Corporate buyers see a stablization in the environment, with a bias toward optimism. Cisco sees this environment as an opportunity and Hilton Romanski (VP Corporate Development)sees this as very different from last year. Corporate buyers have more ability to do things because they have a clearer idea of what's going on in their own businesses. They see some runway in front of them that will allow them to accelerate a little. Cisco's looking at high quality interaction through video (Telepresence). Video traffic in the mobile space has doubled every five years, so there's more need to build infrastructure. Collaboration is also a driver of Cisco's business; the ability to bring together groups and use all sorts of technologies to build ideas. Not to mention the transitions happening in the data center, where enterprises are looking to reduce costs and use resources more efficiently.
What are Corporations Buying in 2010?
Key drivers within SAP are shifts within the business automation of the enterprise. Doug Merritt says SAP looks for gaps in their core technology, and they have to see what the enterprise is looking for. The core shift that's affecting enterprise software is the change from the repetitive processes to the generative collaborative processes. SAP wants to know how to get to those processes: acquisitions, HR, etc. He wants to automate generative processes for the same enterprise audience. Looking for new platforms, UI principles, development approaches, and sales and marketing processes.
Symantec is all about securing and managing information, so that's what they are looking at. There's an ever-increasing interest in security, because there is a high level of organized crime in information stealing. "On the information management side, we are looking at a shift from a system-centric world to an information-centric world,"–Ken Berryman
Dave Lawless (Google):Dozens of shifts going on in the internet. Dave watches what his kids are doing to see how the internet is changing. Every segment Google is in is being disrupted. Over the last four years, a seismic shift, which is moving faster and faster. One of those shifts is mobile; what we require from our network providers and application providers is changing. WIllingness of end-users to put out data about themselves is also transforming the internet.
There are a dozen IPOs cooking at Fenwick and West. But these corporate people are doing deals with companies that can't go public. They're seeing a little more activity from private equity. There are more exit options today than there were six to nine months ago, but they are still going to be tough on valuations.
Find a corporate champion inside a business to drive you being acquired by them. What makes the difference between partnering and buying? It's the bandwidth of the corporate champion. If he doesn't feel 100% engaged, it will be a partnership; if he loves you, he will buy your company:-) The advantage to being bought or becoming the partner of a large company like Cisco or SAP is their sales force. Sales forces constantly need new products to feed the hungry pipeline.
