Sidhu bit off more than he could chew?
I read your story of i2’s fall from grace (Icarus i2 Falls, June 03) with interest. While the author has identified their aggressive expansion plan as one reason for their current woes, there is one other aspect to their problems. i2’s biggest problem was the complexity of their solutions. While their expansion was too aggressive, I think it was their reputation for complexity and ROI problems that ultimately got them into trouble, because customers did not want to buy their products but rather went for typically smaller suites that could then be integrated as required. Having said that, the company seems to have set that problem right as seen by their recent announcements in various symposiums. So, don't write off i2 yet!

Roopesh Melwani
Whiteplains, NY


Investment Blues
Harvi Sachar struck the nail on the head when he wrote that “expatriate Indians are only interested in making money out of the various dollar deposit schemes-rather than investing in the homeland through the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) route.” For too long Indians around the world were flaunting their love for their motherland by touting their subscription to the various repatriable bond schemes floated by the Govvernment of India. Yet, as Mr. Sachar's figures suggested, non-repatriable deposits actually declined! This is some balancesheet for a people who, as Merrill Lynch recently reported, are among the most prosperous communities in the U.S. Investment Blues indeed!

Srini Iyer
Naperville, IL


Surviving Microsoft
I concur with Bijal Mehta's views (Thinking Small, Acting Small, June 03) on the SMB market and role of software vendors to provide a solution that fulfills the needs of a small business. As small companies embrace the idea of deploying software solutions, it will be interesting to watch how Microsoft will unveil its strategy for this segment. So what will happen to mid-sized software companies? Will they survive the Microsoft wave? Mehta fails to address these issues.

Jyoti Nimmagadda
San Diego, CA