Not all rumors involve ASND as acquiree. There is another rumor involving the sale of Ipsilon to either Nokia, Cabletron or ASND (see BOLD below):
12/8/97 InformationWeek 214
1997 WL 14149094
InformationWeek
Copyright 1997 CMP Publications Inc.
Monday, December 8, 1997
660
Behind the News
I.T. Confidential
John Soat
Is the already volatile CIO tenure about to take a sharp drop- from a
couple of years to a few weeks? Jim Infinger stepped into the CIO
position at Raytheon only three weeks ago. Since then, he says, he's
received "no fewer than 10 calls" offering him CIO jobs elsewhere.
"Companies are throwing dollars at IT executives," says Infinger, who
was most recently CIO of PC retailer CompUSA. "In the past, changing
jobs often wasn't seen as a good thing. Now, it's perceived as a
positive experience-that you've been exposed to more technologies."
Digital Equipment CEO Robert Palmer had 3.5 million things to be
thankful for this Thanksgiving: The day before Turkey Day, Palmer sold
123,000 shares of Digital stock for $3.5 million. Digital's stock
recently reached a 17-month high of 53-7/16; it was at 25 earlier this
year. It was the first time Palmer sold any of his Digital stock since
taking the beleaguered company's top job in November 1992. This should
mean merry holidays for the Palmers.
Uarco, the Barrington, Ill., business forms company sued by former IT
execs in a successful effort to start up a Baan consultancy, was
acquired last week by rival Standard Register Co. for $245 million.
Thomas Russell, CIO at Standard Register, says he's found that Uarco's
IS department still has some of the best Baan talent in the country, and
that he will have to make a tough decision in the next few weeks.
Standard Register had recently committed itself to implementing
PeopleSoft's manufacturing apps and now has to choose between continuing
that multiyear implementation, going with the Baan system, which
recently went into production at Uarco, or trying to integrate the two.
Ipsilon Networks, which pioneered IP switching only to be left behind
as the industry rushed past, is positioning itself for a sale, say
several industry sources. Rumors of a possible sale have swirled around
Cabletron and Ascend. But sources say the buyer is more likely to be
Finnish wireless equipment maker Nokia, which already has an investment
in Ipsilon. A Nokia spokesman said the company doesn't comment on
rumors. Ipsilon declined to comment.
Sick of Comdex? Did you swear not to return after the last whirlwind
of cab lines and crowded booths? Apparently, IBM feels the same way.
IBM and its Lotus unit have given up on the giant trade shows-both
Comdex/Spring and Fall. No reason was given, but maybe it was the
buffets of pinkish Jello mold creations and mystery meat casseroles.
General Motors' Ralph Szygenda last week was named CIO of the year by
the IS Research Center of the University of Baltimore's business school.
GM says Szygenda was selected on the basis of four criteria: business
orientation; ability to align IT investment with company goals; process
orientation and systems expertise; and "distinguishing characteristics,"
such as community service.
At bookstores now: The "completely revised and up-to-date" version of
Bill Gates' book The Road Ahead. Apparently, it's another Microsoft work
in progress. Should it be called The Road Farther Ahead? How about Road
98?
Rumors persist that Deloitte & Touche and Arthur Andersen are in
merger talks-making for a possible Big Three in accounting and IT
consulting. Also, there continue to be rumblings of an antitrust
investigation on the horizon of all the merger deals in this field.
Call it Database Envy. IBM's top database exec, Janet Perna, says the
company had Microsoft's SQL Server foremost in mind while it was
developing DB2 Universal Database, even bringing in third-party SQL
Server developers and database admini- strators. DB2 Universal Database
was designed, says Perna, "side-by-side with Microsoft's SQL Server."
-Call it industry envy, but I'm obsessed with trade secrets and
gossip. You just gotta help me out by calling 516-562-5326, E-mail
jsoat@cmp.com, or fax 516-562-5036.
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