It's been an interesting week for me; that is, two global tech companies -- International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and SAP AG (ADR) (NYSE:SAP) -- are concerned about my abilities.
OK, first I got an email from one of SAP's communications vice presidents, regarding a column I wrote titled, "SAP Still Not Serious About M & A."
He wrote: "You know, with a little research, the readers of the Motley Fool might have had a more clear picture about SAP's strategy on acquisitions, and how that successful strategy has differentiated itself from the so-called pressure you seem to think that Oracle is putting on SAP. The number of assumptions (many wrong) about SAP and Oracle in your column deserve some balance so that your readers are getting an accurate assessment of the market, and the relative performance of SAP (16 quarters of organic growth) and Oracle (questionable).... Your readers deserve some balance and some accuracy about SAP and Oracle, lest folks wonder who really is "the fool."
Ouch! Yes, it is true that I've been bullish on Oracle and bearish on SAP. For the year, Oracle is up nearly 50% and SAP is up about 11%. I responded to him and emailed: "Thanks for calling me a fool."
His response:
Now for IBM: You see, a couple weeks ago I spent two full days at one of the company's mega conferences. I learned a lot about their strategy and technologies. I've been a bull on the company and have written positive pieces (especially on its M&A activity).
Well, I got a call from one of IBM's PR firms. They had issues with a piece I wrote about Informatica. My bad? I did not talk about IBM's great data integration solutions. The PR person said I needed to call back on this (maybe to set the record straight?)
Hmmm.... Am I required to always mention IBM when I write about data integration – because I attended their conference?
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.
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