Lynn: Just noticed your internet question to me. My uninformed impression is thatCPQ had a generalised intent to align their products and services with the internet before they bought DEC (and AV). Getting DEC (and AV) heightened the urgency and the capacity to do it. It is a pure guess, but I should think they have reviewed and are reviewing any and all potential strategies. It would not surprise me if the shape of the internet bundle has changed frequently as they entered into discussions with potential partners and allies and reviewed acquistion targets. The pace of developments in the stock market respecting the internet can hardly have been fully appreciated when CPQ first began formulating its internet strategy. So even the cost of the strategy has probably changed substantially in a matter of months.
I would have thought that CPQ recognises that the management of an interent enterprises requires specialised entrepreneurial vision and management skills, and that such a development could become a huge distraction for the entire company and one that would be inhibited by the bureaucratic processes of CPQ, as a whole. I would think therefore, that in the plan, there is probably provision for a very strong departmentalisation of the internet bundle even to the extent of spinning it off as a separate company, but still under the majority ownership of the CPQ. In that way it could develop an appropriate culture.
Whether the internet "bundle" would include ownership of an IP is way beyond my ability to comment intelligently. I could see that happening if the internet strategy was already crystal clear and single-minded, but I don't think it is. So, in my ignorance, I would expect that a partnerhsip with or investment in an IP would be more likely than a buy-out of one. |
