Is VMware BEA's "white knight"?

Let me tell you why, before I point you to the original post of such speculation.

Enterprise virtualization is almost done, that having said..hang on, lets do it even better and make a "Year of" game:

• 2007-2008: Year of Integration : Here you will experience massive deployments of virtual infrastructure. Obviously you have to be nuts to think that virtualization is going to last forever, it won't even last the next two years. Why? simply because VMware is hell-bent on that next level strategy. Here it will use the "curve-ball strategic maneuver" to take the market into...well, the next level!
  
• 2008-2010: Year(s) of Enterprise Applications: Here the application stacks will be totally revamped, redone and deployable with concepts such as "Virtual Appliances". VA will reach the inflection point by then. That is why it makes sense for VMware to go for Apps now!
  
• 2008-2009: Year of Monitoring: Or call it management, no matter what you as the IT director, IT maanger or even the "powerful" IT guy say or think, your CEO is coming right at you. The research of Symantec on DRP and Testing just proves the point. Just to give you a simple example, my CEO knew more about the virtualization deployment in the local region than some of the folks you might think should know and monitor the market closely. I was myself very much and pleasantly surprised, when we were in Africa, and he confronted me with the questions and observations. So the CxOs are taking a lot more interest in the IT operations than you can imagine. And rightly so, the business (whether you are a huge university, big bank, service provider, energy firm, telco, you name it) needs to drive IT and not the other way round! CxOs have realized that!
• 2009 - 2011: Year of Intelligence: Business layers will be able to see through the monitoring layer, gauge and even replay the the ramifications of the decision making right from the boardrooms: "What if I take off this unit and place it for half a year in Poland", CxOs will have a clear cut intelligent platforms to see how the application stack will be affected and the underlying infrastructure layer will react to this, replayable and optimizable, decision making. This is something very crucial for CxOs, who are left alone in their rooms to make massive decisions with no one on their side. This is the age when the business will truly drive the IT. That is why we are today, some of us even not understanding why we have that tag line "Business Technology", moving towards business objectives; that is why we are in dire need of true versatilist who will guide and guard the business and help the management with the magic ball, even be part of the management; that is why CIOs are not being considered by many boards.

Ok enough said, but mark my words, the disruptive mergers and moves will go into a hyperdrive in the coming 2 years and this will lead to, as I have mentioned several times, aided by accelerated consolidations and sourcings, to a agile and business driven global delivery framework.

Now you can read the article:

Quoting VNunet:

There has been speculation about a “white knight” third-party trumping the Oracle bid. Labourey believes that while there are obvious names to be considered, an actual proposition is not likely to be forthcoming.

“I’m not sure who it would be [but] if HP strikes, it would be a very strong signal [that it has serious intent in enterprise software],” he said, adding that IBM, CA, Sun and VMware are other possibilities. “VMware is the company to observe. I think they have done great and they have huge power.”

And the rest of the article here.