All change

The $11.2 billion acquisition of Italian fixed-line operator Infostrada (owned by Vodafone), by Wind, and the rumours of Hewlett-Packard buying the consulting business of PricewaterhouseCoopers for at least $18 billion, dominated the international world of IT and telecommunications last week.

ADIR Technologies intends to use Net2Phone`s software technology and Cisco`s manufacturing and distribution capability to create "gateways" that grab all the streams of information coming into a small office or the home.

Paul Booth, columnist, ITWeb

At home, the local senior staff movements, detailed below, stole the focus during an extremely quiet week.

[Local]

Other local news included:

• the opening by Ixchange of JustEnough, a consultancy in the US focusing on digital inventory, together with the help of a 20% stake by Numbers@Work, a specialist in hi-tech start-up companies;
• the announcement by MGX that it intends to acquire minority interests in EC-Hold (a precursor to absorbing CCH?); and
• the opening of a local office by RSA Security.
• Additionally, there were the announcements that Rob Matthews, the MD of Siltek, is to resign as of 1 November, to persue another challenge in SA, and that Dave Lello, the executive deputy chairman, will become acting CEO;
• John Miller has resigned as MD of Unisys SA to take up the position of marketing director of AST, with Barry Holt acting as the interim MD at Unisys; and
• the news that there had been several senior resignations at Systems Publishers (linked to massive loss reported?).

[International]

Other international news included:

We saw excellent figures from Horizon Technology Group and Solectron.

Losses came from Able Telcom, AFA Systems, BATM Advanced Comms, Cedara Software, EasyNet, Fatbrain.com, Global Data, Globecomm Systems, Infocrossing, Intelligent Environments, Knowledge Support Systems Group, PNV, Pro Tech Comms, PSN, Red Hat, Ross Systems, SofTech, Starnet Comms, TigrSoft and Virage Logic.

Good numbers were recorded by Adobe Systems, Axon Group, Capri, Carreker, Comtex News Network, Oracle, Portugal Telecom, Proxima, Standard Microsystems, Summa Technologies and Verity; and satisfactory ones by Geac Computer, H-NET.NET and Tektronix (back in the black).

Mediocre returns came from Great Plains Software, Merrill, Navison Software A/S, Systar and Wallace Computer Services; while very poor results came from National Technical Systems and Real Software NV.

Other financial news included profit warnings from AMS, Cap Gemini (impact of E&Y acquisition), Digi International (European re-structuring charge), IBM, NetCreations, Network Commerce, PRI Automation, PSINet and SCI Systems; and a share split announcement from Nu Horizons.

Additionally, Alliance Fiber Optic Products, which makes fibre optic components for comms equipment manufacturers, has filed for an IPO, while Insession Technologies (e-business infrastructure software) has postponed its IPO.

Locally

Acuity (+20%)
ASAS (+33.3%)
C-Tech (-25%)
Digicor (+20.8%)
E-Data (+29.4%)
Hicor (-23.1%)
I-Solution (-29.4%)
I-Tech (+33.3%)
JemTech (+66.7%)
Pinnacle (+30.8%)
PTH (+50%)
Synergy (-28.6%)
Y2KTec (+66.7%)

Internationally

Conexant (+42%)
Convergent Comms (+28.7%)
Documentum (-25.1%)
HMT Technology (+40%)
ICG Comms (-31.3%)
Komag (+31.7%)
Lightning Rod Software (+52.2%)
Minolta (+27%)
SCI Systems (-32.4%)
Sykes Enterprises (-32.2%)

It looks as if this week or perhaps next week will see the formation of a company called ADIR Technologies, a venture between Net2Phone and Cisco. ADIR Technologies intends to use Net2Phone`s software technology and Cisco`s manufacturing and distribution capability to create "gateways" that grab all the streams of information coming into a small office or the home. Net2Phone `s shareholders include AT&T, AOL and Yahoo, and it is already working to integrate voice calls into various Web portals and Internet services.