Pssst! Hot Rumors in Data Storage

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Winston Churchill said it best: “There are a terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is that half of them are true.”

But which of the many IT and data storage rumors are true and which are hogwash? Take your pick.

1. IBM or Oracle to buy EMC
2. Microsoft to buy SAP
3. IBM to acquire Storwize
4. EMC to be gobbled up by Cisco – or is it HP?
RELATED NEWS AND ANALYSIS

1. IBM or Oracle to buy EMC

On a train to New York last month, a pleasant executive from a large financial institution was fascinated to learn of my occupation. After pumping me for the latest gossip, he proceeded to inform me that EMC (NYSE: EMC) had been sold to either IBM (NYSE: IBM) or Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) and that the details were being hushed up until an announcement came forth in August. He presented it as a done deal not as hearsay or rumor.

2. Microsoft to buy SAP

The same person said that another big merger was looming. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was set to swoop for SAP (NYSE: SAP), the enterprise resource planning (ERP) and enterprise financials leader. If true, it would seem that Microsoft is trying to cement its position as the top software provider in markets less likely to be overrun by the cloud.

3. IBM to acquire Storwize

Whenever takeovers are mentioned, IBM is never far from the discussion. With Storwize specializing in data compression, this could mean IBM is trying to acquire it to compete with IBM in the midrange and high end. EMC recently announced that it had added data compression to its CLARiiON arrays. But then why bother if IBM really intends to buy EMC?

There are the rumors of Storwize and IBM which, with Ed Walsh being brought in as CEO late last year, would be about surprising as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west,” said Greg Schulz, an analyst with StorageIO Group. “The question is will it be IBM or someone else and for how much.”

(Editor’s Note: Sometimes the rumor mill gets it right. IBM made its acquisition of Storwize official yesterday, buying the company for a rumored $140 million. See “IBM to Buy Storwize for Real-Time Data Compression”)