Thursday, March 19, 2009

Mass TLC’s Hopcroft: IBM buyout of Sun could bolster local development

By Galen Moore

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The acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc. by IBM Corp., reported yesterday to be in the negotiation stage, would consolidate two of the top five software companies in Massachusetts.

Analysts say the deal could lead to consolidation on both the hardware and software sides of the two companies, with some watchers predicting a 50 percent cut in Sun’s staff worldwide.

IBM employs about 5,000 in Massachusetts, a spokeswoman said yesterday. Sun employs “a little bit less than (2,000),” said a spokeswoman, who declined to provide specific numbers. The numbers place the two companies second and fourth, respectively, in a listing of Massachusetts software developers ranked by total in-state employees, maintained by Mass High Tech and the Boston Business Journal.

Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council president and CEO Thomas Hopcroft said if the reported deal does go down, he’ll look on the “glass half-full” side of possible impacts for the Bay State’s tech economy.

“There could be a greater upside,” he said, noting that Massachusetts is already home to IBM’s largest software development site, a facility in Littleton. Bringing Sun into the fold could give IBM research and development a greater center of gravity here, he said.

Even if consolidation results from a potential merger, it won’t take away from Massachusetts’ strength as a hub of innovation, Hopcroft predicted.

“You have a lot of people in a lot of companies and continue to innovate here,” he said. “Look at people’s LinkedIn pages. There’s people who were at Wang, and they were at DEC, and they continue on here in New England. People in New England tend to like New England, and they continue to innovate.”