Friday, August 19, 2011

HP to Acquire Info Management Software Firm Autonomy

I've been a little perplexed by some of the recent HP moves, but this one makes a lot of sense to me. Any large IT vendor has to provide a complete set of integrated IT management, automation and security software to its customers. The datasets generated by enterprise applications are growing so large that software built by companies like Autonomy, Vertica (acquired earlier this year by HP as well), Greenplum (acquired by EMC) is becoming mission critical.The market for unstructured data is getting bigger, and Oracle is the only one that hasn't made a move yet.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Google to Buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 Billion

Looks like Larry Page didn't waste time since he moved to the CEO position. It is hard to believe that the acquisition was made for Motorola's hardware business. Google wouldn't risk alienating all the smart phone makers (Samsung, HTC) who are using the Android operating system. It seems to me that Google wanted to make sure that no patent lawsuit would stop Android's growth. I see a few dark clouds on the horizon for this acquisition:
  • Looking at the problems AT&T is facing with the T-Mobile acquisition, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Feds looking at this transaction very closely and, despite approving other patent acquisitions, investigating the run for patents.
  • Set top box, smart phone and tablet manufacturers may ask Google to reconsider the move or get guarantees from Google about the future of their relationships.
  • Nearly 20,000 employees to integrate in a software, Silicon Valley culture-driven company. It will be a challenge for both sides to adjust to the new environment.

There is no doubt that there is a huge patent war going on between Google on one side and Apple and Microsoft on the other side. What will happen when they run out of patents to buy?