Glenn Cole <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Robert X. Cringely writes in InfoWorld online this week
>
> "Hewlett-Packard is struggling to understand technology as well --
> or, rather, how businesses in the technology field best operate.
> HP, still feeling it missed the boat by not buying Netscape in
> time, is going to try to change its business philosophy. The goal
> is for the company to adopt a corporate culture more akin to an
> Internet start-up so it can move and react faster. Insiders are
> looking for the company to become more irreverent and less
> bureaucratic."
Great! This is, precisely, what CSY needs: To be left alone to pursue its
worthy HP3000 objectives with the aggressiveness they deserve.
Well, not "quite" alone. Mr. Platt should still mention words such as
"HP3000", "MPE" and "IMAGE/SQL" in public (particularly in polite company),
outside of his wonderful HP World presentations. A good word from *the*
leader can do amazing things :-)
Having missed the Netscape boat is a pity, but it's nothing compared to
what would happen should HP miss its very own HP3000 boat.
Do you want some specific examples of terrific opportunities for IMAGE/SQL,
for instance? Besides the recent Oracle combinations of circumstances (as
discussed on HP3000-L), here are a couple of random pieces of news that
would make any IMAGE/SQL marketing manager salivate:
____SAP Sees Profits Drop 15%____
Enterprise applications vendor SAP is slowing down. The
company announced yesterday that pretax profit for the
fourth quarter of 1998, ended Dec. 31, dropped 15%, to
$421 million (DM 712 million), compared with the same period
last year. Total revenue for the quarter was $1.5 billion
(DM 2.59 billion), an increase of 18% against the fourth
quarter of 1997. Before this quarter, for the past several
years, the company has had quarterly growth rates of
anywhere from 40% to 100%.
Perhaps most telling, product revenue for the quarter grew
only 2%, to $957 million (DM 1.62 billion), over the same
period last year. These numbers are consistent with the
overall downturn in demand for ERP applications. SAP
officials said that while performance in the Americas
and Europe remained strong, profit growth was seriously
affected by a sales decline in Japan.
Total sales in 1998 grew 41%, to $5.05 billion (DM 8.47
billion), over the previous year, while operating profit
increased 15% to $1.14 billion (DM 1.92 billion). Revenue
in the Americas increased 28% to $709 million (DM 1.20
billion), while sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
grew 20% to $692 million (DM 1.17 billion). In the Asia-
Pacific region, revenue fell 22% to $135 million (DM 228
million).
___PeopleSoft Revenues Stagnate, Layoffs To Come___
Enterprise software vendor PeopleSoft Inc. is reeling from a
harsh financial quarter. The company said yesterday that its
license revenue, which typically shoots up anywhere from 30%
to 100% quarterly, grew by only 3% in the fourth quarter,
ended Dec. 31. As further evidence of the slowdown,
PeopleSoft said it's eliminating 430 jobs, or about 6% of
its work force. The cuts will come primarily in
administration, sales support, and marketing support.
Overall, total revenue for the fourth quarter reached $364.2
million, up 40% from $260.6 million for the same period last
year. But net income for the quarter was $26.1 million, down
34% from $39.5 million for the fourth quarter of 1997. For
all of 1998, PeopleSoft posted total revenue of $1.3
billion, up 61% from $815.7 million in 1997. Net income in
1998 was $143.2 million, compared with $108.3 million last
year.
To buffer itself from an industrywide decrease in enterprise
resource planning license sales, PeopleSoft is ramping up on
services. Revenue from services for the fourth quarter was
$364.1 million, up 81% from $260.6 million for the same
period last year. Overall, service revenue accounted for 61%
of total sales in 1998, coming in at $737.2 million. The
company also said that during the next few months, it plans
to hire more people than it's laying off this week.
PeopleSoft officials said those new hires will be directed
primarily at two areas where the company is increasing its
sales and development efforts: analytical and E-commerce
applications.
What are we waiting for?
_______________
| |
| |
| r | Alfredo mailto:[log in to unmask]
| e | http://www.adager.com
| g | F. Alfredo Rego +1 208 726-9100
| a | Manager, R & D Labs Fax +1 208 726-2822
| d | Adager Corporation
| A | Sun Valley, Idaho 83353-3000 U.S.A.
| |
|_______________|
|
