Speaking during a mastermind keynote at Gartner’s Symposium/ITxpo conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today suggested the company may acquire a company in the Web services management space. However, he offered no details about exactly which company Microsoft was investigating. Ballmer’s remarks came in response to a Gartner analyst pointing out that even though Microsoft has a Web services platform and tools offering, the company is lacking in management software for Web services. “While I’m not making any specific announcements in this area, I’m saying you should stand by for news,” Ballmer told the crowd. (Posted on behalf of Tom Sullivan, who is attending the show in Orlando this week.) Technology Industry