[IBM could be a loser in the deal. The company has a longstanding partnership with Siebel, hosting its on-demand software, which also runs on the DB2 database platform. IBM senior VP Steve Mills acknowledged in a conference call last week that Oracle won't be warm to that arrangement, but IBM hasn't said whether it will ditch its relationship with Siebel. Mills downplayed the impact on IBM, saying there are thousands of apps vendors looking to align themselves more closely with the company.] The ecosystem readjusts itself, ... For every action, there is a reaction. |
[Pine says his customers are staying away from their 4.6 platforms for now because they are stable and instead upgrading their troublesome Windows 95 and 98 clients. Lotus says no matter when the cut-off date customers will not be left on a dead end.] The end of support is misunderstood, ... We continue to provide support for older releases, but at some point you put a line of demarcation down and say this is where we are no longer going to do code fixes and changes, and you have to move forward if you want to be a 100 percent current. |
About 99.9 percent of everything the customers call in on is an existing problem and you can give them the answer you have already come up with for that particular issue. |
After Labor Day, our season pretty much ends, |
As they dive into this area directly, there are lessons to be learned around community standards. Money never wins. It's not about money--it's about ideas and contribution. |
Because we won't see them again until after the Olympics. |
By combining our software and consulting expertise, IBM is helping clients unlock the real value of their business information. |
Homes in central London could have this sort of technology installed for a few thousand pounds. |
I can tell you that safety is a huge priority for us. We're working hard on it every day. |
I don't think Jim has any regrets about the contract with Allan. He deserved it. We felt good about what he delivered as a basketball player, as well as a person. In pro sports, having players who stand for positive things, that's worth something to your business. |
IBM realizes many billions of dollars a year from these relationships, |
In the last five years, we accumulated the stuff that we needed to do this. We knew that the big issue in business would be how to address the use of information to transform businesses. |
It's all about business value. Why do customers want end-to-end integration? It's about speed. It's all about return. It's all about creating great business revenues. |
It's not the preferred style for enterprise-class operation. |
It's one of those things that's part of being in New York, ... I always felt bad for him because he was perceived to be a part of a problem than had nothing to do with his contract. I wish fans understood how much pain he played through and what he was doing to get back. |