News Briefs

Computerworld - Duffield Resigns PeopleSoft Posts
David Duffield resigned as PeopleSoft Inc.'s CEO and chairman last month, just eight days after Oracle Corp. reached an agreement to buy the firm for $10.3 billion. Duffield, a PeopleSoft co-founder, replaced Craig Conway as CEO three months ago. A PeopleSoft spokesman said the company had no comment beyond what it said in an SEC filing disclosing the move.
Gartner Snaps Up Meta for $162M
Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. last week said it will acquire rival Meta Group Inc. for $162 million in cash. The boards of both IT research firms approved the deal, which is expected to close by mid-2005. Gartner, which has 76 locations worldwide, had $858 million in revenue in 2003. Meta Group reported $122 million in revenue for 2003. The company, also based in Stamford, has offices in 52 locations.
EMC Buys Another Software Company
EMC Corp. continued to expand its software portfolio, announcing in late December that it had agreed to acquire System Management ARTS Inc. for $260 million in cash. Privately held SMARTS, a maker of event automation and real-time network systems management software, projects 2004 revenue of slightly more than $60 million.
IBM Details 2005 Server Plans
IBM expects to ship a new 32-processor server based on Intel Corp.'s Xeon processors in the first half of 2005 and may begin selling its first high-density blade server based on Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s Opteron processor, executives said late last month. Susan Whitney, xSeries general manager, also hinted that IBM may soon begin selling its first Opteron blade system.

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