What are some of the major growth areas?

Mobile - Companies are rapidly jockeying for position in the Mobile ecosystem. SAP acquired Sybase ($5.8B), HP Acquired Palm ($1.2B), Apple acquired Quattro ($275M).

Social – With Facebook's dramatic growth, the relevance of using social data to reach and develop customers is becoming mainstream. Acquisition activity has focused on advertising and social games with corporate branding starting to elicit interest. Google acquired Slide ($180M), EA acquired Playfish ($400M), Disney acquired Playdom ($750M), LinkedIn files for IPO.

Cloud Computing – Data centers and apps are transitioning to the cloud which is driving mainstream vendors to acquire/launch cloud based solutions. CA acquired Nimsoft ($350M), IBM acquired Cast Iron ($190M), Salesforce acquired Heroku ($249M).

Internet Advertising/Ecommerce - This has been one of the fastest growing markets, particularly for vendors using video, proprietary data or in performance marketing. QuinStreet's IPO (current market cap $1B), Demand Media's IPO (current market cap $1.7B), AOL acquired goviral ($96.7M), Amazon acquired BuyVIP.

Video Entertainment/Communications – IP based video entertainment and communications represent major growth areas as consumers and businesses shift their habits to new mediums. Cisco acquired Tandberg ($3.3B), Skype files for IPO.

Data Analytic based Apps or Services - A cross-market trend has been the use of proprietary analytics and data to transform business processes. Amex acquired Accertify which represents a good example of ecommerce fraud analytics. Nielsen's IPO (current market cap $8.7B), Qlik Technologies'IPO (current market cap $1.8B).