High-Tech Cat Fight? Yee Ha, Party Like it's 1999!

Readers, allow me to exchange my sassy hat for my marketing hat once again, as I am wont (or is it 'want'?) to do. The past few weeks in the glam life of enterprise software has been like the Great Land Grab of the 1800's. Aside from numerous acquisitions that have occured in drips and drabs the past year, most recently SAP buys Business Objects for $6.8 Billion to take out the largest independent Business Intelligence play. Oracle responds by bidding $6.7 for BEA to further imprison their customers with a middleware story - and gets rejected by them, even though major stockholder and puppet master Carl Icahn wants this baby to sell (how will this one end?) And SAP still has bullets left in its holster to make a bid for Yasu, a little known business rules engine player. For the down-lo on the first two, just catch the more entertaining round up here at my beloved Performance Guys site.

Paris and Nicole. Britney and Christina. Angelina and Jen. Facebook and MySpace. Larry and...everyone not named Carl? Kids, grab your popcorn and cherry Icee, sit back and enjoy the catfights. But what does it all mean?

One, it means major consolidation of enterprise software categories. The past few years have seen big league ERP vendors meld with CRM vendors meld with Database vendors to provide uber-infrastuctures that address substantial components of the technology stack. With dollars behind them, these "borgs" just keep getting bigger and bigger by acquiring ready-made customer bases. I won't pretend to go into all the techno-babble about EAI, ESB, CPM, etc. Dashboards, analytics, process management, and performance management are the belles of the ball these days - which is good for my company, BPM leader Savvion. Suffice it to say, these gigantors like Oracle, IBM, SAP, etc. want to eventually own your company's entire stack.

Two, it means major shifts in what is considered innovative, nice to have vs. critical business systems. Customers are now demanding more sophistication and agility around their technology infrastructure to meet real business objectives for real business people.

Three (and my favorite), it means major "Melrose Place"-style drama is back in Silicon Valley, baby, YEAH! Who will be left standing? In my opinion, this coincides nicely with the new micro-bubble that has been brewing in the Valley after the long, slow hangover recovery from the dot.com bust. The Tums have kicked in and, even though you said you'd never do it again, it's time to re-commence drinking!

Tons of little start-ups have popped up again, trying to capitalize on Web 2.0, social networking, user generated content (insert favorite buzzword here). Don't believe me? Check out my friend Sean's company Stirr: : a network to hook up entrepreneurs with VC funders and other resources in the Bay Area. Here's a list of alumni presenters - haven't seen company names like those since 1999. Party. Of course, right on this upswing, I have to move to Seattle but that's for another post. Anyway, the void created by the big guys gobbling each other up, means another vaccum of innovation and bleeding-edge technology, which means - hello, Stirr. The field is once again prime for planting after years of laying dormant since our beloved Pets.com's Sock Puppet died.... Ah, the circle of life.

For those of you who are like, "What the...?" maybe this will help you relate: Checking out Yahoo! Finance each day has become just as exciting for me these days as guiltily indulging in Us Magazine at the nail salon.

What, what is that flutter in my chest? Oh, I giddily feel the bubble growing in the streets once again in the Valley. Time for the gloves to come off, ladies and gentlemen. It's dark, back corner booth wheeling and dealing time. It's business plans over seared ahi at Sushi Groove SOMA. It's launch party come-backs at Vessel or Swig, complete with scandalous drunken hookups. It's beer Friday's, exposed brick office lofts, and Herman Miller Aeron chairs. It's daily catered lunches of curry, pasta and weird lo meins for developers who never see natural light for days on end. And most of all - could it be? What is that? Is that a lavishly produced, way too expensive, blow the entire marketing budget Super Bowl ad I see on the horizon?! Tune in to see who will make the next move. Meow!

A Lunchtime Visit to Provence

I've been here in SF eight years, and just stumbled upon the cutest hidden gem: historic South Park. I always knew the general area, but when a friend invited me to lunch on South Park Street I actually turned left off of 3rd Street to an area that could have been somewhere in Europe.

South Park Street is a crowded loop of a street that encircles a small grassy park and playground, with nestled houses and cafes dotting the entire circle. Our destination? The Butler and the Chef, an homage to every countryside French bistro ever in existence. Old road signs dot the walls, enamel bistro tables out front, vintage French travel posters for menu covers, the whole nine yards. Their motto: Our food is simple, yet epicurean. Where has this place been all my life?!

They have all the classics you want and need. French Onion soup, quiche of the day, crepes, duck confit, croque monsiers...I could go on and on. They even carry a selection of baguette sandwiches, such as the Parisien with Niman Ranch ham, french butter and cornichons (sort of like tiny gherkins). High cholesterol never looked so good.

My friend and I both opted for Croque Mademoiselle - a twist on the old favorite with baked smoked turkey instead of ham, and emmenthal cheese on organic whitebread with crème fraîche and cornichons. We went nuts and said yes to the tomato upgrade, which was a hearty slice of heirloom tomato rested on the sandwich, sprinkled with herbs de provence. The sandwiches are served with a side of mixed green salad dancing in a light vinaigrette and in some cases, a cup of soup.

My sandwich was perfectly toasted to a golden-brown crunchiness, the crème fraîche and cheese melted oh-so-perfectly and the sour crunchiness of the cornichons in between bites broke it all up. It was just......yum.

Adding to the charm, the friendly French chef came out and chatted us up, and even showed us some lovely heirloom tomatoes from the kitchen. They were gorgeous and plump, in shades of red-orange and yellow-white.

TBATC also offers a variety of daily-baked breads and pastries, and most everything in the place is made from 100% organic, all natural ingredients. Even your bill comes with a tasty treat: bite-sized chocolate truffles. To make you feel even better about your future heart attack, the restaurant is very community-minded and eco-friendly. They are a certified San Francisco Green Business (whatever that means) and also support a wide array of charities and causes.

I wish I had more time to check this place out for dinner and I assume the wine list is killer, but that might have to wait for my first visit as an out-of-towner!