Richard Nicholson

Among Microsoft's trials and tribulations in the mergers and acquisitions space, a Microsoft official on Tuesday evening cited fear of dealing with the company as an obstacle Microsoft has had to overcome. Brown made the comments at a Churchill Club event in Mountain View, Calif., during a panel discussion on mergers and acquisitions that also featured representatives from Cisco, Google, and Accel Partners. [ Microsoft and Yahoo recently agreed to partner in an effort to better compete with Google. | Stay ahead of the key tech business news with InfoWorld's Today's Headlines: First Look newsletter. ] After the event, Brown said he was referring to a time when he started at the company years ago.  In general, people were just scared of Microsoft, he said. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 "[For a while] there was a fear of dealing with Microsoft and we've worked really hard to try to overcome that," said Marc Brown, managing director of corporate development at Microsoft. This fear existed with both the entrepreneurial and venture capital communities, said Brown.

The three technology companies represented on the panel have made waves over the years with their acquisitions.  Cisco is known for numerous purchases, ranging from Scientific Atlanta to Grand Junction Networks; Microsoft has acquired companies such as Great Plains Software and attempted to buy Yahoo, while Google bought YouTube and others. Panelists discussed their companies' mergers and acquisitions strategies. "The M&A and acquisitions strategy's pretty straightforward," Brown said. "We are a technology buyer. Panel moderator Steve Smith, senior managing partner with Arma Partners, noted Microsoft actually began with an acquisition. "[Founder Bill] Gates bought PC DOS for something under $100,000 and turned it into a thing called Windows and a company called Microsoft," Smith said. Most of our acquisitions are of earlier-stage companies."  Microsoft then leverages sales and distribution channels and processes to bring acquired technologies to the widest audience possible, he said. "What I would say is M&A  is not really the strategy. We start with the idea of what should be our growth strategy," said Carmel. M&A is the tool," said Charles Carmel, vice president of corporate development for Cisco. "The strategy is really about capturing innovation." Cisco realizes it does not have a monopoly on good ideas, he said. "We don't start with the idea of what company we should buy.

When pondering an acquisition, Google looks at the caliber of leadership being brought over to the company from the acquired venture, along with factors including time to market and opening of new markets, said David Lawee, Google vice president of corporate development. Panelists also cited increasing interest in potential overseas acquisitions in places such as China. "There's nothing to prevent us from being as aggressive internationally," Lawee said. The company's acquisition of Urchin resulted in the Google Analytics platform while Keyhole, also bought by Google, became Google Earth, Lawee said. But panelists declined to make any predictions when asked whether the European Union should approve the planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle. Tuesday's event was held at Microsoft's Silicon Valley offices. They also would not discuss what impact this acquisition would have on their own businesses. "Everybody's got their own twists and turns to their M&A activities," Carmel said. "No comment," Brown added.

This story, "Fear of Microsoft subsides in mergers and acquisitions arena," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest IT news at InfoWorld.com.    

For the first time in three years, IBM has unveiled a new high-end model in its DS8000 series enterprise-class disk storage arrays. The DS8700, which starts at $290,000, also allows users to configure the array with hard drives that have native full disk encryption for data security while the drives are in the box or after they have been removed at end of life. Based on IBM's latest Power6 processor, the new DS8700 model announced today offers up to 2.5 times the performance of IBM's current DS8300 array and is up to 50% more energy efficient, the company said in a statement.

Earlier this year, IBM announced the use of solid-state disks (SSD) in its storage and server lineup, including the DS8000 series. Announced in May, smart data software identifies highly accessed data and places it on higher-performance drives within a single frame. The new DS8700 expands on the use of SSD technology by incorporating smart data placement software in the array. In the DS8700, the software automatically migrates data to and from Fibre Channel and SSD drives, optimizing data placement in a tiered array. "By moving only 10% of the hottest data from Fibre Channel drives to solid-state drives, clients can see approximately a 300% performance gain for high-transaction workloads," an IBM spokesman said. For example, companies such as Compellent Technologies Inc. already provide the ability to move data at a subvolume level between disk storage tiers in an array.

Benjamin Woo, an analyst at market research firm IDC, said the addition of SSDs and performance-monitoring software is also critical as data centers become more virtualized. "As we do more virtualization ... performance becomes a function of concentrated [I/Os per second]. So the availability of SSDs becomes very critical to that performance." Mark Peters, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group in Milford, Mass., said that IBM's upgrades to its high-end array are significant for existing customers. But "this is all new to you if you're an IBM customer," Peters said. "So, on balance, this is more than a step and less than a leap forward. IBM said the DS8700 is backward-compatible, allowing prior generations of DS series arrays to interoperate with it. It's a solid stride forward for IBM." The System Storage DS8700 also allows current DS8000 series owners to nondisruptively upgrade from base models to the most advanced models. The DS8700 offers full interoperability with the prior model's hard drives, drive enclosures, tools, scripts and copy services.

The enhanced cards are 16 and 32 times larger than before and offer increased cache memory to improve response time by 30% across all N series systems. Woo said he considers the boost in overall performance from the Power6 processor to be the most significant upgrade to the DS8700. Also, the array's ability to flash-copy data and replicate it to other, lower-end IBM storage systems is significant because it allows administrators to perform testing and development on the DS8700 and then flash-copy that data for analysis on less costly, lower-end arrays. "That's one of the single most advantageous elements of this announcement," Woo said. "Also, given the fact that this system is used in high-transaction environments with sensitive information ... I think the use of full disk encryption by IBM was a smart move." IBM today also is announcing enhancements to its N series network-attached storage array line, including its new Performance Accelerator Module (PAM II) SSD cards. The new cards also help reduce power consumption by up to 50% compared with traditional hard disk drives. An essential technology to this launch is the new N series SnapManager for Microsoft Hyper-V, which provides users with a virtualization management tool to enable automated data protection and disaster recovery for Microsoft Hyper-V environments. IBM is also introducing new IBM System Storage EXN3000 expansion disks (serial-attached SCSI) for the N series arrays that offer high capability and resiliency and 22% better rack space efficiency.

Indian outsourcer Wipro is considering exiting its business of creation and licensing of intellectual property (IP) in the area of connectivity, a company executive said on Thursday. The company was focused on offering IP and design services in the areas of Bluetooth and wireless LANs. While Wipro's core strength was in digital chip design, NewLogic was focused on analog and mixed signal design, company executives said at the time of the acquisition. The move will be in effect a reversal of Wipro's acquisition in 2005 of NewLogic Technologies, a privately held Austrian semiconductor IP and design services company.

The acquisition also offered Wipro access to European customers. The company has started consultations with employee representatives regarding its proposed exit from this portfolio and the potential closure of its center in Sophia Antipolis in France, he added. Wipro now finds that the market for its portfolio of connectivity IP is not viable, because of decreasing customer interest and increasing price pressures, Pramod Idiculla, general manager for strategy in the Wipro Technologies business of Wipro, said in an e-mail on Thursday. The future of the Sophia Antipolis facility, which became part of Wipro after the NewLogic acquisition, has become controversial with the French government also stepping in, according to some reports. The company has conveyed to the French government that it will try to reduce potential redundancies, and identify opportunities for redeployment of the employees, he added.

Wipro is in consultation with employee representatives regarding about 60 employees that may be affected, Idiculla said. This will be the second time Wipro is shutting down a business focused on the creation and licensing of IP. In the 1990s, it set up EnThink, a company in the U.S. to market IP. Wipro has not yet taken a final decision on closing the connectivity IP business, or whether it will sell off the IP assets it got from NewLogic, Idiculla said. However if its proposals regarding the Sophia Antipolis facility are accepted, Wipro plans to exit the connectivity IP business globally, he added.

A day after Microsoft plugged more than a dozen holes in its software, a security researcher unveiled a new unpatched bug in Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 that, when exploited, locks up the system, requiring a total shutdown to regain control. Laurent Gaffie posted details of the vulnerabilities, along with proof-of-concept exploit code, to the Full Disclosure security mailing list today, as well as to his personal blog. Microsoft acknowledged that it's investigating the flaw.

The attack code, said Gaffie, crashes the kernel in Windows 7 and its server sibling, Windows Server 2008 R2, triggering an infinite loop. "No BSOD [Blue Screen of Death], you gotta pull the plug," Gaffie said in notes inserted into the exploit code . Gaffie claimed that the exploit, powered by a vulnerability in the new operating systems' implementation of SMB (Server Message Block), could be successfully launched from within a network from an already compromised computer, or used to attack Windows 7 machines via Internet Explorer (IE) by transmitting a rogue SMB packet to the PC. Unlike more serious flaws, the Windows 7 SMB bug cannot be used by attackers to hijack a PC, Gaffie confirmed. "No code execution, but a remote kernel crash," he said in an e-mail today. None of the 15 affected the final version of Windows 7, which was released to retail Oct. 22, or affected Windows Server 2008 R2. Gaffie also said that Microsoft's security team has acknowledged the vulnerability, which he first reported to them last weekend, but was told by the company that it wasn't planning to fix the flaw with a security update, instead perhaps correcting it in the first service packs for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2. A Microsoft spokesman confirmed that the company is looking into Gaffie's claims. "Microsoft is investigating new public claims of a possible denial-of-service vulnerability in Windows Server Message Block," said the spokesman in an e-mail reply to questions. "Once we re done investigating, we will take appropriate action & [which] may include providing a security update through the monthly release process, an out-of-cycle update or additional guidance to help customers protect themselves." Gaffie's disclosure came just a day after Microsoft issued November's security updates , which patched 15 vulnerabilities in Windows, Windows Server and Office.

Online games in China should move away from "lowbrow" content such as monster hunting, Chinese regulators said late Wednesday, highlighting the uncertain regulatory conditions faced by game operators in the country. Game operators should also limit highly popular systems that let players kill other human-controlled characters, the country's culture ministry said in a statement on its Web site. The game features the regulators dislike, especially monster hunting as the main way for players to gain experience points and new powers, exist in virtually all hit online games.

Game operators using violence, erotic content and gambling to attract players "have adversely influenced consumers and especially the physical and mental health of minors," the statement said. China's online gaming sector is huge and still growing, but ruled by sometimes-erratic regulators. The ministry also ordered game operators to create monitoring divisions to censor their own products and to strengthen systems that limit play time for minors. World of Warcraft, the hit online game from Blizzard Entertainment, spent months offline this year as its new local operator awaited clearance to reopen the game. The culture ministry's order follows earlier government campaigns to clean up pornography and violence in online games as concern grows about Internet addiction among the country's youth.

And China's publishing regulator, which is battling with the culture ministry over which of them has authority over the online game sector, recently ordered the local operator of World of Warcraft to stop charging player fees until further approval, although the game is still online. So what should online games do instead of letting players kill monsters? "Take the core socialist value system as the guide, strengthen cultural elements in products, and vigorously promote the spirit of the times and illustrious ethnic culture," the ministry said.

If you're feeling whiplash over the state of iPhone security, you're in good company. But the only people who were vulnerable were people who had jailbroken their phones, turned on SSH services, and neglected to change their root password. Last month, the first iPhone worms were reported, which either rickrolled your iPhone with a background picture of Mr. Astley, or did far worse things to your software and data. And we all know that people who use default root passwords are silly, right?

He demonstrated that installed applications can read your address book, steal your phone number, peruse your browser history, track your GPS movements, and get all sorts of other personal data on you. On Friday, Slashdot reported on a presentation given by Nicholas Seriot (PDF link), a Swiss software engineer, about the security risks of a stock, non-jailbroken iPhone. Which is kind of understandable, since many legitimate apps rely on access to this data for their features. But if Loopt does the same thing, because you've told it to do so in order to share your location with your friends, that's okay. Yes, if an application secretly records your GPS location and uploads it to the software's author, that's a serious breach of your privacy.

So, how are the good apps to be distinguished from the bad? Trojan horse software is nothing new in the computer industry, but it's a bit more scary when it's attached to an always-on device that's always on your person. Seriot contends that the volume of iPhone app submissions implies that, invariably, some malware is going to sneak through, probably in the form of an innocuous app which does one thing on the surface, and quite another under the hood. While it's probably not worth it to get too concerned about this, it's always prudent to be, well, prudent. Delete apps which appear to be acting strangely, or which just don't feel right. People who like to download the newest software on day one are the most exposed to this risk; the rest of us can rely on the community to alert us when apps are acting nefariously.

And you can always keep your important data in encrypted applications, such as 1Password. Also, you might want to think about leaving really sensitive data off your iPhone entirely, no matter how cute you look in that bunny suit.

IBM has expanded its server lineup with a new mainframe system designed just for Linux that may be aimed, in particular, at higher-end x86 systems. It does not use the mainframe operating system z/OS but includes mainframe management software as well as IBM's z/Virtual Machine system. The new system uses IBM's specialty Linux processor and runs either Novell SUSE or Red Hat systems. Together, they constitute the company's latest "solutions edition," or what IBM says are lower-cost, integrated stacks for the mainframe.

This system is intended to be competitive with large multicore systems used for virtualization consolidation. There are two servers in the Enterprise Linux Server line, and the starting price on the lower-end model, with two processors, is $212,000; it scales up from there. The Linux-specific line is IBM's latest effort to reduce the cost of its mainframe. But several years ago, IBM started producing a smaller model, the z10 Business Class , which was initially offered at about $100,000, to compete with a broader range of enterprise servers. It's high-end z10 Enterprise Class system can cost millions.

Reed Mullen, the System z virtualization lead product planner, said that potential customers include companies that want to virtualize a lot of systems but aren't necessarily mainframe customers. IBM expects to upgrade its z10 next year , in keeping with its three-year upgrade cycle. Among the arguments that IBM will make for this system is its ability to dynamically add capacity in a running environment, Mullen said. IBM's mainframe sales have been off 26% in the most recent quarter compared with the same quarter last year, and server sales have been flat across the board. With this new hardware, IBM likely wants to compete with x86 systems with 16 processor cores and above, he said.

Brad Day, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc., said IBM has been working to reduce the cost of its mainframe software, which can account for half the cost of a mainframe, including personnel, energy and maintenance. Anything that lowers the life-cycle cost of the system is critical, and by focusing on Linux, IBM is "putting meat to where most of the workloads are going," Day said. "About half of the new growth of applications on mainframe is led by Linux."