More Info And Full Story Here , Here, and Here. NEW YORK (AP) -- IBM Corp. said Monday that it is buying AT&T Inc.'s Sterling Commerce unit, which makes software that helps businesses buy and sell to each other, for $1.4 billion. The deal would be IBM Corp.'s largest acquisition since it bought business software maker Cognos in 2008. Sterling runs "collaboration networks" where companies can interact with vendors. It has 18,000 clients worldwide and enables more than 1 billion deals per year, IBM and AT&T said. Customers include H.J. Heinz Co., Motorola Inc., Boise Cascade LLC and Boston Market Corp. The parties would not provide a figure for the unit's annual revenue. This should be interesting to follow... FYI - Sterling Commerce makes Gentran, Gentran Integration Suite and Sterling Integrator.

GAITHERSBURG, MD and ATLANTA, GA -- 12/08/09 -- GXS and Inovis, leading providers of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce services and software solutions, today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to merge. Inovis brings with it approximately 16,000 customers from a range of industries including retail and consumer products, financial services, transportation/logistics and automotive. The combined company creates a leading global provider of B2B e-commerce services and gives the company an even greater global presence.The merger of GXS and Inovis will further streamline customers' global B2B deployments and provide them with a comprehensive range of B2B integration software and services-based solutions. GXS is a leading B2B e-commerce services provider with a strong focus on helping customers optimize their global supply chains through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) and software-based portfolio that includes B2B messaging services, supply chain visibility, product master data management and B2B Gateway software. Inovis is a leader among B2B Gateway software providers and has a strong portfolio of complementary software and services including managed file transfer, supply chain visibility, product catalog, B2B Gateway and multi-enterprise master data management software. "Today's merger announcement marks a turning-point in the B2B e-commerce industry," said Bob Segert, president and CEO of GXS. "GXS sees strong potential for further growth in B2B managed services and B2B integration software. ...

... or something like that...  The title comes from an old song by Simon & Garfunkle, a "folk-pop" duo from the 60s and 70s...  They gave us a LOT of hit records in their years together - and Paul Simon certainly had a string of hits after they split.  Art Garfunkle didn't do as well, but he still stayed busy and active in the recording industry. I always think of the old adage about "stopping and smelling the roses" when I think of that old song (BTW, it's "FEELING GROOVY")...  Which then leads to thinking about "tunnel vision"...  And all of this came up today because of a comment made to a previous post that fairly SCREAMS "sales pitch!" and ... well, I've never been a fan of the heavy-hitting sales pitch. Years ago, I actually was in sales - I was selling new (and used) Chrysler and Plymouths for a dealer in the San Francisco Bay Area.  This was in the late 80s and I only did it for a few months.  I had to get out of there because, while I love cars - I'm a certifiable car nut - I couldn't deal with all of the high-pressure tactics that so many sales people used.  It actually kind of shocks me to think about how ...

Another EDI Blog from this guy…?  Geez!  Why are we all feeling so special?!? When I'd first written this blog - back in June - I was still working and "gainfully employed" and the change - just about a week ago - is something I could (obviously) plan for and anticipate - but you can only plan so much for this kind of eventuality in life...  But I'm doing OK and have been working on some possibilites to come...   OK, so I’m exaggerating a bit with that lead-in, right?  But truly, if you’ve read the blogs I write, you may very well have noticed that sometimes I’m kicking ‘em out daily.  Sometimes, well… not so much…  Months may pass between writings…  A lot of it happens when an idea – INSPIRATION! – rears its head and other times, well, it’s just when maybe I’m not so busy and I’ve got free time to think. Wait… Free time for an EDI Guy?  How can THAT be?  It’s not possible!! (now I've got even MORE free time!). But I tell you, it is!  And there’s a reason that any EDI Guy (or Gal) can have some … free time … here and there to work on other issues and projects.  It’s all about planning and executing your plans and taking ...

Jim Croce sang once about “… if I could save time in a bottle…” – and I just wonder where time goes…  Yes, it’s been a LONG time since you’ve seen the crazed writings I create on these pages.  Has the silence been golden? Of have you been secretly pining away for more wit and wisdom from the one and only; is it writings from this one that you have been yearning for…?  Or do you really just not care one way or the other and you’re just about to go read something else…?  I guess I’d better get to the topic, huh? I know its ground I’ve covered before, but it’s still a fertile field to … darn, what’s a good word for plow that starts with an “F”…?  How about farm…?  It’s still a fertile field to farm…  There.  I got some alliteration in. But I’m rambling on (again?) about changes and not doing things the “new” way because it’s too difficult.  Or it requires us to think of a different way of doing things that maybe – just maybe – we don’t want to think about.  It’s about adapting to change and dealing with the change that comes along as newer (and better?) ways of doing things come along. OK… since the last time we talked, ...