First Oracle acquired Hyperion for $3.3B then SAP snatched up Business Objects for $6.8B. Now, in what is not a particular surprise, IBM announced it would acquire Cognos for $5B.
What’s it all mean for the geospatial market? I discussed the SAP/BO combo in April when it happened and said Oracle is more geospatial-aware than […]

On Sunday, SAP agreed to acquire Business Objects for $6.78 billion. Wall Street apparently is not in love with the deal as skepticism pushed the SAP stock price down 4% on Monday. Some are suggesting SAP overpaid for the French business intelligence (BI) software provider. (I am baffled that some call BI an “emerging” market […]

On Monday, Nokia said it is buying NAVTEQ, the provider of data for digital maps. Like the July announcement in which TomTom offered TeleAtlas for $2.5, a device maker is grabbing a provider of map data. Reportedly, some analysts are saying Nokia is overpaying for NAVTEQ. Perhaps, but these same analysts likely lack the understanding […]

Today Pitney Bowes said it is buying MapInfo for $408 million in cash. Not a big surprise as MapInfo has been undervalued for some time. It’s a great day for MapInfo stockholders, who would receive a 50% premium over yesterday’s closing price. However, its probably not such a great day for MapInfo employees who now […]

MapInfo joined forces with BusinessWeek Research Services to survey 1,700 business executives in organizations with more than 500 employees and $50 million gross revenues about the importance of location in their business processes. Some of the survey’s interesting findings from the 447 respondents:

64% think location intelligence can improve business process and decision-making
13% are using or […]