There have been long rumours and recommendations that HP acquire Symantec. From a portfolio point of view, it makes sense, it blends consumer and enterprise as well as infrastructure and the desktop. The price is also good for HP, Symantec is about 10% above the 12 month low, and in relative terms the stock has languished.

It would also give HP some comfort having missed out to date on the BI consolidation that it can make the big software plays. Microsoft may not be so impressed and Symantec's services partnerships disrupted, but it would put HP in the software big league and push it strongly from an integration infrastructure perspective.

The other possibility is that Symantec has largely taken the end to end security, risk and storage roadmap to completion. Would they look to middleware as a potential bridge for the applications, and perhaps consider BEA if Oracle does not win out.

As ever the world is always everchanging in software and the hunter maybe the hunted