The proposed merger of MIPS with Silicon Graphics puts shareholders like Digital Equipment Corp and Kubota Corp, in the odd position of sanctioning the possible strengthening of a competitor. DEC said last week the company was still trying to figure out the fine points of the deal and what their ramifications would be, indicating that DEC has yet to formulate a clear position. MIPS vice-president Joe DeNucci, on the other hand, said MIPS had run the deal past DEC, Microsoft Corp and Compaq and claimed the threesome pronounced it just what the doctor ordered for the Advanced Computing Environment initiative in terms of ensuring MIPS’ long-term RISC leadership. Meta Group analyst Kate Fessenden, the only outsider known to have forecast the deal, believes that sounding the death knell for the ACE Initiative may be too obvious a reaction, leaving the door open for whatever may happen in the next few weeks. They may have to redefine ACE, she says, or at least resell it to the ACE membership. They certainly are facing the challenge, she says, of making the membership comfortable with the merger and gaining their support while they figure out how to push what they have and make it viable. If they don’t accept MIPS’ vendor neutrality, then ACE is dead she said.
