Detailed description from one of the executives at FeedBurner on how you can enjoy the benefits of their service with an easy option on how to change back to a different feed address in the future without losing subscribers - Dancing About Architecture: FeedBurner on Your Terms.

This new tone from a vendor being open on how easily you can switch from their service to others emphasizes a change in the level of respect internet users enjoy. Openness that has not been adopted back then when email was invented where vendor “lock-in” was and still is the main customer preservation strategy for email service providers. Still, FeedBurner is unique with their responsiveness and listening capabilities to their audience.

On a personal note, FeedBurner is one of the main services I use as a blogger and it saves me a lot of administrative “headache” as a publisher. Giving your feed identity to a third party was frightening to me at first (availability, future existence? and other important questions), especially considering the fact that a vendor is quite new. Still, with FeedBurner I had an excellent experience as a free service user and their early dedication (even to their non-paying users) will serve them well for a long time as a vendor.

See Infectious Greed: Scott McNealy on Blogging, Acquisitions, etc..

Wide industry perspective on IT spending levels and CIO state of mind - deal architect : The Giant Crunching Sound.

Another good advice from Allen’s Blog on how to become a better CEO - allensblog.typepad.

I especially liked this part - “A perfect board meeting is when 10% of the talking is done by the CEO, 60% by the team, and 30% by the directors.”

Executive Moves

AutoCell Laboratories, an Acton, MA based developer of RF control solutions in enterprises and digital homes, named Eric Janszen as President & CEO. Janszen was formerly an entrepreneur-in-residence at Trident Capital.

Connotate Technologies, a New Brunswick, NJ based provider of Web Mining and Web Interaction solutions, promoted Director of Operations Beverly A. Hutzel to VP of Operations.

Flash Networks, a Herzelia, Israel based provider of mobile data optimization solutions for mobile carriers worldwide, named Liam Galin as President & CEO. Was formerly President & CEO of RiT Technologies.

The 41st Parameter, a Scottsdale, AZ based provider of anti-fraud and anti-phishing solutions, named Elazar Katz as VP of Professional Services, eBanking and Corey Frank as VP of Sales. Katz was formerly Director of the Active Risk Monitoring practice at Unisys. Frank was formerly VP of Telesales at ThomsonNETg.

Foundation Capital, a Menlo Park based venture capital firm, named Executive-in-Residence Richard A. Redelfs as Venture Partner.

Granite Global Ventures, a Menlo Park based expansion-stage venture firm, named Lee Kheng Nam as Venture Partner, Jenny Lee as Director of China Operations and Stephen Hyndman as CFO. Kheng Nam was formerly President of Vertex Management. Lee was formerly VP at JAFCO Asia. Hyndman was formerly CFO at Prospero Ventures.

Intelligent Results, a Bellevue, WA based a provider of customer analytics solutions, named John Moscicki as CEO. Moscicki was formerly President & CEO of Columbia Ultimate.

Intrinsic Semiconductor, a Dulles, VA based manufacturer of wide bandgap materials, named William Weisbecker as VP of Sales & Marketing. Weisbecker was formerly a co-founder and VP of Sales & Marketing of Quantum Epitaxial Designs.

MAP ROI Systems, a Sterling, VA based provider of software solutions for businesses bidding on federal, state and local government contracts, named William L. Schrader as President & CEO. Schrader was formerly Founder & CEO of PSINet.

New Edge Networks, a Vancouver, WA based provider of private multi-location broadband networks for business and carrier customers, promoted Director of People Catherine Grace to VP of People.

Pivot3, a stealth-mode developer of network storage products, named Co-Founder and VP of Sales & Marketing Lee Caswell as President &CEO.

Qpass, a Seattle based provider of mobile commerce solutions , named Jon Matsuo as SVP of Worldwide Sales and promoted former SVP of Worldwide Sales Steve Shivers to SVP of Corporate Strategy and Development. Matsuo was formerly CEO of Fidesic.

Riverbed Technology, a San Francisco based developer of wide area data services (WDS), named Keith Zubchevich as VP of Business Development. Zubchevich was formerly Director of Operations, Storage & Optical Solutions at Cisco.

Tenebril, a San Mateo, CA based provider of anti-spyware and privacy solutions, named Allan Thompsonas SVP of Enterprise Sales & Business Development. Thompson was formerly CEO of Senforce Technologies.

Tera Systems, a San Jose based provider of front-end design planning technologies for use by designers of complex System-on-Chip (SoC) semiconductors, named Motti Beck as CEO. Beck was formerly Founder, President and CEO of Bindkey Technologies.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Authoria, a Waltham, MA based provider of integrated strategic Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions, acquired Hire.com, an Austin, TX based provider of Recruiting Management solutions, for an undisclosed amount.

Colorgraphic Communications, an Atlanta based provider of professional multi-screen graphics solutions, acquired Appian Graphics, a Redmond, WA provider of 2D multi-display products, for an undisclosed amount.

E2open, a Redwood City, CA based provider of software-as-a-service for visibility and control of globally distributed supply networks, completed the acquisition of GetSilicon, a Santa Clara, CA based provider of visibility and control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, for an undisclosed amount.

Hummingbird, a Toronto based provider of integrated ECM solutions, acquired RedDot Solutions, a New York based provider of content management software, for $53 million.

IBM acquired Meiosys, a Palo Alto, CA based provider of software technologies that enable applications to be moved from one server or set of servers to others without disruption, for an undisclosed amount.

SAP acquired Lighthammer Software Development, a supplier of enterprise manufacturing intelligence and collaborative manufacturing software, for an undisclosed amount.

SDL, a Maidenhead, UK based provider of translation services and technology solutions, acquired TRADOS, a Sunnyvale, CA based developer of open platforms for multilingual content management, for $60 million.

Semotus Solutions, a Los Gatos, CA based provider of wireless enterprise software, acquired Clickmarks, a Fremont, CA based provider of a non-invasive integration technology that refactors existing applications into re-usable components that can be used to create composite applications for the enterprise, for an undisclosed amount.

Vericept, a Denver, CO based provider of intelligent compliance and content protection solutions, acquired Black White Box, a Colorado Springs based provider in delivering control and management of end-point devices, for an undisclosed amount.

Funding

AirClic – Newton, PA; a provider of mobile business automation solutions; $2 million; round not specified; Zon Capital Partners.

Akonix Systems – San Diego, CA; a provider of enterprise-class solutions for ensuring security, compliance and control of IM use within the enterprise; $12 million; Series C; General Motors Asset Management, Menlo Ventures, Mission Ventures, Palomar Ventures, Windward Ventures.

ContextWeb – New York, NY; provider of high-precision, realtime contextual advertising solutions; $9 million; Series B; Updata Partners, DFJ California, DFJ New England, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham.

DriveCam - a provider of knowledge-based systems intended to identify and improve unsafe driving behavior for commercial fleets; $18 million; Series B; JMI Equity Fund, Menlo Ventures.

Elemental Security – San Mateo, CA; a developer of security compliance management software; $11 million; Series C; Lehman Brothers Venture Partners (Lead), Bessemer Venture Partners, Mayfield, Sequoia Capital.

eProject – Seattle, WA; a provider of hosted project management software; $8 million; recap round; Kennet Venture Partners, GeneVest.

HelloSoft – San Jose, CA; supplier of signal processing technology and SDR solutions for VoIP, Wi-Fi, Cellular, and converged markets; $16 million; Series B; TD Capital, Entrepia Ventures, JumpStartup, Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners, Sofinnova Ventures, Venrock Associates.

Level 5 Networks – Sunnyvale, CA; a developer of high-speed server interconnect solutions; $30 million; Series B; Accel Partners, Amadeus Capital Partners, IDG Ventures, Oak Investment Partners.

Logicalware – East Lothian, Scotland; a developer of an open source email response management system; $548K; round not specified; Sigma Technology Group.

Network Security Consulting – Columbia, MD; a provider of information security consulting and software; $2 million; Series A; Nobska Ventures.

Nomis Solutions – San Bruno, CA; a provider of profit optimization software for financial services; $8 million; Series B; Bain Capital, August Capital, Red Rock Ventures.

Panta Systems – Cupertino, CA; designs and manufactures High Productivity Computing and Visualization solutions for scientific and commercial applications; $15 million; Series A; Bluestream Ventures, Dot Edu Ventures.

picoChip Designs – Bath, UK; a supplier of wireless silicon solutions; $20.5 million; Series C; Scottish Equity Partners, Atlas Venture, Intel Capital, Pond Venture Partners, Rothschild.

Ping Identity – Denver, CO; a provider of federated identity management software solutions; undisclosed amount; Series B; SAP Ventures.

RF Code – Mesa, AZ; a developer of hybrid RFID data management software and enabling technologies; $20 million; Series A; QuestMark Partners, Intel Capital.

Sanovia – Bensalem, PA; a provider of solutions for managed care pharmacy; $5 million; Series A;Claritas Capital, HLM Venture Partners.

Softricity – Boston, MA; a provider of an application virtualization platform; $15 million; round not specified; Meritech Capital Partners, FA Technology Ventures, Longworth Venture Partners, Prism Venture Partners, TD Capital, Technology Link Capital.

Starent Networks – Tewksbury, MA; a provider of mobile business automation solutions; $15 million; Series E; Focus Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, ITOCHU, Matrix Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, Samsung Electronics.

Syndera – Redwood City, CA; a provider of an operational intelligence solutions; $10 million; Series B; Individuals; Clearstone Venture Partners, ONSET Ventures.

Sypherlink – Dublin, OH; a developer of technology that enables information sharing across multiple data sources; $3.5 million; Series A; Battelle Ventures, Reservoir Venture Partners.

Teledvance – Louisville, KY; provides voice, data, and video communication services to small and medium sized businesses through a converged IP delivery platform; $15 million; round not specified; MK Capital, First Analysis.

Contributor: Venator Partners - Venator Partners is a Boston-based executive search firm that specializes in recruiting senior-level executives in the software and communications industries.
Copyright: Copyright © 2004. Venator Partners, LLC.
Covered Categories: M&A, Start-ups, Personnel Changes

Subscribe to Venator Partners newsletter!

EMC and Oracle Establish Joint Technology Development Center in China - kashar

Intuit ITS On the Block - line56

Microsoft No 1 Business Intelligence Vendor in India - indiainfoline

Attensa Announces RSS Network, Servers and Client-side Technology to Intelligently Deliver More Relevant, Timely Information on Any Device - businesswire

Cisco plans aggressive foray into messaging middleware - earthtimes

Cisco sets sights on $1bn technologies - vnunet

ECM Acquisition Week - Lot’s of merger and acquisition news this week! - gilbane

Red Herring recognized 40 distinctive women in technology - redherring

New Microsoft RSS Extensions - oreilly

Sales Model Sabotages CA’s SMB Plan - thechannelinsider

RFID Industry Faces Consolidation - crmbuyer

EBay launches new services for professional sellers - infoworld

Why Does MSN Want Back Into the Content Game? - microsoft-watch

Ellison Hires Former Microsoft CFO In His Quest For Microsoft Domination - techdirt

China won’t protect IP until it gets its own IT theregister

SAP Acquires Lighthammer line56

Microsoft Gets Hard Core About RSS globelogger

Sun Wants IBM’s Server Unit redherring

U.S. VCs to Stay at Home redherring

M&A - A Corporate Development Perspective VC_Adventure

eBay Pushes Open Source Development betanews

Airframe CRM adopts utility pricing news

Gartner: Five reasons why offshore deals go bust computerworld

Microsoft Enterprise IM to get Web access newsisfree

Cisco to Integrate Applications with Networks cmpnetasia

IT Sourcing Options in China emergic

Yahoo blogger responds to comparison to Google and Technorati radio.weblogs

Comverse wins VimpelCom converged billing project - The company won the $50 million project against competition from Amdocs and Ericsson. - globes.co.il

How to hire a product manager heynorton.

Salesforce.com Launches Upgrades, ‘Operating System’ For On-Demand CRM smallbizpipeline

Microsoft completed the acquisition of Sybari Software, their new anti virus and anti spyware line of business - The Windows Observer–Antivirus, Anti-Spyware Strategy Moves Forward for Microsoft.

One line from the news caught my eye as something that makes immediate common sense but may not be right strategically after all “Not surprisingly, Microsoft will discontinue new sales of Sybari’s products for the Unix (Solaris and AIX) and Linux operating systems. It will, however, continue to sell and support Sybari software running on IBM’s Lotus Notes platform; the Notes installed base is predominantly Windows-based.“.

The reporter’s common sense as well as Microsoft’s led to the almost automatic decision for Microsoft to discontinue the Linux product line and just keep Windows-based products alive. The common sense tells us why should a company like Microsoft support the endorsement of Linux, a direct rival on their core product - the operating system.

Still, following the same line of thought a question arises, If Microsoft stops supporting this Linux-based product line, will that affect in any way world-wide Linux adoption and endorsement by other vendors and users? The only thing a move like that does is a statement of PR and market positioning that they don’t believe in the existence or viable future of the Linux platform.

Let’s imagine the crazy scenario where Microsoft does keep this product line alive and even invests in it some more resources. What would be their benefits and downsides on a move like that.
Benefits:
1) Gain domain expertise and intimate acquaintance with Linux developers and most important users. Linux does and will exist regardless of the decision to discontinue this product line and while years ago a move like that could have killed the “unborn child” today it is more of acknowledging and getting to know your growing “illegal son”.
2) It can help them understand better the economics of Linux enterprise and consumer users as well as keep a close eye on its adoption patterns.
3) Provide a much more friendly positioning to enterprise buyers and consumers that already know that MS-Windows is no more the only alternative for running applications; an example alternative is the web-based application environment.
4) Yesterday I read a post How Microsoft Lost the API War on “Joel on Software” blog that discusses thoroughly how the longstanding fortress of Microsoft operating system and its API lock-in strategy erode. It might be just an expert opinion that will not hold true by Microsoft executives but still it has a lot of common sense in it. This can be an opportunity for Microsoft to fit in the new computing landscape that is evidently mixed by nature.

Downsides:
1) The stock may suffer temporarily by Microsoft’s move that admits openly Linux is here to stay.
2) The internal pride and enterprise-wide goal of keeping the title of the ubiquitous operating system will vanish. This is a matter of a cultural change.

I personally think it is time for Microsoft to acknowledge the Linux paradigm shit, wisely, and stop pretending it does not exist.

Update: See complete coverage on the move internetnews.

See Fractals of Change: Nerd CEO - When Free is the Right Strategy.