Can the enterprise keep a secret?

Paul Sweeney has been tweeting a question I raised earlier this week. Can Enterprise Software (or enterprise technology in general) point to examples like the iPhone which apparently caught RIM, Microsoft and other competitors by surprise and took them years to appropriately respond.  In contrast in the enterprise, it seems like there are years of bragging, then slow product and project rollouts.

Recently I have been struck by the buzz around M&A deals – Microsoft’s rumored acquisition of Yammer, and Salesforce’s acquisition of Buddy have been preceded by fairly loud discussions in social media before official announcements.

Call me old fashioned but I liked Tim Cook’s recent statement that Apple would push for even more product secrecy. Maybe that is too much to expect in the enterprise but can it at least STFU - not brag for years of projected products and instead focus on showing hundreds of early adopters and put the fear of God (or the SEC) into loose lips before consummating major transactions?