InformationWeek

October 25, 1999

Behind The Scenes:
IT Confidential
By John Soat

John Soat Tis the season for ... litigation. Last week Amazon.com sued Barnesandnoble.com for allegedly lifting its one-button E-commerce feature. In September 1997, Amazon deployed its 1-Click technology, which stores customers' credit-card and shipping information so they don't have to enter it each time they make a purchase. Earlier this month, the online retailer said it had been awarded a patent for the technology. Barnesandnoble.com has introduced a similar feature on its Web site and Amazon.com spokesman Bill Curry says "they meticulously copied" Amazon's technology, a move that he says "deprives us of treating our customers in a unique and special way."

Andrea Rose, CEO of Fashion Integration Technology, sued seven companies last week for allegedly infringing her patent--granted in July--for technology that allows consumers to "try on" clothes via Web browsers, interactive kiosks, and CD-ROMs. Rose's company uses such technology in a program called StyleFitter, but she's claiming a patent on the "online fitting" process, not just the StyleFitter product. The defendants form an A-list in apparel: Federated (owner of Macy's), Hearst (owner of Cosmopolitan), J.C. Penney, Lands' End, and three companies that have similar technology: Broderbund, Mattel (owner of The Learning Co.) and Public Technologies Multimedia. "We hope for a settlement to be able to work together," says a spokesman for Rose. "But this is the American way to start the process when you're the small player."

Nike and the Gap quietly settled the lawsuit between them over former Nike CIO Ken Harris. When Harris left to go the the Gap, Nike sued, claiming Harris had signed a noncompete clause. Now, sources say, Harris is following the same game plan at the Gap that he followed at Nike. Word has it that he's already decided that the central IT group must be immediately broken into "functional" service units, there have already been "town hall" meetings to present the strategy to IT staff, and outsourcing with Lockheed Martin is being discussed. While with Nike, Harris negotiated a multimillion dollar outsourcing deal with Lockheed Martin.

Churn forever! Rob Moon, VP and CIO of Micros Systems, a vendor of point-of-sale software systems, is joining an Internet startup (pre-IPO). This week, Moon will go to Unibex, a business-to-business E-commerce service provider, as VP of operations. Moon will be responsible for building the company's IT infrastructure.

Perot Systems VP James Champy has joined the board of another promising Web commerce company, MetalSite, an online marketplace for the steel industry. Champy is the former chairman of CSC Index and is probably best known as co-author (with Michael Hammer) of the landmark book Reengineering the Corporation. No surprise that yesterday's reengineers are joining today's E-business transformers.

Inacom last week tapped Gerald Gagliardi as its new president and CEO. Bill Fairfield, who had been Inacom's president, CEO, and chairman of the board will remain as chairman. Inacom, whose roots are in the Intel reseller market, began transitioning its business to the services market in 1992, but jumped up several notches with its acquisition of Vanstar last year. Gagliardi spent the last 28 years at Unisys, where he was most recently executive VP and president of global customer services.

Last week, Siemens Business Services signed a global partnership with Tivoli Systems, the IBM systems-management software subsidiary. Siemens Business Services will use Tivoli Enterprise as a "key component" in its IT infrastructure, as well as in its outsourcing, managed services, and systems integration business. The funny thing is that Siemens AG, parent of Siemens Business Services, signed a similar deal with Computer Associates about a year ago. Back then, Siemens AG said it would market and service CA's Unicenter TNG as the IT management platform of choice to its customers.

With friends like that ... wait, I've got friends like that! Unfortunately, we lost touch as they moved past me on their way up the ladder. Help my career with an industry tip, at jsoat@cmp.com or phone 516-562-5326 or fax 516-562-5036.

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