Know thy numbers FORBES dissented in 1996 when Wall Street was hymning the praises of wheeler-dealer Henry Silverman and what is now Cendant Corp. (then HFS).
HFS, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, has in recent years snapped up a variety of franchising businesses, among them Avis car-rentals, Super 8 motels, Days Inn and Ramada hotels, and Century 21 and Coldwell Banker property agencies.
The move could allow IBM to show off its unique depth in research at its consulting level in a field crowded with top level consulting, says Jonathan Yarmis, a research fellow at HfS, a business and IT research firm based in Boston.