While generally hesitant to predict this rapidly changing IT world, I have been asked and now offer my two top acquisition predictions for 2011: 1. Cisco Buys a VAR/Systems Integrator: Cisco’s main competitors in servers/data center offerings – IBM, HP/EDS, Dell/Perot – all offer professional services to complement hardware. With these global giants now ex-Cisco customers and pushing their in-house brands, Cisco buys its own professional services arm. Presidio and Dimension Data are likely targets. 2. Windows Phone <5% Mkt Share, Microsoft Buys RIM: Microsoft’s Windows Phone, despite all its impressive features, fails to capture even 5% of the smartphone market. Apple and Google Android dominate, leaving Microsoft with no other choice but to buy RIM/BlackBerry, whose Board learns from Yahoo and eventually agrees to the deal.
