I.B.M. Will Buy a Maker of Data Analysis Software

SPSS makes software to help businesses and governments organize and analyze data to make better decisions, useful tools in a downturn.

New York Times, July 29, 2009 — I.B.M. took a big step to expand its fast-growing stable of data analysis offerings by agreeing on Tuesday to pay $1.2 billion to buy SPSS Inc., a maker of software used in statistical analysis and predictive modeling.

Major technology companies have made a flurry of such purchases in recent years, grabbing suppliers of software that helps businesses and governments organize and analyze data to make better decisions.

HP's Dhore Discusses CRM for 60 Million Customers†

Brandweek, October 7, 2008 — When it comes to Customer Relationship Management, Hewlett-Packard has its hands full. The company gets 600 million calls a year from its customers and ships about 500 million products. The task is complicated by new forms of customer interactions, such as blogs and social networking applications. At the helm of all this data management is Prasanna Dhore, HP's vp of customer intelligence. Dhore joined HP last year from Dreyfus, where he focused on reducing churn. At HP, Dhore has more tools at his disposal, but also a lot more data. Last week he discussed HP's CRM program with Brandweek's editor Todd Wasserman. This article highlights excerpts from that conversation.