10 Years Ago: IT Circa March 2000

As business continues to face trying economic times, it pays to look back on the industry and gain some perspective to how things were "in the good old days." Time, as they say, heals all wounds. Here's a look at where IT was back in March 2000 -- a time of impending economic recession, and economic uncertainty. It's a trip down memory lane that not every company survived.

Don't Blink, Here Comes (And Goes) MarchFirst

MarchFirst was a short-lived Web integration firm formed by the merger of Internet consultancy USWeb and solution provider Whitman-Hart. The merger was formalized March 1, 2000, hence the newly formed company's name (See "USWeb/CKS And Whittman-Hart Re-Launch As MarchFirst").



The original USWeb was founded in 1995 by former Novell executives Joe Firmage (pictured), Toby Corey, and Sheldon Laube. The company went public in 1997 and the following year bought advertising agency CKS Group.



The CEO of MarchFirst was Whitman Hart's Bob Bernard. He left the company in March 2001, and the next month MarchFirst filed for bankruptcy. Bernard, who died in 2007, reconstituted his original company under the similar WhitmanHart name in 2003, by buying some of the Whitman-Hart assets out of bankruptcy. Ironically, WhitmanHart today is a digital advertising agency -- similar to what MarchFirst aimed to be.

3Com Refocuses, As It Will Again, And Again...

In March 2000, 3Com pulled out of its higher-end networking business, conceding defeat to players such as Cisco (See "3Com Admits Defeat, Shrugging Off High-End Networking Business"). At the time, the company said it would instead focus on SMBs, service providers and the consumer market. It turned out to be the beginning of the end.



Other restructuring moves included plans to stop shipping most of its PathBuilder and NetBuilder models, as well as all CoreBuilder WAN and LAN networking models.



3Com is focusing squarely on SMBs and the home networking market, because 3Com is well respected by customers in those areas then president Bruce Claflin said.



It took 10 years, but the doors are now finally closing at 3Com, with Hewlett Packard's announcement last November it wants to buy 3Com for $2.7 billion.

VerticalNet: What Goes Up...

Shares of VerticalNet continued to climb this month in 2000, as the Web services firm completed its $500 million acquisition of Tradeum, an Internet business-to-business commerce technology company (See "VerticalNet Up After Completing Tradeum Acquisition").



VerticalNet became known during the "Dotcom bubble" for its more than $10 billion valuation, despite its $112 million revenue stream. Founded in 1995, the company sold out for $2.35 million to Corry Publishing, which changed its name in 2008 to Jameson Publishing. During its seven-year history, VerticalNet never showed a profit.



Former CEO Joe Galli, an alumni of Amazon, (pictured), left VerticalNet in January 2001 after only five months with the Web company, to join Newell Rubbermaid. He was CEO of Newell Rubbermaid until his tumultuous departure four years later, and is now CEO and president of tool maker TTI.

Avanade Is Born

Avanade (2009 VAR500 rank 98) is proof that some Web ventures born during the "dot bomb" period could survive the test of time. (See "Feds Give Green Light To Avanade") Avanade was jointly created by Microsoft (49 percent ownership) and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and given regulatory approval to begin operating in March 2000. Nearly half of Andersen's workforce would lead the Avanade services charge, with 20-year Andersen veteran Mitch Hill as CEO.





Microsoft made a $385 million equity investment in Avanade, and had two top execs -- John Connors and Paul Maritz -- on the six-member board of directors. In 2001 Accenture increased its ownership to become the majority owner and Avanade became a subsidiary of Accenture.

Distributor Hall-Mark Offers E-Business Help To Partners

A so-called "enable" program is introduced by Avnet's Hall-Mark division, aimed at supporting network integrators that sell e-business solutions. (See "Hall-Mark Unveils E-Business Program")



A few weeks earlier, the distributor announced it would purchase Savoir, in an effort to boost Avnet's exposure with IBM. "The IBM portion [of Savoir] sold to VARs, but Savoir still sells a good portion [about 25 percent of revenue] to OEM account bases," said Josh Napua, president of Avnet Applied Computing (pictured). "Those two segments fit nicely in our Applied Computing group."



Napua is now vice president of Fujitsu's Healthcare Solutions Group.