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Anant Jhingran on Web 2.0 in the Enterprise

Michael Cote — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:03:38 +0000

While at the IBM Software Group Connection Summit 2007, James talks IBM’s Anany Jhingran about IBM’s application of Web 2.0 ideas to information management in the enterprise. Of note, they spend some time talking about the navigating the cultural waters and changes in the IT department and balancing the need for IT control with the less control based elements of Web 2.0 think.

Tags: IBM, Web 2.0

System Center, Battling over Virtualization, Microsoft and IBM, PowerShell, and open source at Microsoft TechEd IT Forum 2007

Michael Cote — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:28:15 +0000

Wrapping up the episodes from Microsoft TechEd IT Forum in Barcelona, James and I talk about the discussions and announcements at the event. First, James comments on the seeming maturity that both the attendees and Microsoft itself has after all these years of TechEd. Then we get ask if virtualization will avoid the usual zero-sum battle that every other technology goes through - the answer is probably obvious. Moving onto the broader industry, we comment on the long relationship between IBM and Microsoft, feeling now that IBM is in a pulling back phase. Finally, we wrap-up with some PowerShell talk and comment on the role of open source - or lack thereof - in all of this.

Tags: Microsoft, TechEd, IBM

System Center Tour - Microsoft TechEd IT Forum 2007

Michael Cote — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:34:39 +0000

Finishing up the interview series at Microsoft TechEd IT Forum in Barcelona, I talk with Eric Berg (Director of Product Management, System Center) about the System Center product lines. While we focus on only Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, and Virtual Machine Manager, we go into detail on each. We start out going over the linage of the System Center brand: mapping MOM to System Center Operations Manager and SMS to System Center Configuration Manager. Then Eric describes what function both Operations Manager and Configuration Manager serve, spending time detailing the inventory and asset management that Configuration Manager does, highlighting the AssetMetrix integration. We then talk about what System Center offers for virtualization management and discuss everyone’s favorite virtualization topic, live migration of VMs. We end by talking about how Microsoft uses partners and the greater System Center ecosystem to address questions about heterogeneity, and then end on discussing what role developers play in Microsoft’s general “philosophy of IT management.”

Tags: Microsoft, TechEd, Eric Berg, Virtual Machine, SMS

System Center Strategic Alliances and Partners - Microsoft TechEd IT Forum 2007

Michael Cote — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:30:26 +0000

Outside the main conference center for Microsoft TechEd IT Forum in Barcelona, James talks with Carl Coken (Director of Strategic Alliances, System Center) about partnerships and standards in System Center land. Carl manages the relationships with third parties, organizations, and others that work with the System Center platform, for example, by providing management packs. James and Carl talk about the new portal available for partners and then jump into the role of the portal’s information in the sales process. The discussion than goes to the question of heterogeneity which, as Carl notes, it a big part of what Microsoft looks to partners to help with and provide in System Center. Finally, they discuss how the partners program help encourage quality and best practices in the third party extensions and management packs.

Tags: Microsoft, TechEd, Carl Coken

PowerShell Overview and Remote Update - Microsoft TechEd IT Forum 2007

Michael Cote — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:24:49 +0000

In the lobby of the Microsoft TechEd IT Forum in Barcelona I got the chance to catch up with Jeffrey Snover, Architect, Management Services Division. Jeffery gives us an overview of PowerShell and then we talk about Microsoft and other’s use of PowerShell since it’s release a year ago. As Jeffery tells us that PowerShell has been downloaded over one million times, and then we jump into a discussion of what companies and partners are doing with PowerShell, diving deep into MySpace’s use to automate their IT tasks. He also mentioned FullArmor who’s using PowerShell for it’s run-book automation offering.

Finally, because I’m always asked about it, Jeffery tells us about the remote capabilities in PowerShell. While it’s not released yet, the current PowerShell CTP (an “alpha” of the next version, essentially) contains a multitude of remote options.

Tags: Microsoft, TechEd, FullArmor, PowerShell

Building System Center Management Packs - Microsoft TechEd IT Forum 2007

Michael Cote — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:01:39 +0000

While at Microsoft TechEd IT Forum in Barcelona, I talked with Barry Shilmover (Senior Program Manager, System Center) about creating System Center management packs. Management packs are the sort of “plugin” parts of the System Center platform that do the discovery, monitoring, and management for System Center in addition to containing the help “knowledge.” Barry walks us through the life-cycle of a management pack when it’s executing - discovery, monitoring, and then executing management tasks as needed - and then walks us through an overview of how management packs are built. As he notes, the underlying model is based on Microsoft’s SDM, which Microsoft is using to create the SML standard.

Tags: Microsoft, TechEd, Barcelona, Barry Shilmover, SDM, SML

Jerrilyn Glanville on Analyst Relations

Michael Cote — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:48:49 +0000

In this segment from the IBM Software Group Connection Summit 2007, James talks with Jerrilyn Glanville, a veteran of IBM Analyst Relations (”AR” for short). The discuss the role of AR, both on the side of the analyst and executives, some examples of different styles and idiosyncrasies of both analysts and execs, and then talk about the changing nature of analysts. Finally, by way of a question from James on IBM seeming to be more interested in conversations than “transactions” (helping IBM make money directly with increased sales) they discuss the short of ROI on analysts for companies.

Tags: IBM, Software Group Connection Summit, Jerrilyn Glanville, Analyst Relations, ROI

Multi-core, Dynamic Languages, and Concurrency

Michael Cote — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:42:50 +0000

While at the IBM Software Group Connection Summit 2007, James talks with IBM Distinguished Engineer Bob Blainey about the present and future of multi-core processors and dynamic languages. They talk about which languages are out in the wilds of the IBM customer and user base, and then discuss some possible scenerios for the future.

Tags: IBM, Software Group Connection Summit, Bob Blainey, multi-core

Bootstrapping an open source company

Michael Cote — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:17:27 +0000

In this second part of a conversation with Puppet creator and Reductive Labs founder Luke Kanies, we talk about bootstrapping an open source company. More so than just finding a need and the code to fill it, Luke walks us through the personal risk management thinking he went through before deciding to start his own company. Being in America, he has to content with the American health care system which is no fun for start-ups like him and I. He also goes over the safety-net that an open source project brings should the business-side fail, providing advice on picking an open source project to go with when starting a company.

Tags: Puppet, Reductive Labs, Luke Kanies, bootstrapping, open source, health care

Puppet, Open Source Server Configuration Automation

Michael Cote — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:32:24 +0000

While at the Austin InnoTech conference, I talked with Luke Kanies about Puppet, the open source server configuration automation (or “provisioning” in my personal lexicon) project. Luke first gives us a detailed overview of Puppet: what it does, how it works, and the puppet DSL. We then discuss the benefits and draw-backs of running the product as an open source project and discuss how Luke is seeking to balance commercializing the project with maintaining the good will of the Puppet community.

Tags: Austin InnoTech conference, Luke Kanies, Puppet, provisioning, DSL

Zenoss Update, Model Driven IT Management, and CMDB Federation

Michael Cote — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:25:38 +0000

While at the Austin InnoTech conference, I talked with John Willis and Mark Hinkle about CMDBs and federated CMDBs. Mark starts out with a general update on Zenoss, and then after briefly talking about model-driven IT management, all three of us talk about CMDBs in general and how federation is doing in that area.

Tags: Austin InnoTech conference, John Willis, Mark Hinkle, CMDB, Zenoss, IT

Eclipse, Custom Interfaces, and IT Management

Michael Cote — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 23:56:07 +0000

While at the Austin InnoTech conference, I talked with John Willis and Mark Hinkle about customizing interfaces for IT management software. We start by hearing John’s take on using Eclipse as a front-end, and then hear some more general commentary from both John and Mark about how interfaces are used and customized - and by who - in the IT department.

Tags: Austin InnoTech, John Willis, Mark Hinkle, Eclipse

All about the DMTF with Winston Bumpus

Michael Cote — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:00:12 +0000

In this episode, I talk with the DMTF’s Winston Bumpus on a wide variety of topics and standards that the DMTF is involved in. We start out explaining the basic systems management model, CIM, that provides much of the foundation for other standards. Then, we get into discussion of other DMTF standards like WS-Management, DASH, SMASH, and OVF.

Tags: Winston Bumpus, CIM, DASH, SMASH, OVF

Web 2.0 Design Patterns, the book

Michael Cote — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 23:36:56 +0000

While in Barcelona at Adobe MAX ‘07, James talks with Duane Nickull about their upcoming book Web 2.0 Design Patterns.

Tags: Barcelona, Adobe MAX ‘07, Duane Nickull

Bags: Dan McWeeney’s Crumpler Part and Parcel

Michael Cote — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 19:00:47 +0000

In the continuing series of geek bag profiles, while at SAP Tech ‘07 in Las Vegas, I talked with Dan McWeeney about his Crumpler Part and Parcel bag. Dan shows us all the nooks and crannies of his bag, explaining that it fits all his computer junk well. The bag just works for said junk well, with no room, really for clothes.

Tags: SAP Tech, Dan McWeeney

Bags: Matthias Zeller’s Waterfield Cargo

Michael Cote — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:23:31 +0000

While at SAP TechEd ‘07, I talked with Matthias Zeller about his Waterfield Cargo bag. I have an over-active interest in laptop bags, so I’m always on the look-out for The Perfect Bag. Matthias’ seemed nice and he details the different compartments, pockets, and little things like if it fits under an airplane seat well. In a pinch, Mattias says, he can fit a t-shirt and socks in there. But, as we get into at the end, he likes to carry a large suit-case with him for the rest of his junk when traveling.

Tags: SAP TechEd, Matthias Zeller

The Rise of the Designer/Developer Mashup Developer

Michael Cote — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 21:25:51 +0000

While at SAP TechEd ‘07 Community Day, James Governor talks with Dan McWeeney about the new type of designer/developer role and methodology Dan has seen emerge recently.

Rather than build on an open source or closed source only stack, Dan says, these developers pull in whatever code, projects, tools, and data they need to make a sort of development tool-chain mashup. Many of these coders, Dan notes, aren’t traditional types of developers and are, instead, good at mixing together and integrating different stacks and services.

James and Dan then end up with a discussion about how commercial companies like SAP could support this process and the different ways customers, like Dan’s employer, Colgate-Palmolive could manage the support and risk.

Tags: SAP TechEd, James Governor, Dan McWeeney, designer/developer, SAP, Colgate-Palmolive

Majority Desk - Wiimote 3D widget desktop

Michael Cote — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:48:58 +0000

While at SAP TechEd ‘07 in Las Vegas, James and I had the chance to get an exciting demo from Dan McWeeney and Eddie Herrmann. Having won the SAP TechEd ‘06 DemoJam, Dan and Eddie couldn’t compete this year, so they cooked up the Wiimote driven 3D desktop we see in the demo. It’s sort of like Minority Report with two Wiimotes. Built on a collection of open source project and Flex, Dan and Eddie’s Majority Desktop is quite the site to see.

As you may recall, Dan and Eddie have been on RedMonkTV before, back during SAP Sapphire ‘07.

Tags: SAP TechEd, Dan McWeeney, Eddie Herrmann, DemoJam, Wiimote

Teknision, Branded Applications, and Agile Design

Michael Cote — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:07:08 +0000

While in Ottawa this week, I had the chance to chat with Teknision’s Gabor Vida and Tony MacDonell in an empty conference room at the Ottawa Sheraton. Teknision works primarily in Flash-based technologies — Flash, Flex, and AIR — and serves as a good example of the “designer/developer” role that I’ve seen emerge over the past year as Ajax and RIA have gone mainstream.

Gabor and Tony explain what it means when they say they created “branded applications,” a concept that Teknision is well known for and and successful with. We then get into one of my favorite topics for small shops: how do you manage the ongoing relationship with clients, esp. pushy ones. On this topic, we talk about what I’d call “agile design,” or the way that agile software development ideas and practices can be applied to the design/developer process.

Check out their blog for more write-ups of the Teknision philosophy and practices.

Tags: Teknision, Gabor Vida, Tony MacDonell

Eclipse BIRT Exchange, collecting tacit knowledge for the user community

Michael Cote — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 02:12:52 +0000

While at the Eclipse Marketing Symposium in Chicago, I caught up Virgil Dodson on the goings on in the BIRT community. BIRT is an Eclipse project that focuses on providing a framework and runtime for reporting; see the previous RedMonk video with Virgil for more detail and a demo.

Virgil’s update is primarily about the new BIRT user community, BIRT Exchange. As Virgil tells and then demos for us, BIRT exchange allows users to not only share tips and trouble-shooting about reports, but also reports themselves and other BIRT “configuration” artifacts.

Tags: Virgil Dodson, BIRT community, BIRT Exchange

Innoopract on Eclipse, Eclipse RAP, OSGi and component coding, sponsored development in open source

Michael Cote — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 03:24:04 +0000

This week at the Eclipse Marketing Symposium, I had the chance to talk with Innoopract’s Jochen Krause. We start talking about Innoopract’s decision to move to Eclipse several years ago. At the moment, Innoopract is working with Eclipse on the Eclipse Rich Ajax Platform project, or RAP, which Jochen tells us about. Then we move onto talking about the component-driven programming model that OSGi enables, along with several “ah-ha moments” for typical developers moving into that style of development. Finally, we talk more about Innoopract’s business model, and I drill a little deeper into the idea of “sponsored development” for open source projects.

Tags: Innoopract, Jochen Krause, OSGi

The c-word: community from cellphones to IT management, talking with BMC’s Kia Behnia

Michael Cote — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 23:22:12 +0000

During the BMC Analyst Summit in Sonoma, James Governor talks with BMC Software’s Kia Behnia about the role and benefits of strong community in the mobile device and IT management worlds. James and Kia first talk about hacking phones, esp. his HTC Hermes. They then move on to the question of the role community takes in the BMC world, and round-out with a discussion about open source at BMC.

Tags: Kia Behnia

Virtualization and IT Management

Michael Cote — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 03:00:45 +0000

In the second part of my conversation with BMC Software’s Israel Gat, we talk about virtualization and IT Management for SaaS. Israel points to the energy savings benefits of virtualization and also the deployment benefits it brings, using the example of managing many different types encryption software.

We then talk about pulling knowledge from the mainframe world into a more virtualized world: are there lessons to re-learn? When it comes to SaaS, Israel explains how multi-tenant systems can be used to upgrade customers when they’d like to upgrade, and also how a SaaS hosted environment might allow for more targeted features per a customer. Managing those deployment processed, of course, are ripe for IT management software, platforms, and services.

Tags: BMC Software, Israel Gat, virtualization, IT Management, SaaS

Enterprise Agile Software Development with Israel Gat

Michael Cote — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:37:30 +0000

At the BMC Software, Inc. Austin campus (one of my former employers), I talk with Israel Gat about introducing and then benefiting from Agile Software development at BMC. The projects under Israel are each “enterprise software” and peopled with large teams. Thus, his experience and the lessons learned from introducing Agile on such a large scale are interesting to hear. To sum up, he says “the most important thing is staying out of the way,” followed by internal and external evangelism. Once the teams are sold on the idea, they just need the corporate leeway to mold Agile development to their work.

Additionally, Israel talks with me about a few new ideas BMC has for benefiting from Agile: introducing more customization for customers (while incorporating them back into the main release) and adapting the rapid releases to the longer enterprise sales cycles.

Tags: Israel Gat, Agile Software, enterprise software

Tech PR with Lauren and Josh of Porter Novelli, Part 2

Michael Cote — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 00:48:36 +0000

In this second part of my interview with Lauren Sell and Josh Dilworth of Porter Novelli Austin, I ask them about the changing role of PR in the face of the Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and all those other “2.0″ channels. We talk about the timing of PR campaigns to avoid starting too early or late, and also touch on the role of chance and “magic” in successful PR. Being in Austin, I ask them if local media (whether in Austin or any region) gets involved much in tech PR: it seems they only care about the impact to the local economy, not so much product news, as it were. Finally, we end up talking about AR, or Analyst Relations, and how it differs from PR.

Tags: Lauren Sell, Josh Dilworth, Porter Novelli, Twitter, Facebook, Analyst Relations