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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rudedog who wrote (169129)	3/23/2002 2:00:53 AM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

LOL! I'm surprised he wasn't wearing his cowboy boots with his suit. Back then he always wore cowboy boots. I think even when he was in bed.:)

To: rudedog who wrote (169129)	4/2/2002 5:16:15 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

Dell to unsheathe blade servers By John G. Spooner Staff Writer, CNET News.com April 2, 2002, 1:35 PM PT Dell Computer wants a cut of the blade-server market. The company, in a press conference to be held Wednesday morning in New York, is expected to announce a blade-server line, along with management software and services bundles to go with it, sources said. The company will also likely flesh out its blade strategy further in a meeting with analysts in New York on Thursday. Server blades are essentially small servers built on cards that can be plugged into a special rack, where they are stacked like dishes or library books. The rack offers a shared power supply and networking capabilities and allows customers to add servers on an as-needed basis. Typically, blade servers are used for jobs such as Web site hosting. The Dell servers will likely be based on Intel's new 800MHz dual processor-capable Pentium III chips, introduced last month. The new blade servers are also part of a larger push by Dell to expand into areas beyond the PC. Though the company has reached the No. 1 spot in industry standard servers, machines that are based on Intel hardware and Microsoft Windows or Linux operating systems, and it continues to grow its market share in the PC market, Dell is looking to continue its expansion into higher-margin markets. A deeper push into servers, though, will put it into conflict with IBM and Sun Microsystems. Sun will be coming out with low-cost Linux servers later this quarter targeted at taking business away from PC makers like Dell. Dell executives will also likely discuss their brick server strategy on Wednesday. Bricks are Lego-like computing blocks that can be assembled to form larger, more complex computers. The first bricks are due toward the end of the year. Dell is coming into the blade-server market later than competitors, such as Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Computer. Both companies have launched single processor server blades based on Intel's 700MHz Pentium III uniprocessor chip for blade servers in the past few months. Dell, though, will argue that it can offer better price and/or performance. Dell will also address, through software, one of the pressing issues with blade servers: managing them. Although hardware companies have largely discussed how the design of these smaller servers uses less power and saves valuable back-room real estate, the introduction of blades will create new data-management problems. Instead of having to manage 84 servers in a rack, IT managers have to worry about keeping tabs on hundreds of servers at once. Software will become a competitive differentiator. One blade start-up, Racemi, is exiting the hardware part of the blade business to concentrate on blade-management software. "Probably more than anything else, the real difference is going to be the software. What do I do when I literally have hundreds of these things? How can I manage these thing in aggregate?" said David Freund, an analyst at Illuminata. "Blades simplify the physical aspects (of server deployment) but they intensify the software management issues." Once tackled, though, blade management will open the door to other sales opportunities. ISPs will likely deploy blade systems that can be automatically reconfigured to handle sudden bulges of traffic, Freund predicted. As for bricks, so far Dell has said that a single brick could be designed to provide processor power, handle input/output or contain storage. Multiple bricks will therefore need to be linked together to build large servers. But that's the idea. Customers will be able to fit the bricks together in various configurations to custom build servers to meet their needs, Dell executives have said. Dell will manufacture these various different kinds of bricks using off-the-shelf components, such as Intel processors, which will keep prices relatively low. Other key markets to Dell's future success include storage and IT services. The company has begun to beef up these areas with new products, alliances and hires. For example, Dell formed a far-reaching relationship with storage giant EMC. In the relationship, Dell is providing manufacturing and logistics expertise to EMC while EMC is making Dell its primary sales channel for small and medium-sized businesses. In services, Dell tapped Jeff Lynn, a former Compaq Computer executive, to run its services operations, including its Dell Technology Consulting group. Dell representatives would not comment for this story. News.com's Michael Kanellos contributed to this report.

To: rudedog who wrote (169129)	4/3/2002 7:37:05 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

Microsoft President Belluzzo Resigns By ALLISON LINN AP BUSINESS WRITER Wednesday, April 3, 2002 SEATTLE -- Rick Belluzzo, Microsoft Corp.'s president and chief operating officer, unexpectedly resigned Wednesday after a little more than a year in the position. The company said it has no plans to replace him. At the same time, the software giant announced a restructuring that will give its main business units more autonomy. Belluzzo, a longtime computer and software industry executive, joined Microsoft in September 1999 and held several senior positions before being promoted to his current position in February 2001. Microsoft said in a statement Wednesday that Belluzzo would remain in his position until May, and would stay at the company until September to organize the transition. Belluzzo said in a statement he planned to start his own company. Rob Enderle, an analyst with Giga Information Group, said the resignation was wholly unexpected - many assumed Belluzzo was being groomed to replace chief executive Steve Ballmer at some point. "You don't normally put someone in that role in order to take him out of there a few days later or a few months later," Enderle said. Analysts speculated that the move may have something to do with the restructuring also announced Wednesday. Under the new plan, the company's seven major business units will be given more responsibility for their fiscal and operational performance - duties traditionally given to a chief operating officer. "That might have been part of the reason that he was motivated to leave," Enderle said. Microsoft spokesman Corey duBrowa said the restructuring was designed to make Microsoft "a more nimble company," which the company believes is essential to future growth. Enderle said the company is likely hoping to make its units more fiscally responsible at a time when all technology companies - including Microsoft - are struggling to make profit targets. "They're having some difficult budgetary problems," Enderle said. "Revenue's off and clearly they're going to have to do some cost-cutting." Before being appointed president, Belluzzo focused much of his attention on the company's consumer operations, including its Xbox game system, its MSN Messenger instant messaging system and its Ultimate TV service. Belluzzo also was instrumental early on in the company's .NET initiative for delivering a variety of services over the Internet. All of these consumer-oriented projects have been the hallmark of Microsoft's efforts to become more of a consumer-products company, although most of them have yet to make money for the company. Before joining Microsoft, he was briefly chief executive of Silicon Graphics Inc., and previously spent 23 years at Hewlett-Packard Co. Belluzzo replaced Bob Herbold, a longtime Microsoft executive who continues to work part time for Microsoft in its dealings with industry and political leaders. In trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, shares of Microsoft closed at $56.33, down 97 cents, but were up 17 cents in after-hours trading. Belluzzo's departure was announced after markets closed. --- On the Net: microsoft.com