edition is free and available at www.gluecode.com. For a yearly subscription fee of $3,500, customers get technical support, access to source code and source updates to JOE.

E-MAIL PLAYER STALKER UNLEASHES CHANNEL PROGRAM
Stalker Software this week is expected to unveil a new channel program it hopes will boost sales of its CommuniGate Pro e-mail wares.

The company wants to raise the percentage of products going through partners to 60 percent from the current 40 percent in 12 to 18 months, said Jon Doyle, vice president of business development at Stalker.

The program will be tiered into CommuniGate Pro Authorized Reseller, Select Reseller and Premier Reseller, and will include a lead-generation system and a commission on referrals, the company said.

"It used to be pretty much a straight discount program on the software, not a lot other than that and a listing on the Web site. Now they're trying to formalize it, tier it and do more co-marketing," said Ben Nunez, president and CEO of XIF Communications, a Washington-based hosted e-mail provider and longtime Stalker partner.

XIF, which targets small to midsize businesses, has seen a bump in business among customers moving from Microsoft Exchange Server, Nunez said. Stalker, which does most of its development in Russia and Europe, has kept ahead of the pace, adding realtime communications and VoIP to its lineup last summer.

CISCO REPORTS 29 PERCENT EARNINGS INCREASE IN 1Q
Cisco Systems' fiscal first-quarter profit jumped 29 percent as the networking equipment giant reported continued strength in its traditional markets as well as emerging technologies such as Internet telephones, wireless and home networking gear.

For the three months ended Oct. 30, the company reported a profit of $1.4 billion, or 21 cents per share, on sales of $6 billion. Cisco earned $1.1 billion, or 15 cents per share, on sales of $5.1 billion in the same period last year.

Analysts were expecting Cisco to earn 21 cents per share on sales of about $6.02 billion.

Cisco also said it expects revenue to increase as much as 14 percent in the current quarter compared with the same period in fiscal 2004.

"While there's always room for improvement, we are pleased with our execution in our key product categories, advanced technologies, geographies and other financial measurements," said John Chambers, Cisco chairman and CEO.