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Thursday, December 28, 2006 |
I just edited Jim Pinto's submission for the January Automation World. Not to give everything away, but I asked him for a look ahead (in his role as a futurist). He sees 2007 as a year that witnesses the beginning of consolidation among the "big 10" automation companies. Could be. This is an area where lots of hard-working people doing a good job are done in by corporate bean-counters. Personally, I'm not sure that there will be an implosion like happened in the accounting industry several years ago (didn't that consolidate from 10 to 3?). But the interesting thing is that there are no rumors right now. There are always rumors of so-and-so buying so-and-so. When it's quiet, does that mean something's afoot? 16 months ago I predicted additional consolidation in manufacturing software, and that has happened--and will continue. Other smaller companies will probably sell to the bigger companies. So I agree that we'll see more consolidation in 2007. Will it be the big guys? Also, where will the startups come from that fuel innovation in 2007? That's even more interesting.
7:34:53 AM 
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Yes, I'm still in Florida with family. Won't get home until Saturday. But I like to get up early and have some quiet time before everyone else is up (not a difficult thing to do around here). Spotted an item on my RSS news aggregator from Ephraim Schwartz of InfoWorld about new stuff coming from SAP. This looks like a bunch of good ideas. I'd like to know how they work, but I like the contextual linking they're doing. Check it out. Meanwhile, I'll try to get more from SAP.
7:22:38 AM
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I can tell I'm not a "A-list" technology blogger. Didn't get a new Ferrari computer loaded with Microsoft Vista to try out. ;-) Heck, one of our writers couldn't even get a response from its PR agency trying to write an article about one of the Microsoft technologies that you'll be using this year. If you read a number of high tech bloggers, note whether they disclose the gift when writing about how great Vista is (the first news I've seen is positive about the new operating system).
7:14:09 AM
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© Copyright 2007 Gary Mintchell.
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