IBM Senior Vice President of Technology and IP and Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the IBM Academy of Technolog, Dr. John E. Kelly, III, has been promoted. Having worked for IBM for 27 years, Kelly is now joining IBM Research as senior vice president in place of Paul Horn, who is retiring soon. Kelly is the former chairperson of the Semiconductor Industry Association. Kelly holds a master's degree in physics and a doctorate in materials engineering. He has also been awarded an honorary doctorate of science from the graduate school at Union College.
Dell ready to acquire SilverBack Technologies
Dell is gearing up to acquire privately held SilverBack Technologies, Inc. The move is part of Dell's ongoing strategy of IT simplification. However, the purchase will not be finalized until all closing conditions are met. SilverBlack Technologies, Inc., is a service-delivery platform provider that offers clients remote monitoring and management of information technology infrastructure services. Its products include servers, storage, networks, desktops, and notebooks. Dell is a leading global systems and services company ranked no. 34 on the Fortune 500 list.
Facebook buys small startup Parakey
Facebook, Inc., the Internet's second most popular social networking site, recently bought Parakey. Parakey has been at work bridging the gap between information hosted on the Internet and data stored in computer hard drives. Mountain View-based Parakey consists of Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt, known for their creation of Firefox, now the second most used web browser. Ross and Hewitt will work with Facebook, based in Palo Alto. The acquisition represents the first in Facebook's three-year history.
