Mr. Williams: I've been in and around the software business since the late 1970s. Most of that time I have been on the infrastructure side, which is the core platform for building and delivering applications. That platform includes everything from operating systems, databases, programming tools up through application servers, business intelligence tools and Internet programming technologies.
In my industry days, I was an engineer who built many of these technologies. In particular, I worked on database engines and programming tools. I was an Analyst who covered these sectors at IDC and Gartner Group, and on the Street. I have been covering them for about 13 years.
My current coverage includes three different categories: operating systems, data management, i.e., the database companies, and connectivity and integration software. My coverage list includes operating system companies like Citrix, Microsoft, Novell, Red Hat and VMware. I used to cover Wind River Systems, which makes operating systems inside electronic equipment, before they were acquired. Integration, middleware and development tools is mainly Informatica and Tibco. On the database side, it's Oracle, Sybase and Progress Software. I'm also working on a few names related to this and another major new sector.
TWST: In general terms, what's going on in this whole software space?
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