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In an attempt to reduce cost or improve performance at scale, some organizations are introducing low functionality, shared or cloned desktop operating systems within their virtual desktop environment. This article sets out to show that this approach is flawed, is simultaneously limiting and unnecessary and that it increases operational risk and reduces agility. New developments [...]
Every year I spend time thinking about what changes we will see in technology during the next year. It’s always a tough call as most changes only gain a foothold slowly and gradually over time. They creep upon us so that they become the new normal, stuff that we can’t imagine not having or [...]
The demand for thin-client (VDI) deployments is increasing driven by a combination of Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC), Security concerns and the scheduled release of Windows 8. This is not a new business requirement, it’s been around for a while, only held back by the twin problems of achieving a sensible ROI and getting VDI [...]
I just finished writing an interesting white paper on Data Center Infrastructure Management for Rackwise Inc. DCIM is not all about cost, although we would be remiss not to take the significant cost advantages available by properly managing our data center estate. The white paper picks up on a number of key themes in Data [...]
Not all business applications are equal. Some are high profile, visible and customer experience affecting. For a bank, the ATM systems, card processing platforms and Internet banking applications generally fall into this category. In my book “What Every CIO Wants“, I call these Invest category applications. Behind the scenes there are hundreds, sometimes thousands of [...]
All entrants win something: Prizes for winners include CTO and VC/IPO boot camp and mentoring, plus products and services worth tens of thousands of dollars London, UK – June 19th 2012 - Today the Tech Trailblazers Awards (www.techtrailblazers.com) were officially launched to champion innovative tech startups from around the world. The Tech Trailblazers Awards, open for entries July 18th, represent a new [...]
Since IBM launched the Smarter Planet initiative in November 2008, we have seen a consistent linkage of data analytics and analysis driving better and smarted business and societal behaviours. A new IBM global study of midmarket Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) indicates that nearly twice as many midmarket CEOs see creating a more collaborative work environment [...]
I just received a really stupid scam email – even the iCloud SPAM filter picked it up.
I have been working long and hard on writing a book – “What Every CIO Wants – A guide for global technology salespeople“. For many years I have lived a double life as a senior IT Executive with a salesman inside, desperately trying to get out. This book outlines my observations of what salespeople get [...]
IT resellers operate in two key market segments left to them by the large IT vendors: The mid-market (firms of up to 1000 staff) for general IT systems and platforms Tight vertical markets where the reseller has a great deal of skill and capability often supported by intellectual property In both these areas customers and [...]
There are three generalised approaches to using flash memory in storage architectures, categorised in the diagram below: Three Categories of Solution Design The Performance Optimised category takes a no-compromise-on-cost approach to designing for performance. A centralised storage controller that leverages flash memory characteristics to dramatically reduce IO latency and improve IOPS. Significant new engineering work [...]
I interviewed Ron Bianchini CEO of Avere Systems about their new third generation FXT appliance. (Ron was the CEO of Spinnaker Networks acquired by NetApp in November 2003 for $300M). We started the conversation by looking at the key values of Spinnaker, it’s ability to scale and cluster NAS filers, a technology long since incorporated [...]
I just finished reading EMC company blogger, Chuck Hollis article about EMC VFCache, a server side flash storage technology that competes with the Fusion-io, ioDrive head on. Most interestingly, the product name is chosen carefully to ensure customers don’t get confused that VFCache might be designed to replace the normal disk based EMC storage array controller products. [...]
Around this time, I usually pull together a ten point list of predictions for the coming year. I am interested in the Data Center (around power, cooling, reliability and economics), IT Security (particularly Database and Mobile), Big Data and Storage (Particularly Solid State). So what’s different this year from prior years? Strengthening fundamental drivers are likely to [...]
Globally the annual mid-market (companies with fewer than 1000 staff) spend for IT hardware, software and services exceeds $250B acording to Andy Monshaw, IBM’s General Manager for Mid-Market. Andy lives and breathes mid-market, he personally leads as many as 15 end user and IBM partner round tables a month, spending his time listening to customer problems and getting intimately [...]
Last night a few friends (IT Operations Geeks like me) and I had a great “Brains Trust” event at the OXO Tower in London. The topic was a continuation of the last Hot Aisle blog entry Why do we try to solve backup when restore is the problem? Apart from the food, view and wine [...]
Throughout my 20 plus year career in IT consulting, I have noticed that the most successful businesses often have something in common – they run their IT like a business and they treat IT like a key part of the business, and not like an add-on function. I have been in Qatar for only just [...]
I have spent the last 12 months working with some of the smartest and best funded marketing people on the planet, I have been working with the the really big, household name, IT Infrastructure vendors. I learned lots, lots about marketing, lots about honest analysis and lots about human nature. I learned that marketing isn’t [...]
I wanted to share with you my latest news. A little over a year ago Steve Duplessie and I created ESG EMEA to help reach out and serve new European clients as well as provide local support for many of our ESG US based relationships. We have been immensely successful in building this business, working [...]
There are a lot of them around, Data Centres. A few of them are designed and operated very well and deliver great Power Usage Efficiency. Some could do a bit better, perhaps an airside economiser or two, or some hot or cold aisle containment, or maybe some DC power. Some are just a nightmare and [...]
Cloudera struck lucky in getting a $5M A-round away just before the markets shut down in response to the collapse of the global financial system. Backed by Accel Partners and more recently Greylock Partners they are making a bet that Hadoop with a smart scale out approach to managing large amounts of data is a [...]
Recently I spoke to David Emery a friend and colleague from my time at Coopers & Lybrand. He is now working on a major social media initiative for a global mobile telco. I was interested in David’s perspective as he has been working on a set of solutions to process log files at enormous scale. [...]
A while back I met Kathrin Winkler, Chief Sustainability Officer at EMC. She was delivering a briefing about EMC’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to a group of industry analysts. Most CSR briefings are as dull as ditchwater and devoid of anything remotely innovative or challenging. CSR is for some just going through the motions [...]
Most people who read this won’t have a clue what a Hollerith punched card is. I only just caught the end of the era at University where I learned to program in FORTRAN coding one punched card at a time. Once the stack of cards was complete, I delivered it to the computer operator for [...]
If you have been following the storage business for a while, you will have noticed a few changes: Introduction of Flash Memory components as Solid State Disks Serial ATA (SATA) disks becoming popular and growing in capacity (2TB soon) There are lots of other disk technologies around like Fibre Channel and SAS but SSD and [...]
