Over
the past year, IT vendors have been sitting on a mountain of cash. The
top eight vendors—including Microsoft, Google, IBM, EMC and Cisco—have
cash reserves totally more than $125 billion. The fall 2008 stock
market crash, the seizing of credit markets and the stalled spending on
technology by businesses had many predicting that 2009 would be the
year of massive consolidation as large, rich vendors went bargain
shopping. Conversely, many predicted that 2009 would be the year where
perceivably weaker vendors would either be acquired or go out of
business.
At the beginning of the year, Channel Insider asked solution
providers to predict the fates of 12 well-known hardware and software
vendors. Their predictions were the basis for much conversation as the
initial report went viral. Some thought solution providers were spot
on, while others voiced distain for off-the-mark speculations.
>> CHECK OUT the original "Dire Predictions" list by clicking here
To bring these predictions full circle, Channel Insider is
revisiting its “Dire Predictions Report” from January to see how well
solution providers did with their “going out of business” forecasts. As
you’ll see, many solution providers need a better Magic 8 Ball.