VORTEX Digest
John Gallant Spotlights Top Network News and Issues
Comments to: mailto:jgallant@vortex.net
Oct. 14, 2005
Volume 7, Number 4
*********************************************************
In This Issue:
* Are we all Googled out?
* Ray Ozzie has joined the ranks of sell-out, co-opted geniuses,
says Vortician
* IBM/Websphere to be a control point for Cisco AON?
* Countries that adopt online meetings will gain competitive
advantage, says Vortician
* Nicholas Carr vs. CIOs at VORTEX 2005
* Subscription information
*********************************************************
"The skill of writing is to create a context in which other
people can think."
Edwin Schlossberg
Dear Vorticians,
First things first. If you're an Angels fan, you took it on the
chin. A.J. whatever-his-name-is was out, and no explanation from
the ump about his strike-calling motion can negate the fact that
the ball never touched the ground. That's the kind of thing that,
up until 2004, used to happen to the Red Sox quite regularly on
their way to being bumped out of the playoffs. Sure, the Sox got
bounced this year, but it was because they were genuinely
outplayed by a club deeper in talent, particularly on the mound.
I'm okay with it. Really. No, I am.
As I prepare for VORTEX 2005 (http://www.vortex.net), which is
less than 2 weeks away, I have been ably aided in my pursuit of
knowledge and insight by readers like you who are virtuous and
generous in sharing your thoughts. I want to share some of those
with the wider audience and encourage you to reach me at
mailto:jgallant@vortex.net.
Regarding my most recent piece on Google and its creeping
tendrils of influence, Vortician Bill Baker wrote: "Firstly, let
me thank you for mentioning one of my all-time favorite sci-fi
flicks: you are truly a rare celluloid connoisseur. [My reference
was to John Carpenter's "The Thing," and since my original note,
I've found this great, unofficial Thing site
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~vampire/thing/thing.htm.] I still
get the chills when I think of the dog trying to chew through the
chicken-wire fence to get away. Film making at its best.
"Secondly, I cannot believe that VOUS; a sophisticated,
Hollywood-hip and hype-savvy guy would fall for all this great
googlie-mooglie stuff [about Google]. We see
this in Hollywood everyday; a megastar strolls on Rodeo Drive and
all the paparazzi and papers are abuzz about what the star
visited. In most cases, it is just more free PR, that's it!!!! I
am convinced of this: when Google decides to do something no one
will have a clue. So let's get back to work and stop acting like
a bunch of autograph seekers. Just let them be! They will let us
know when they are ready."
Regarding my story that touched on Microsoft's recent
restructuring and CTO Ray Ozzie's new role in the company,
Vortician Jeff Engel had this to say: "Microsoft's latest,
greatest invention? Ozzie's job title! He might as well have the
title of Software Messiah. It's tedious to wait years or decades
for something innovative from the slothful giant. We are all
paying dearly for the lost opportunity cost of Microsoft's
monopolistic inertia. Ray Ozzie has joined the ranks of sell-out,
co-opted geniuses. Another casualty under the wheels of the big
garbage truck of software, Microsoft. Open source software might
be 20 years late, but 20 years from now, it probably will be
dominant."
On my entry about Cisco's application-oriented networking
strategy, Vortician Peter Relan wrote: "John, your AON blog
caught my attention: every major new initiative meets with
skepticism and confusion initially, and the good ones usually
clear up the fog within a year with real products, customers and
value propositions. I think it's too early to tell about AON, but
I would say one thing: it's high time that the application and
the network worlds converged. One thing no one seems to talk
about is the huge separation in the corporate enterprise between
the network and the applications.
"Large corporations are increasingly rationalizing the network
and the data center into a horizontal corporate function, while
the applications are still stovepipes in lines of business.
Network and data center folks have little if any knowledge of
applications, and application folks have little knowledge and
interest in the network. To them it's dial tone.
"To me the big question is not how AON will be pulled off
technologically, but organizationally. We at Business Signatures
(http://www.businesssignatures.com) run into this often, and our
approach has been to package half of our application into a
software appliance in the network so the network folks can treat
it like a router or switch, and the rest of our application as a
LOB-specific configurable system so the application folks can get
their hands on it. It works remarkably well in keeping both sides
of the organization happy.
"A critical success factor for AON will be not how to engage the
network organization: if Cisco can't do that we should all go
home. The key challenge will be how to get the LOB application
folks engaged with a compelling AON value proposition they
actually can get their hands on. I suspect middleware
partnerships will be key, because it's middleware that sits in
the "middle" of the network and the app. If that is the case, IBM
and Websphere will become the control point for AON. And that's
an interesting possibility: How will Cisco ensure it doesn't lose
the leverage point in its own play? Remember Oracle and the
Network Computer initiative. I believe it was Dell who leveraged
that initiative to its advantage, not Oracle."
Finally, in response to a newsletter piece about possible future
scenarios for the technology industry, Vortician Geoff Seabrook
voiced these thoughts: "You invited comments on your four
scenarios for the future and also talked about key trends CIO
should be focused on. Here are my views:
"The Asian countries have already left the Americans behind in
key several areas, both in building and using next-generation
technology, so the real question is can the American companies
and infrastructures get their act together and fight back? This
will need business visionaries and politicians focused on the
issues of the 21st century rather than the legacy of the 20th
century. I write this as someone who has worked in Silicon Valley
for 25 years, now lives in Europe and is bringing Asian
technology to market (so, yes, I'm biased but perhaps also see
things from a different perspective than the majority of
Vorticians).
"Terrorism must be high on anyone's agenda (I live close to
London now) and I'm afraid it is something we must learn to live
with. This is one of a number of fundamental events occurring
that will change the way we work. The carbon fuels crisis and the
preference from the less privileged or aggrieved people for
terrorism rather than traditional warfare mean that travel is set
to become prohibitively expensive and traditional city center
offices will be an even less attractive option. For the past 50
years, the jet airliner and motor car have dominated our business
life. In my career, I have flown over 3 million miles as an
executive in multinational corporations to attend meetings.
"Today I use and also promote online desktop video, voice and
data meetings. We were working with one European Institution
recently that spends EUR100 million a year on meetings. Their issue
should be productivity and providing value for the money to the
taxpayers. However, what has finally got them interested in
online meetings is that people won't travel to meetings because
of the threat of terrorism disrupting their travel or office.
Their interest in online meetings is the right answer but I'm
afraid it's for the wrong reason.
"In the future we will not commute to offices every day nor
travel around the world for meetings. We will use available
technology, as I and my colleagues in Asia already do every day,
to have face-to-face meetings with colleagues around the world
when we want to, as often as we need to and without waste of time
or the frustration of travel. This trend will have huge
implications for CIOs and corporate networks. My experience is
that they are thinking about this in Asia, in South America,
Russia and about half of Europe. The companies that use this type
of technology will gain an immense competitive advantage. It's
not surprising to me that Japan, South Korea and China lead the
world in deploying these online meeting systems.
"I do worry about terrorism stopping the Internet but suspect
they need it as much as we do.
"Your other two issues don't interest me much, probably because I
no longer live in America and have no equity in any of the
companies. I remember that these things used to seem really
important to me, but simply don't any more. There will be a
standard desktop, but I don't care who it comes from, as to
become a standard they will take care of the legacy issues. [I
had asked whether, some years hence, Google would 'own' the
desktop.] Open source versus proprietary - eventually commodity
or free solutions will be available for all legacy applications.
The issue surely is what's next, not protecting the past.
"My view is that Asia is leading the charge into the 21st
Century. It will be interesting to my children who [will surpass]
Asia as the economic powerhouses of their generation. My money is
not being bet on anyone else yet, but I've got a sneaky feeling
we should all be watching south of the Panama Canal."
Wow. I told you these readers were smart. Thanks Bill, Peter,
Jeff and Geoff. I surely appreciate it. And let's hear from the
rest of you! Get me, as mentioned above, at
mailto:jgallant@vortex.net.
Bye for now!
*********************************************************
CIO Debate at VORTEX: Utility Computing - The End of Corporate
IT?
VORTEX 2005: Setting the IT Agenda
Breakthrough to Value
Oct. 24-26 at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco
*********************************************************
Author Nicholas Carr sparked months of controversy and discussion
when he argued that IT didn't matter. Carr's back to argue an
equally volatile idea - that the emergence of utility computing
(computing provided by a service provider) means the end of the
corporate IT department as we know it. But rather than pit Carr
against another pundit, two CIOs - one a utility computing
customer - will debate the power and limitations of utility
computing and what it means for CIOs and their organizations.
Register today at http://www.vortex.net/V5E1VD
*********************************************************
Tell a Friend
*********************************************************
Is there a friend or colleague you'd like to have join the
discussions held here at VORTEX Digest? Have them subscribe to
receive the weekly Digest at:
http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/Changes.aspx
*********************************************************
ABOUT VORTEX DIGEST
*********************************************************
VORTEX Digest is a weekly summary of the VORTEX Blogs written by
Executive Producer John Gallant and offers an ongoing dialogue
on matters raised at The VORTEX Conference, and within the VORTEX
Community.
VORTEX is an exclusive, invitation-only event for senior
executives that brings together all the key elements: leadership,
thought, funding, and regulatory expertise, to shape the future
of the network business and the technologies that drive it.
VORTEX shakes off the hype and helps you understand where you can
win new customers, and find new revenue in a time of dramatic and
seemingly unpredictable change.
*********************************************************
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
*********************************************************
To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail
newsletters:
http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/Changes.aspx
To view the VORTEX Blogs:
http://www.networkworld.com/weblogs/vortex/index.html
To access the VORTEX Digest archives:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/vortex/index.html
To unsubscribe from promotional e-mail:
http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/Preferences.aspx
To change your e-mail address, go to:
http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/ChangeMail.aspx
Subscription questions? Contact Customer Service by replying to
this message.
Have editorial comments? Contact John Gallant at
mailto:jgallant@VORTEX.net
For advertising information:
mailto:sponsorships@nwfusion.com
Copyright: Network World, Inc. 2005
No comments:
Post a Comment