Mergers and acquisitions seem to be a commonality these days, especially among companies in the technology field. Back in April, Oracle announced that it would be acquiring
Sun Microsystems, while DemandTec revealed that it had finally completed its acquisition of
Connect3 Systems in late February. Companies like Microsoft, Yahoo and Google are just primed to play the buyer and others are ripe for the taking. So who would make the perfect acquisitions for the big three? Here is DMB’s perspective:
VMware
Microsoft has made it clear that it wants to be a major player in the virtualization market. Unfortunately for the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant, even all of its server, application and desktop virtualization products have not been able to put a notable chink in the armor of VMware, the company that rules over the market with an iron fist. VMware hit the ground running with server virtualization in 2001 and hasn’t looked back since, offering a suite of virtualization products that puts the Microsoft portfolio to shame. From virtualized applications to infrastructures, VMware has a solution to help organizations get the most out of their hardware and maximize their IT assets. What better way for Microsoft to leap ahead in the virtualization market than by swooping in and buying out the market leader? Of course, they would have to make a sweet offer to VMware’s majority owner, but rumor has it, EMC might already be up for grabs for the right price. In the case of Microsoft and its quest for dominance in the virtualization segment: if you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em.
iBlue
Yahoo has a bad history of acquisitions to say the least. In 1999, the search provider acquired GeoCities for the whopping sum of $3.6 billion. Today, GeoCities is defunct and all but forgotten. This is just one of many examples Yahoo would probably like to forget as well. On the bright side, the “Hoo” has made some smart acquisitions as of late, and iBlue would make another wise choice. Based in Egypt, iBlue is the global leader in mobile advertising solutions, specializing in Bluetooth advertising, online mobile content development and interactive SMS solutions. The company is well known for its Mobile Brochure Builder, the world’s first Web-based content builder that enables developers to create mobile brochures that run on mobile devices in the form of Java applications. Despite the hard times that have led to massive layoffs and plummeting stock value, Yahoo still makes a great deal of revenue from advertising. With Yahoo email, instant messaging and games already a mainstay on mobile phones, the acquisition of iBlue would make it the immediate leader in mobile advertising and more relevant than it’s been in quite some time.
Rackspace
Rackspace is a premier Web hosting provider and leader in cloud computing solutions. The celebrated IT specialist has had an insatiable appetite for acquisitions in recent times, acquiring Jungle Disk and VPS hosting firm Slice Host, within the past two years alone. Although Rackspace has been heavily focused on expanding its product line by seizing other companies, it would make the perfect brand for the king of search and advertising - Google. Rackspace’s cloud servers are run on the robust and extremely reliable Linux platform. However, its solutions just might be better suited for Google Chrome, an OS that already runs exclusively in the cloud. Rackspace is largely viewed as a major threat to Amazon’s cloud superiority and an acquisition could finally provide Google with the leverage it needs to make an impact in the hosting industry.
The overall consensus is that 2010 could be a huge year for acquisitions. Rumors are running wild that Amazon will snatch up Blockbuster, Hulu and Netflix, in addition to speculation that Cisco might buy EMC and F5 Networks. Who do you think is on the buying block?
