IT Stock Updates: Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO)’s Competition, Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ) & International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)’s Hyperscale Computing

Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Visa Inc (NYSE:V), Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA)

Cisco’s Whiptail Buy Will Bolster UCS, Could Hurt EMC Partnership (eWeek)
Since launching its Unified Computing System in 2009, Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) has increasingly found itself in competition with companies that had been strong data center partners. The UCS—an integrated infrastructure solution that included Cisco-branded servers as well as networking gear—put a wedge in its relationship with longtime server partner Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ). With its $415 million acquisition of Whiptail, which makes solid-state memory systems and storage products, Cisco may find itself in greater competition with storage partners EMC and NetApp.

Dell’s Haas as Turnaround Boss Honed Profit-Lifting at HP (Bloomberg)
When Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) President Marius Haas was still a rising executive at Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) in 2005, his new boss Mark Hurd entrusted him with a critical task: unearthing sales weaknesses and inflated costs. Haas obliged, arming Hurd with candid information that spawned a flurry of cost-cutting and sent Hewlett-Packard on a five-year run of soaring profits and shares. “He was the first guy I ran across who tried to convince me how the place actually ran — and how it didn’t run,” Hurd, who was Hewlett-Packard’s chief executive officer from 2005 to 2010, said in an interview.

IBM Increases Server Density With NeXtScale System (TechWeekEurope)
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has taken a step towards hyperscale computing with NeXtScale – its highest density server platform, built around the x86 architecture and Intel’s new Xeon E5-2600 v2 processor family. According to the company, NeXtScale fits three times more cores into the space currently occupied by one-unit rack servers. This results in up to 2,016 processing cores in a single 19-inch rack. This system was primarily designed for workloads such as social media, gaming and video streaming, analytics, technical computing and cloud delivery.

Cisco Systems Receives Neutral Rating from Lazard Capital Markets (CSCO) (WKRB13)
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Lazard Capital Markets in a research report issued on Tuesday, Analyst Ratings Network.com reports. They currently have a $415.00 target price on the stock. A number of other firms have also recently commented on CSCO. Analysts at TheStreet reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in a research note to investors on Tuesday.

GS, V & NKE join the Dow (CNBC)