5/18/98 InternetWeek NetDetective rumor. ASND to buy XYLN
[Are there more rumors these days, or is it just me?]
techweb.cmp.com
May 18, 1998
Old Flames, New Causes
As I gazed into the depths of her IBM-blue
eyes, a thousand memories flooded into my
head like token ring beacons. It had been 10
years since she had captured my soul like an
SNMP trap; it had been nine years since she
broke my heart like an old Category 3 cable.
"Hello, Ilsa," I said, sipping my scotch and
pretending not to notice how beautiful she
looked. "What brings you to Las Vegas?
She ordered a scotch, neat, just like mine. "I
came here for NetWorld+Interop," she said.
"But N+I is over. The next one's in Atlanta."
She grinned. "I was misinformed," she purred.
Before I knew it, she was telling me everything.
She told me that she was sorry she had left
me. She said she was afraid of the terrible red
menace that was dominating the desktop. She
told me that Northern Telecom is trying to buy
Bay Networks, but Bay has rejected the offer.
There was a tear in her eye and pain in her
face. It made me think about the IMAP4
developers who will meet this week for
MailConnect4, where vendors are attempting
to iron out the interoperability problems in their
standards-based E-mail software.
She turned and motioned to a tall man
standing at the door. "Case," she said, "I'd like
you to meet my husband, Victor Letsgo." She
was married--a step that Ascend and Xylan
are rumored to be considering.
I tried to hide my disappointment, just as Bay
Networks is hiding the details of its
forthcoming network management
announcements, which are scheduled for May
26. "Nice to meet you, Letsgo," I said.
Letsgo was all business. "Case, I need your
help," he said. "I have important information
that must get to the Department of Justice in
Washington. It's vital to the resistance effort.
But the airlines said you have the last two
tickets on the red-eye. I want you to sell them
to me."
His gaze was expectant, like Lotus' widely
anticipated directory services announcement
scheduled for this week. But I was unaffected,
much as the employees of Digital Equipment's
storage systems unit were unaffected by the
recent Compaq merger-related layoffs.
"I'm the only cause I care about," I growled.
"What's in it for me?"
He offered me money. He offered me
information. He told me that Tandem on June 7
will launch a combination of server hardware
and database software that will help service
providers build integrated voice mail services.
I raised my head from my empty glass and
caught Ilsa's pleading gaze. Our eyes locked,
much as organizations will be able to interlock
packaged, custom and database applications
using Vitria Technology's new BusinessWare
2.0 software platform, which is scheduled to
be released this week.
Sam poured me another drink and I raised it to
Ilsa. "Here's looking at NetView, kid," I said,
and then I made my decision.
Help Case decide between love and desktop
freedom! Send him a news tip! E-mail it to
ndetect@cmp.com or call 516-562-7809. If we
use your tip, Case will mail you an
InternetWeek coffee mug.
Snooping around? Look at last week's Net
Detective.
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