[Info-vax] Sounds an awful lot like DEC, and not like HP

[Richard B. Gilbert]

Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 30-01-2010 00:15, JF Mezei wrote:
>>>> http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222500081&cid=nl_IW_btl_2010-01-29_h 
>>>>
>>
>> When Pfeiffer announcer that Compaq would buy Digital, much of the same
>> arguments were made. Pfeiffer wanted to leverage the Digital assets, and
>> even spoke of pushing Alpha into mainstream. There was instant
>> advertising that mention VMS (not the dreaded OpenVMS).
>>
>> But once shareholders got antsy about no short term return on that huge
>> investment, Pfeiffer was ousted. Cpmpaq ran without a leader for a
>> while, and they finally gave on on finding a true leader and gave the
>> CEO job to the accountant.  His first task was to call bankers to find a
>> buyer.
>>
>> There is a big difference with Oracle. Ellison is a strong leader and he
>> has good control of the company so he has time to implement his vision
>> before shareholders get antsy. So the odds of him succeeding are higher.
> 
> Succeeding with what?
> 
> Because:
> 
>> However, that article mentions a focus on high end systems. From a VMS
>> point of view, we all know that restricting a platform to high end
>> systems means an ever dwindling customer base because the high end is
>> being eroded by 8086s running some form of Unix.
> 
> Assuming that you mean x86-64's and includes Linux then: yes.
> 
>> While it may be correct to state that Oracle/Sun can't compete against
>> the commodity systems from Dell/HP, what happens when he commodity
>> systems from Dell/HP start to compete against Sun/Oracle ?
> 
> That when happened several years ago. I am sure that Larry do know that.
> 
>> BTW, in the same series of articles, there is one about HP.
>>
>> http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219400776 
>>
>>
>> While it is true that HP may have consolidated and slahed internal IT
>> costs, this is not a common possibility in industry.  HP inherited its
>> own systems, those of Compaq, Tandem and Digital. Obviously,
>> consolidation was possible and relatively easy to justify since there
>> would have been so much duplication.
>>
>> But an existing company that is not born of mergers and acquisitions
>> wouldn't have all that overhead and dupolication of systems, so such
>> rationalisation wouldn't happen to that level.
> 
> Most large companies has been involved in mergers and acquisitions.
> 
> A good example is Oracle. They have bought lots of companies the
> last 10 years.
> 
> Arne

I used to work for a company called "RapidForms" that did "short run" 
printing; stationery, business cards, checks, business forms. . . .
It was an amalgam of *twenty-four* companies.  It, it turn was bought by 
New England Business Systems (NEBS).  NEBS was subsequently acquired by 
Deluxe (the check printing company).  I believe that Deluxe was 
subsequently acquired. . . .

Buying a company with the right kind of "fit" is one way to grow your 
empire!