Ok, so it isn’t breaking news.  But it looks like the big “MISO” vendors (Microsoft, IBM, SAP, and Oracle) are starting to catch on.  Several times I’ve heard product managers from these organizations say, in very clear terms, “We don’t innovate technology products.  We wait until a market is through the first 20 percent or so of the adoption curve, and then we either copy or acquire.  We leave it to the ‘Challengers’ and ‘Visionaries’ to sort out the innovations.”

So last week we heard from IBM that it is time to get serious about mobile.  They are making a move to position themselves for the next surge of market growth.  And true to form, they’ve been using acquisitions to acquire the know-how they need to get there.  The thing I respect the big