Michael Hickins

Struggling server maker Silicon Graphics (SGI) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and proposed a plan to reemerge from that protection within six months. SGI’s creditors agreed to lop off some $250 million in debt, and also offered SGI a $70 million credit facility that will allow it to conduct business as usual. SGI said the […]

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is ready to break out of its ghetto. With a few notable exceptions, vendors of on-demand software have been relegated to offering narrow point solutions to non-mission-critical functions in the small- and medium-sized business (SMB) arena. Randy Haykin, managing director of Outlook Ventures, noted that from an investment standpoint, “the most compelling aspect […]

In a move to help recover sagging revenues, AOL is stepping into new territory. The company told internetnews.com that, for the first time, it has struck a deal with a wireless carrier to roll out a broadband service in the hopes of holding onto its dial-up customers as they migrate to broadband. Modesto, Calif.-based Clearwire […]

Business Objects today augmented its business intelligence software to make it more palatable and affordable for the burgeoning small- and medium-sized business (SMB) market. It is also targeting larger enterprises with a new set of data collecting and data cleansing tools, called Data Federator and Metadata Manager, that are intended to help vet and clean […]

Microsoft has closed another antitrust case to stem from the U.S. government’s antitrust case against it over monopoly abuse. The latest case is a $70 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit filed in August 2004 by the city and county of Los Angeles, the city and country of San Francisco counties, as well […]

UPDATED: Microsoft and SAP today introduced Duet, a product the two companies developed jointly to allow users to interact with SAP enterprise software through a Microsoft Office interface. Duet software for Microsoft Office and SAP, formerly code-named Mendocino, will launch in June 2006. The first release will allow users to access features of SAP enterprise […]

Microsoft today announced the availability of Hosted for Applications Version 1, a set of tools and guidance intended to help its vendor partners gain a foothold in the burgeoning software-as-a-service (SaaS) market. The move is more than a tactical nod to the growing importance of SaaS, where it has said it will become a player; […]

Plaxo sees its Web-based address book service as the ultimate social networking tool. So why not fill out the rest of the offering with an integrated calendar feature? Today, Plaxo did just that by purchasing HipCal, an on-line calendar provider that is perhaps little known outside the precincts of its founders’ family, friends and fellow […]

According to Mark Hilderbrand, general partner of venture capital firm Onset Ventures, on-demand service providers have to stand on their heads in order to penetrate the enterprise market. “The offering will have to do something that is new and novel, not just enhance something that the customer already has” through an on-premise solution, he told […]

Thomas Vinje, lead counsel for the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), argued that the future of the IT industry is hanging in the balance. “It is no exaggeration to say that the IT industry’s future development depends on the outcome of this case,” he said. Its outcome, he told the 14 judges of the […]

The European Court of First Instance heard from experts today whose testimony excoriated Microsoft for holding the workgroup server market ransom by refusing to allow competing systems to communicate effectively with Windows servers. They also told the court that Microsoft is using its growing strength in the workgroup operating systems market to muscle out the […]

Yahoo announced that Messenger with Voice, which it made available in a beta version last month, was being rolled out for general availability. Yahoo would not get into specifics, but said it was happy with the number of users who signed up for the beta version. “We’re really pleased with the response so far,” Nicole […]