In 2004, Oracle’s Larry Ellison made headlines when he proclaimed the enterprise software market was primed for massive consolidation. Unlike his errant predictions on technical trends such as his mid-90s boast about the imminent adoption of thin computing, Ellison was spot-on that an M&A rush would soon engulf the software industry.
He should have been right because Oracle has been the industry’s most prolific buyer. PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems, Retek, Oblix, TripleHop, ProfitLogic, Portal Software, 360 Commerce…the list goes on and on. In the past two years, Oracle has amassed an extensive portfolio of offerings and added thousands of new customers to its applications software business.
Other industries have also been defined by acquisitions. Government contractors have been snapping each other up for the better part of five years, much to the delight of regional investment banking firms like BB&T/Windsor Group, Houlihan Lokey and WWC Capital. Most recently, security vendors such as RSA, Internet Security Systems and CipherTrust have elected to sell to companies with more extensive product lines.
The market factors driving M&A are fairly consistent across industries. First, they start with customers who demand easy integration of products, along with a simpler procurement environment.
Secondly, as technology companies mature, it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve growth rates that meet investor expectations. When done correctly, acquisitions add proven products and services to sell, as well as new customers, that beef up the top-line.
And, finally, there’s plenty of capital available for acquisition-minded companies. Whether it’s cash generated from their own operations or ready dollars from private equity firms, companies are able to quickly and rather cheaply fund buy activities.
What does this trend mean for corporate communications and PR professionals? My best advice is to be prepared and stay close to top management. I also suggest you read an article penned by my colleague Brian Muys about best practices to support a corporate M&A program.
M&A Success: Why Communications Need a Seat at the Board Table
By Brian Muys, Strategic Communications Groups
http://navigator.bacons.com/CURRENT/MA_success.asp
October 17, 2006, 12:30 pm
Oracle's Ellison and Corporate M&A
Posted by jeffM
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September 6, 2006, 10:12 pm
Confronting PR Rage
It is no secret that journalists have long been prone to PR Rage.
The feeling is akin to the frustration we have all experienced after being cut-off by some inconsiderate driver hogging the road. Like road rage, anger and a sense of desperation can swell inside a journalist until it shows itself in an often ugly and unfortunate way.
Take my colleague Michelle Schaffer’s work on behalf of Convera Corporation. In pitching respected trade publication KM World about Convera’s Govmine.com initiative , Michelle did her homework. She consistently read the magazine and monitored its Web site. She understood its readership and why news about Govmine.com should appeal to them. And she crafted a well thought pitch that was light on self-promotion and hype.
Michelle then reached out by phone to schedule an interview with Convera and received this response from the editor:
Dear Ms. Schafer,
I am only responding to you out of respect for Convera, a company I know very well.
For the record, I receive from PR people about three dozen e-mails every day—that’s about 180 a week. I guess you can’t imagine how profoundly annoying it is to have a PR person such as yourself calling a few hours after sending one. What a horrible and disrespectful interruption. I gather that you can’t imagine I might have more to do that respond to people such as yourself. I, as editor-in-chief of the magazine, am not just standing by, waiting for yet another e-mail from a PR person. Try to imagine what it’s like sitting on my side of the desk. Never mind. I’m sure that’s not in your job description.
However, out of respect to Convera, a company and team of people I admire very much, I suggest you heed this advice: Do not follow up with a phone call after sending an e-mail. If you continue that practice, I will “go to strategic” remedies by blocking the entire gotostrategic.com domain, as I have with other PR firms whose hubris blinds them to showing professional respect.
I do empathize with the editor. When I registered for the FOSE conference as a journalist because of my column in SmartCEO Magazine, I too was subjected to a water torture-like barrage of Email pitches from public relations hacks .
That doesn’t make what this editor did right though. Journalists and public relations professionals need one another. A high quality PR practitioner who understands the market and its trends can be a wonderful resource, as well as a facilitator of information flow. There should be an expectation of mutual respect and courtesy.
What can you do to help ease PR rage? Demand the highest quality work from your public relations partner. Participate in the development of the media strategy. Ask to review pitches. Query journalists after interviews to make sure your company’s representatives are professional and thorough in their outreach. If a pitch falls flat, ask why.
We’ll continue to reach out to KM World and Michelle will work on her relationship with their editor. Why? Because Michelle is a consummate professional and KM World produces excellent content .
The feeling is akin to the frustration we have all experienced after being cut-off by some inconsiderate driver hogging the road. Like road rage, anger and a sense of desperation can swell inside a journalist until it shows itself in an often ugly and unfortunate way.
Take my colleague Michelle Schaffer’s work on behalf of Convera Corporation. In pitching respected trade publication KM World about Convera’s Govmine.com initiative , Michelle did her homework. She consistently read the magazine and monitored its Web site. She understood its readership and why news about Govmine.com should appeal to them. And she crafted a well thought pitch that was light on self-promotion and hype.
Michelle then reached out by phone to schedule an interview with Convera and received this response from the editor:
Dear Ms. Schafer,
I am only responding to you out of respect for Convera, a company I know very well.
For the record, I receive from PR people about three dozen e-mails every day—that’s about 180 a week. I guess you can’t imagine how profoundly annoying it is to have a PR person such as yourself calling a few hours after sending one. What a horrible and disrespectful interruption. I gather that you can’t imagine I might have more to do that respond to people such as yourself. I, as editor-in-chief of the magazine, am not just standing by, waiting for yet another e-mail from a PR person. Try to imagine what it’s like sitting on my side of the desk. Never mind. I’m sure that’s not in your job description.
However, out of respect to Convera, a company and team of people I admire very much, I suggest you heed this advice: Do not follow up with a phone call after sending an e-mail. If you continue that practice, I will “go to strategic” remedies by blocking the entire gotostrategic.com domain, as I have with other PR firms whose hubris blinds them to showing professional respect.
I do empathize with the editor. When I registered for the FOSE conference as a journalist because of my column in SmartCEO Magazine, I too was subjected to a water torture-like barrage of Email pitches from public relations hacks .
That doesn’t make what this editor did right though. Journalists and public relations professionals need one another. A high quality PR practitioner who understands the market and its trends can be a wonderful resource, as well as a facilitator of information flow. There should be an expectation of mutual respect and courtesy.
What can you do to help ease PR rage? Demand the highest quality work from your public relations partner. Participate in the development of the media strategy. Ask to review pitches. Query journalists after interviews to make sure your company’s representatives are professional and thorough in their outreach. If a pitch falls flat, ask why.
We’ll continue to reach out to KM World and Michelle will work on her relationship with their editor. Why? Because Michelle is a consummate professional and KM World produces excellent content .
Posted by jeffM
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August 14, 2006, 1:38 pm
Bloggers Gone Wild
Have bloggers gone wild?
The blogosphere has never been for the tame. It grows noisier with each passing day as the legions of broadband-empowered seek to voice their opinions about the world around them. Blog search engine company Technorati reports a new blog is created each second and the blogosphere doubles in size every six months. The company now tracks more than 40 million online journals.
Bloggers today can be a surly lot. Some use the Internet as a channel to voice frustrations. Others recognize that to gain any level of readership or following their postings must be provocative and daring. Now consider the lack of peer review that is the staple of credible journalism and the blogosphere becomes wrought with risk for a company seeking to manage its reputation.
Consider Dell and its recent misstep. Well-read technology blogger Jeff Jarvis took issue with Dell’s corporate blogging efforts comparing Direct Conversations with Dell to yelling at a brick wall . “There’s not one link there. It’s filled with promotions for Dell’s wonderfulness,” he complained.
The reaction from Dell was as swift as it was ill-advised. “I’ve been working with Dell the past three weeks researching trashy blogs that worms like you leave all over the frigen blogosphere…,” wrote an unidentified commenter . “Your problem is you have no life.”
After outing the commenter as an intern named Chris from one of Dell’s public relations firms, Jarvis received an apology from a more senior PR executive at the firm. Chris apparently got “caught up in the emotion around your postings,” the executive explained.
That wasn’t good enough for Jarvis who concluded from this experience that Dell as a company must have a culture and management that allows this type of shoddy customer service to occur.
There are a couple of important takeaways from this. For starters, it’s imperative for your company to monitor the blogosphere and put in place a well-defined process to address criticism and concern. Be responsive and sincere in your desire for a dialogue and your company at the very least will earn the respect of bloggers. Dell seems to be on the right track on this front .
Second, use the combative nature of bloggers to your advantage, when appropriate. After being compared by New York Times columnist James Friedman to a “crack dealer” feeding American’s addictions to SUVs, General Motors turned to the blogosphere to win support for its side of the story .
New media channels such as blogs, podcasts and wikis will continue to influence how your customers, prospects, partners and employees find information about your company. It’s important to understand and manage the opportunities and risks.
The blogosphere has never been for the tame. It grows noisier with each passing day as the legions of broadband-empowered seek to voice their opinions about the world around them. Blog search engine company Technorati reports a new blog is created each second and the blogosphere doubles in size every six months. The company now tracks more than 40 million online journals.
Bloggers today can be a surly lot. Some use the Internet as a channel to voice frustrations. Others recognize that to gain any level of readership or following their postings must be provocative and daring. Now consider the lack of peer review that is the staple of credible journalism and the blogosphere becomes wrought with risk for a company seeking to manage its reputation.
Consider Dell and its recent misstep. Well-read technology blogger Jeff Jarvis took issue with Dell’s corporate blogging efforts comparing Direct Conversations with Dell to yelling at a brick wall . “There’s not one link there. It’s filled with promotions for Dell’s wonderfulness,” he complained.
The reaction from Dell was as swift as it was ill-advised. “I’ve been working with Dell the past three weeks researching trashy blogs that worms like you leave all over the frigen blogosphere…,” wrote an unidentified commenter . “Your problem is you have no life.”
After outing the commenter as an intern named Chris from one of Dell’s public relations firms, Jarvis received an apology from a more senior PR executive at the firm. Chris apparently got “caught up in the emotion around your postings,” the executive explained.
That wasn’t good enough for Jarvis who concluded from this experience that Dell as a company must have a culture and management that allows this type of shoddy customer service to occur.
There are a couple of important takeaways from this. For starters, it’s imperative for your company to monitor the blogosphere and put in place a well-defined process to address criticism and concern. Be responsive and sincere in your desire for a dialogue and your company at the very least will earn the respect of bloggers. Dell seems to be on the right track on this front .
Second, use the combative nature of bloggers to your advantage, when appropriate. After being compared by New York Times columnist James Friedman to a “crack dealer” feeding American’s addictions to SUVs, General Motors turned to the blogosphere to win support for its side of the story .
New media channels such as blogs, podcasts and wikis will continue to influence how your customers, prospects, partners and employees find information about your company. It’s important to understand and manage the opportunities and risks.
