Comments on: SGI, Rackable, and the stalking horse http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/ HPC News Without the Noise for Supercomputing Professionals | insideHPC Fri, 03 May 2013 04:44:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Bunt http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-175959 Bunt Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:11:05 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-175959 You Made Some Good Points There. I Did a Search on the Topic and Found Most People Will Agree with Your Words. Thank You! P.S: Please Take a Minute to Visit My Website as Well: http://snurl.com/stockassault You Made Some Good Points There. I Did a Search on the Topic and Found Most People Will Agree with Your Words. Thank You!

P.S: Please Take a Minute to Visit My Website as Well: http://snurl.com/stockassault

]]> By: Sharan http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-163569 Sharan Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:57:15 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-163569 I guess we will find out today Thursday 4/30/2009- the final outcome. They should announce it at 5PM EST or at least by Friday morning the following day........ I guess we will find out today Thursday 4/30/2009- the final outcome. They should announce it at 5PM EST or at least by Friday morning the following day……..

]]> By: John West http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-159118 John West Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:34:09 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-159118 Joe - I certainly hope you are right, but there are significant problems and a very cloudy future. Yes, SGI has great people and great technology, but much of their most successful product line competes directly with Rackable's products (I'm thinking ICE specifically here). I certainly feel that the shared memory technology, which I'm most keen to see stay around, is at risk, and I'm concerned about development efforts as well. It all really comes down to what Rackable's broader intentions are with respect to HPC and the federal space, which is something we won't know until we are further into the process. As you alluded to, I think there is reason to believe that they wouldn't have bothered with the purchase if they didn't intend to grow here. But there are at least as many reasons to be concerned as there are reasons to be optimistic. One of the primary reasons to be concerned is the very reason you point out: the deal appears from the outside to be lopsided, with SGI getting more. In very very broad terms, SGI is smart and Rackable is rich (yes, I know that probably goes so far as to be incendiary, but you get the point). This means that the cultural problems, which people seem to want to pooh pooh at the start of a deal and then always point to and nod sagely when the thing falls apart, are significant. Not insurmountable. But significant. I do think that if anyone can get past these types of problems it's Bo. In terms of the wisdom generated by many people calculating through things many times before a decision is made to ensure that both companies come out ahead, I'm sorry I don't share your enthusiasm. I'd point to deals that are much much larger with way more smart people calculating: Daimler and Chrysler (devolving), HP and Compaq (thousands laid off, Dell gained market share, took four years to even out), AOL and Time Warner (B school case study on how not to do mergers), and the between 50% and 70% of all mergers and acquisitions that are judged to have failed (Google it). Oh, and SGI/LNXI. Smart people with the calculators don't have numbers for all the factors that contribute to success or failure. All we know from them at the start of a deal is that the numbers don't guarantee failure. We don't know anything about the potential of success. Joe – I certainly hope you are right, but there are significant problems and a very cloudy future. Yes, SGI has great people and great technology, but much of their most successful product line competes directly with Rackable’s products (I’m thinking ICE specifically here). I certainly feel that the shared memory technology, which I’m most keen to see stay around, is at risk, and I’m concerned about development efforts as well. It all really comes down to what Rackable’s broader intentions are with respect to HPC and the federal space, which is something we won’t know until we are further into the process. As you alluded to, I think there is reason to believe that they wouldn’t have bothered with the purchase if they didn’t intend to grow here. But there are at least as many reasons to be concerned as there are reasons to be optimistic.

One of the primary reasons to be concerned is the very reason you point out: the deal appears from the outside to be lopsided, with SGI getting more. In very very broad terms, SGI is smart and Rackable is rich (yes, I know that probably goes so far as to be incendiary, but you get the point). This means that the cultural problems, which people seem to want to pooh pooh at the start of a deal and then always point to and nod sagely when the thing falls apart, are significant. Not insurmountable. But significant. I do think that if anyone can get past these types of problems it’s Bo.

In terms of the wisdom generated by many people calculating through things many times before a decision is made to ensure that both companies come out ahead, I’m sorry I don’t share your enthusiasm. I’d point to deals that are much much larger with way more smart people calculating: Daimler and Chrysler (devolving), HP and Compaq (thousands laid off, Dell gained market share, took four years to even out), AOL and Time Warner (B school case study on how not to do mergers), and the between 50% and 70% of all mergers and acquisitions that are judged to have failed (Google it). Oh, and SGI/LNXI. Smart people with the calculators don’t have numbers for all the factors that contribute to success or failure. All we know from them at the start of a deal is that the numbers don’t guarantee failure. We don’t know anything about the potential of success.

]]> By: Joe http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-159045 Joe Fri, 03 Apr 2009 05:47:54 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-159045 I see the benefits for SGI outweigh those of Rackable here. It would give SGI quite a bit of money very quickly, and they would lose most of thier debt. I can not believe a 250 (+/-) person company would get rid of SGI people with thier knowledge on HPC. Most people are writting in thier blogs as if this decision was made on March 31st and filed on April 1st. I would think that this process started last year, and have been caculated through many times to ensure both companies would come out ahead. It does seem that the caculation will not work out (loss+loss=success) however, how many people here were invested in winning companies that have lost everything over the past few months? I think we will see a stronger SGI/Rackable come out of this one, and perhpas SGI will be forced to lower their overpriced products to make the competitive again. I see the benefits for SGI outweigh those of Rackable here. It would give SGI quite a bit of money very quickly, and they would lose most of thier debt. I can not believe a 250 (+/-) person company would get rid of SGI people with thier knowledge on HPC. Most people are writting in thier blogs as if this decision was made on March 31st and filed on April 1st. I would think that this process started last year, and have been caculated through many times to ensure both companies would come out ahead. It does seem that the caculation will not work out (loss+loss=success) however, how many people here were invested in winning companies that have lost everything over the past few months?

I think we will see a stronger SGI/Rackable come out of this one, and perhpas SGI will be forced to lower their overpriced products to make the competitive again.

]]> By: Peter http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-158830 Peter Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:50:32 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-158830 Bob Ewald has developed a pretty amazing resume. His bio on the SGI web site says he has had "a successful track record as a CEO". But this consists of the following CEO positions: * E-Stamp (out of business) * Scale Eight (out of business) * Linux Networx (out of business) * SGI (soon to be out of business) Bob's a nice guy, and I know put a lot of time and effort into trying to help these companies succeed. But if he lands another job as CEO, short the stock! Bob Ewald has developed a pretty amazing resume. His bio on the SGI web site says he has had “a successful track record as a CEO”. But this consists of the following CEO positions:
* E-Stamp (out of business)
* Scale Eight (out of business)
* Linux Networx (out of business)
* SGI (soon to be out of business)

Bob’s a nice guy, and I know put a lot of time and effort into trying to help these companies succeed. But if he lands another job as CEO, short the stock!

]]> By: scalability.org » Blog Archive » More about the SGI bankruptcy http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-158816 scalability.org » Blog Archive » More about the SGI bankruptcy Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:42:16 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-158816 [...] I should point to John West’s very intelligent story on the 363 process at InsideHPC. Here he looks at how this could play out. I don’t think its going to be clean. At $0.03 on [...] [...] I should point to John West’s very intelligent story on the 363 process at InsideHPC. Here he looks at how this could play out. I don’t think its going to be clean. At $0.03 on [...]

]]> By: mike b. http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-158762 mike b. Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:44:27 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-158762 apart from the parallel one has to draw with all the Wall Street antics coming to light... Loss + Loss = ?? ..this is a very informative and educational article. I can't say I understand why they chose to use "stalking horse" - it just doesn't seem like a creature that would "stalk" ..now does it? And, by description, it almost sounds more like a Trojan Horse - as in it's not really what it seems to be. Oh well, let the soap opera continue. apart from the parallel one has to draw with all the Wall Street antics coming to light… Loss + Loss = ?? ..this is a very informative and educational article. I can’t say I understand why they chose to use “stalking horse” – it just doesn’t seem like a creature that would “stalk” ..now does it? And, by description, it almost sounds more like a Trojan Horse – as in it’s not really what it seems to be. Oh well, let the soap opera continue.

]]> By: John Leidel http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-158743 John Leidel Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:03:47 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-158743 I have a yellow one :-) I have a yellow one :-)

]]> By: Christine C http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-158741 Christine C Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:00:54 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-158741 How much will my shiny purple SGI mug fetch on ebay now? How much will my shiny purple SGI mug fetch on ebay now?

]]> By: John West http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-158737 John West Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:29:29 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-158737 Paul - the same plan that SGI had when they bought LNXI, right? Paul – the same plan that SGI had when they bought LNXI, right?

]]> By: Paul Adams http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-158725 Paul Adams Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:39:14 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-158725 Rackable has posted five consecutive quarterly losses. I believe the plan is this: Phase 1: One money losing company buys another money losing company. Phase 2: ???? Phase 3: Make a profit. See South Park, episode 217 if you don't get the joke. Rackable has posted five consecutive quarterly losses. I believe the plan is this:

Phase 1: One money losing company buys another money losing company.

Phase 2: ????

Phase 3: Make a profit.

See South Park, episode 217 if you don’t get the joke.

]]> By: More details on the SGI/Rackable deal | VizWorld.com http://insidehpc.com/2009/04/01/sgi-rackable-and-the-stalking-horse/#comment-158721 More details on the SGI/Rackable deal | VizWorld.com Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:17:47 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=4211#comment-158721 [...] SGI, Rackable, and the stalking horse | insideHPC.com. Share and Enjoy: [...] [...] SGI, Rackable, and the stalking horse | insideHPC.com. Share and Enjoy: [...]

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