IBM rarely does anything as rash as attack a business rival so we were jolly amazed when the outfit came out against the maker of jolly expensive printer ink, HP. The men in suits, who have job titles so long that they need fold out business cards, have written off HP's efforts at getting into the integrated software and services business.

Mike Daniels, senior VP of IBM Global Technology Services said that by tying its software and services businesses more closely together, IBM has been able to boost its profit margins ahead of HP and is on track to maintain its lead with further expansion over the next five years. He said it would take HP a long time to accumulate the kind of capability that they have. Daniels played down Wall Street worries that HP’s ambition to expand in software would push up the price of potential purchases, forcing IBM to set aside more of its own cash to continue with its own acquisitions.

Having one more person in the market place does not change anything, Daniels said. Although this might seem tame in comparison to the barbs that flow between Google, Apple and Microsoft, it is pretty strong stuff from Biggish Blue.