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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BGR who wrote (56919)	4/22/1999 9:36:00 AM
From: yard_man	Respond to of 132070

I didn't mean that any Joe could compete against IBM, BGR. What I meant was that IBM has several competitors and there are many organizations that could come in and compete in certain areas quite easily -- I still believe that to be that case. My guess is that brand names count for a lot more in services than other areas -- but that is just a guess.

To: BGR who wrote (56919)	4/22/1999 10:19:00 AM
From: Freedom Fighter	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 132070

BGR, >>Services do not have a low barrier to entry. I speak from experience here, mine and a lot of my friends. Just try setting up a small consulting firm and bid against the big shots.<< I agree with you here. I'm in the consulting business so I've seen it first hand. My concern about that portion of IBM's business is that they are less experienced at the outsourcing business than EDS is. Yet supposedly they were beating EDS on price for some contracts according to one report I read. EDS blew up a year or so ago because they underestimated the costs of some long contracts. What does that say? I am not sure. WC