Interesting WSJ Interview With IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano

Spencer E. Ante, for the WSJ:

In a rare public broadside, IBM Chief Executive Samuel J. Palmisano said he doesn’t worry about companies such as H-P that have slashed their investments in core technologies and need to make expensive acquisitions to keep up.

“H-P used to be a very inventive company,” Mr. Palmisano said in an interview at a Wall Street Journal event on Tuesday. IBM would never have paid what H-P did to buy data-storage provider 3PAR Inc., he said. “[H-P] had no choice,” said Mr. Palmisano. “Hurd cut out all the research and development.” […]

The executive said he worries about software giant Oracle and believes it will become the biggest threat to IBM over the long term. “Oracle invests,” said Mr. Palmisano, who praised Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.

★ Wednesday, 15 September 2010