If you're wondering why Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has gone out of
his way to badmouth IBM recently, there's a very simple reason: IBM
has just released a cloud-based product that takes dead aim at one of
Microsoft's cash cows, Exchange.

LotusLive iNotes is cloud-based service for e-mail, calendaring and
contact management, and costs $3 per month per user, notes
Computerworld. The magazine notes:

IBM is aiming the software at large enterprises that want to migrate
an on-premise e-mail system to SaaS (software as a service),
particularly for users who aren't tied to a desk, such as retail
workers. It is also hoping to win business from smaller companies
interested in on-demand software but with concerns about security and
service outages, such as those suffered by Gmail in recent months.

In other words, it wants to take Exchange users away from Microsoft,
as well as corporate Gmail accounts away from Google.

Ballmer is clearly not pleased, and most likely worried to a certain
extent. That would explain his recent bizarre criticism of IBM for
exiting the hardware business. As I've written in my blog, since
exiting the hardware business IBM has thrived and its stock risen
steadily, by 30 percent. In that same time frame, Microsoft's has
declined by 30 percent.