CIO UK Blogs: Entries for September 2009
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Martin Veitch
Martin started his IT journalism career at PC Week. He joined Ziff-Davis UK in 1992 and helped launch PC Direct, rising to become Deputy Editor before leaving to set up ZDNet News. He joined IT Week as Executive News Editor in 1998 and was appointed Editor in 1999. He joined CIO in March 2008, and his other published work includes appearances in The Wall Street Journal Europe, BBC News Online, CFO and The Guardian. He also speaks regularly at conferences.
CIO UK Podcasts
Two discussions you can't afford to miss
* Staff retention and succession plans
RESOURCE CENTRES
September 30, 2009
Windows 7 and the decline of client/server
Flawless execution of Windows 7 disguises change in order
Microsoft would appear to be getting back to basics as it continues its so far near-flawless execution of Windows 7 delivery but I wonder if it is...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 29, 2009
Unified Communications is finally coming (probably)
Nothing compares to UC
I suppose that at some point workers on a geological dig will discover an ancient stone tablet on which is etched the message 'this will be the...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 25, 2009
If Tech Firms Were Movies - Part Deux
A sequel nobody needed
Last week in our irregular Friday afternoon fun spot we explored the nexus between tech firms and movies. Today, to commemorate the fact that it's...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 25, 2009
Open-source community lacks... sense of community
Open-source fellow travellers look more fragmented than ever
I attended a lively roundtable event yesterday on the theme of open-source software companies and their role in the public sector. One of the...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 23, 2009
Lotus-Novell: The merger that never happened
If Lotus and Novell had completed a merger back in 1990, IT could have looked very different
Reading about the EU's investigation -- unwarranted, as I've written before -- into the Oracle-Sun putative merger and the perception that...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 22, 2009
Brace for tech merger mayhem
M&A seems to be making a comeback in the technology sector
"The best-laid plans o' mice an' men/Gang aft agley" or, for those, who don't speak Robert Burns, things don't always turn out the way you had...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 21, 2009
Dell aims for second act with Perot Systems buy
Remote control of desktop estates might be behind Dell-Perot deal
The Dell you knew and (maybe) loved is going with the news that it is to buy services company Perot Systems for $3.9bn. Let's count the ways: (1)...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 18, 2009
If Tech Firms Were Movies
More contrived than the plot of Rocky
We're assuming -- that's the royal 'we', mind -- that you're all familiar with the Friday afternoon schtick by now. We dump the serious,...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 18, 2009
Microsoft's Office Web Apps: Rola Cola to the full Office's Barolo wine
Microsoft aims to keep distance between free and premium-priced desktop tools
For the last several years I've been asking Microsoft people from Steve Ballmer down (transcipt with link to video here) whether there is a lab in...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 17, 2009
Ch-ch-ch-changes: A bluffers' guide to the new world of business computing
The times they are a-changin' for CIOs
I've just had the curious experience of listening to Bob Dylan singing Christmas songs. Forty-six years after the unwilling toastmaster for a...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 16, 2009
Adobe-Omniture: A sweet deal for CIOs and CMOs
Pairing digital creation tools with analytics makes sense
It's hard to find too many holes in the reasoning behind Adobe's agreement to buy Omniture. This combination should be particularly positive...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 15, 2009
Saying 'hell no' to Google Fast Flip and starting to slow down
Learning to read and be informed in the internet age requires patience
I'm not yet convinced of the virtues of Google's Fast Flip, the new service designed to "let you rapidly flip forward to the content you like,...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 14, 2009
SuccessFactors leads SaaS firms exiting Salesforce shadow
Employee performance management meets business alignment in SuccessFactors' new guise
It's a mark of the remarkable rise of Salesforce.com that the company has become synonymous with the software-as-a-service category. The San...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 14, 2009
Pat Gelsinger capture would be a coup for EMC
The reported departure of Pat Gelsinger from Intel to EMC changes the leadership stakes at both firms
A snippet in the Wall Street Journal (and elsewhere) this morning suggests very interesting executive changes at Intel and EMC will be...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 08, 2009
Bigger, broader deals likely to follow Orange and T-Mobile
Media, content and other giants likely to enter mobile telco space
Big as it is, the news that Orange and T-Mobile plan to merge UK operations is likely to be looked back on as merely a catalyst for much more...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 07, 2009
If Tech Firms Were Biscuits
Conflating biscuits with technology vendors
By rights of course, this should have gone up on Friday afternoon when it was written for the traditional end-of-week PM blog nonsense slot...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 07, 2009
Life recorders could be next Twitter, Google and hula hoop combined
Gadgets could have some serious and not-so-serious applications
I can't agree enough with Mike Arrington on Techcrunch when he writes that "life recorders may be this century's wristwatch". Only I'm...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 03, 2009
Oracle-Sun deal tangled up in red tape
EC and other regulators need to move faster on tech M&A
The European Commission is to launch an "in-depth investigation" into the deal for Oracle to buy Sun Microsystems. Its concern, which...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 02, 2009
The server market bloodbath: not a pretty picture
Decline in server revenue points a revolution in the air
Reading a story about the latest server sales, an image flashed up in my mind: a painting called The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David,...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
September 01, 2009
eBay's Skype going, going, gone -- along with other crazy mergers
eBay-Skype always looked a crazy combination
The Roman emperor Caligula reputedly made his horse a priest or senator, Newcastle United Football Club saw the wisdom of winning the...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
About the author
Martin Veitch
Martin started his IT journalism career at PC Week. He joined Ziff-Davis UK in 1992 and helped launch PC Direct, rising to become Deputy Editor before leaving to set up ZDNet News. He joined IT Week as Executive News Editor in 1998 and was appointed Editor in 1999. He joined CIO in March 2008, and his other published work includes appearances in The Wall Street Journal Europe, BBC News Online, CFO and The Guardian. He also speaks regularly at conferences.
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