When Im hungry for rumors, I reach for the Computer Associates grapevine. Heres the latest: Sources say Computer Associates VP ReiJane Huai has resigned to launch FalconStor, which will develop IP-based storage solutions. FalconStor has a home page (www.falconstor.com), but none of its links are active. Youll recall that Huai was CEO of Cheyenne Software, which Computer Associates acquired in 1996. Sources say several Cheyenne veterans will rejoin Huai at FalconStor. Stay tuned for the companys partner strategy.
> Meanwhile, another CA and Cheyenne veteran has reason to celebrate. Sources say T.M. Ravi, CEO of Peakstone, has quietly inked an alliance with Exodus. Peakstone is a startup that optimizes Internet response times. Look for Exodus to use Peakstones software in its data centers.
> PricewaterhouseCoopers veteran Christopher Formant is joining iXL as president and CEO. He replaces Bert Ellis, who remains chairman. Ellis stepped in to run day-to-day operations last fall, when iXL announced revenue shortfalls and layoffs. Now, its up to Formant to lift iXLs stock out of the gutter.
> Unisys, Dell and Microsoft are working to design a computerized voting system for the next presidential election. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL if you think this is a really bad idea.
> Former Cisco Global Partners VP Tom Stevenson is a tough man to find. He joined eDeploy.com as interim president and CEO in October. Three months later, his name still isnt in the companys voice-mail system. Maybe eDeploy.com is trying to shield Stevenson from guys like me. Whatever the case, a mutual friend finally put me in touch with Stevenson late last week. More to come, soon.
> Can two drowning companies keep each other afloat? Novell and Yahoo certainly hope so. As part of a new business deal, Yahoos corporate portal software will use Novells eDirectory to authenticate users. Its a dynamite partnership, but some burning questions remain. Yahoo last week warned of slowing growth. And other than a television ad campaign, Novell has been far too quiet of late.
> Wall Street analysts at Epoch Partners are keeping tabs on us. In our Jan. 8 issue, we told readers that Californias energy crisis would not leave Exodus data centers in the dark. Epoch last week issued a report to investors stating the same conclusion. A trusted source says Epochs research was based on our story. Im still waiting for my commission on that one.