Microsoft hiring

Microsoft is looking to hire 150 programmers for their new development center opening in Herzilia Pituach.

Social (R)evolution

If this happens, this will be the one of the largest projects in Israel. The ramifications are enormous.

They've talked about it for years. They've instituted bits and pieces over time, but now it appears to be true.

Bituach Leumi (Social Security) has announced they will be issuing a tender to replace their mainframe and all its embedded software with newer, more open systems and packages. (Just two years ago, at Bituach Leumi’s request, some members of DigitalIsrael quietly wrote up a study of one possible alternative, the internal ramifications of such a project, and how it should be safely implemented.)

Currently all of Bituach Leumi's major financial transactions are done on, or stored on the mainframe.

This will clearly be a serious blow for IBM Israel (if they don't win the tender) as Bituach Leumi currently pays IBM the majority of the Mainframe license fees for all of their mainframes (and mainframe upgrades) and software such as MVS, DB2, CICS, etc - And we are talking serious million$.

Bituach Leumi has been looking into alternatives to the mainframe for years.

A project of this magnitude will provide jobs and projects for decades for whichever consortium of companies wins this prize.

Keep the Roads Rolling

Solel Boneh has won a BOT project with Guatemala to build them a road. For $672 million dollars. Not bad.

bLosers

b-Bet you thought it was about Bezeq (again).

Nope. After shoving unwanted video ads down the message pipes of Cellcom users, Cellcom is now pushing bCellcom – their shopping network. Gee thanks.

Meanwhile, Cellcom is sitting on a goldmine it is completely ignoring – the AirCard line of products and concept.

AirCard allows Cellcom to provide truly wireless highspeed internet wherever you are (the other providers provide wireless too, but apparently nowhere near as fast).

b-But where is the desktop router? Where is the (Sierra) USB Aircard Modem?

(b)Cellcom could directly be taking on Bezeq in the ADSL/ISP market head to head, but instead they are only providing a repackaged Sierra PCMCIA AirCards, which if you were to use it like you surf with Bezeq it would cost you a lot more at Cellcom’s prices.

So instead they are offering us yet another shopping network (perhaps their wireless network isn’t up for the challenge?).

bForgetIt.

Word on the $treet

Did the Bank of Israel quietly (secretly) intervene with dollar/shekel trading today (despite Stanley saying he wouldn't)?

Bank of Israel listed the dollar as not dropping below 4.066, though actual bank trading certainly happened below that number.

Was it a "correction" or an "intervention"?

Aladdin's Buys the Lampshop

Aladdin is cash heavy and now it's buyback time.

Word on the $treet

Word on the $treet is that the dollar will fall to NIS 3.96.
As of this post the dollar has already fallen below 4.1.

Ness, SAP, and the Municipalities

Ness (local distributor of SAP) signed an agreement with LADPC (which supplies computing services to a large number of municipalities in Israel) in which LAPDC will install SAP in the municipalities they handle.

Cheap Labor

Matrix purchased controlling interest in the Bulgarian outsourcing company owned by Unicoders for 2 million dollars, getting in return 150 new employees. Matrix made the purchase through their subsidiary Net-Shore.

Of course the Bulgarian company was actually formed by 2 Israelis.

Stanley Fisher on Problem Solving

"Problems aren’t solved in Israel until they reach crisis dimensions, and that’s a pity."

Comverse finds its head

After 5 months without a leader, Comverse has finally appointed a new CEO (Andre Dahan).

Comverse lost it's previous CEO (and founder) after he ran away to Africa to avoid being arrested for backdating the company's stock options (as apparently did other Comverse execs).

One1 wins Delek ERP project

One1 won a project to Install at Delek an Oracle ERP system for NIS 10M.

Alon is a Afloat

Alon USA shares have jumped big time recently, just ahead of Alon Israel's upcoming IPO.

Furthermore, Alon USA just won a contract to supply fuel to the US Army ($138 Million). Delek also won a part of that contract for $38 Million.

Basil-2 to strike Israel

By 2009 Israeli banks will be required to institute Basil-2. Basil-2 will affect how (and how much) the banks offer credit. We'll see if that goes through on time - or at all.

Aladdin makes a wish

Aladdin announced that it is supplying its eSafe and eToken solution to an Indian educational consortium for a sum in the area of $50,000,000. Talk about rubbing the right lamp.

Retalix wins again

185 7-Eleven stores in Sweden and Norway have installed Retalix's Storepoint POS software. Retalix first entered the 7-Eleven chain some 4 years ago in the US. The US based 7-Eleven stores are owned by Alon USA (a subsidiary of Alon Israel Oil Co. LTD).

Shekel on the Move

Shekel keeps rising (or the dollar keeps falling depending on your perspective) over the Passover holiday.

Teva to hire

After receiving US FDA approval on its new plant in Har Hotzvim (Jerusalem Technology Park) Teva will be hiring an additional 200 employees (beyond the 300 already working in the current Jerusalem facility.

Twisting in the Wind

It was just announced that Bank Discount won the Civil Servants Banking Tender.

Bank Mizrachi-Tfachot just purchased Bank Yahav (for some $237 million dollars), which until today held the monopoly on the service. Presumably they bought it under the assumption they would either win the tender or sidestep it.

Bank Discount will now be offering the 140,000 Israeli civil servants zero-fee banking services, something the rest of the country is not privileged to have.

After Pesach

Call up anybody to do business these past few days, and you find out that all business has stopped until "after Pesach"... same with this blog (probably).

Enjoy the holiday.