Larry Barrett

Salesforce.com shares endured a bit of a rollercoaster ride Monday after a pair of equity analysts issued divergent opinions on the software-as-a-service (SaaS) bellwether’s long-term growth and investment prospects. Goldman Sachs analyst Sasa Zorovic downgraded Salesforce.com shares from “neutral” to a “sell” recommendation Monday while UBS analyst Heather Bellini upgraded the stock to a “buy” […]

Though the technology required to virtualize datacenters has been around for more than 40 years, 2007 will go down in history as the end of the beginning—the year that it vaulted into mainstream consciousness and hurtled to the top of every CIO’s “must-do” list. But now that everyone’s caught on to the benefits this technology […]

Many of the themes that dominated the enterprise software sector this year figure to bleed into 2008 as the industry continues to adjust to the demands of customers enamored with Web 2.0 applications and new delivery models. But is the Web 2.0 bubble about to burst? One of the more daunting obstacles facing large companies […]

Much to the dismay of its competitors, it’s becoming more and more apparent that Oracle’s relentless aggression is paying off. On Wednesday, the software giant shattered analysts’ estimates in its second-quarter, posting a profit of $1.3 billion, or 25 cents a share, on sales of $5.3 billion. Excluding one-time items, it pocketed 31 cents a […]

NetSuite on Tuesday raised the price range for its highly anticipated initial public offering from between $13 a share and $16 a share to between $16 a share and $19 a share, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The revised price range, based on the issuance of 6.2 million common shares, […]

The hits just keep coming for Vonage. Last week, Nortel Networks tagged the VoIP  provider with another lawsuit, alleging Vonage violated the Canadian network-equipment maker’s patents related to Internet phone services such as 911 and 411 calling as well as its click-to-call feature. Unlike the other patent infringement litigation that has

IBM on Tuesday announced the availability of Atlas for Lotus Connections, a visualization and analysis tool that helps employees sort through their social networks to find colleagues and key experts on specific topics and projects. The software not only identifies who’s who in the community, but also shows users how those people are connected to […]

IBM on Monday announced a $60 million contract with Cajasol, a mid-sized bank based in Madrid, to provide hardware, software and IT services for the next four years. Cajasol, the product of a merger this year between Caja San Fernando and Caja El Monte, is Spain’s eighth-largest bank with more than 800 branches. As a […]

If and when striking Hollywood writers finally get back to work, they might want to consider drawing upon some of the intriguing storylines that dominated the enterprise software industry in 2007 for inspiration. While there was no shortage of villains, upstarts and old familiar faces to entice viewers, “Software 2007” seems like a can’t-miss proposition. […]

Three months after orchestrating the sale of his company to Taiwanese PC maker Acer, Gateway CEO Ed Coleman announced his resignation. Coleman, who joined Gateway in September of 2006, on Friday announced he will officially part ways with the once-formidable challenger to PC heavyweights Dell, HP and IBM at the end of January 2008. Rudi […]

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras on Friday said she will not recuse herself from the regulatory body’s review of the Google-DoubleClick merger, drawing further criticism from a pair consumer advocacy groups calling for her ouster. On Wednesday, both the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a […]

Novell on Thursday delivered its fourth-quarter earnings report a week later than expected, posting a net loss of $17.9 million, or 5 cents a share, on sales of $245 million. On a non-GAAP basis, the business software developer earned $20 million, or 6 cents a share, good enough to hurdle analyst estimates calling for a […]