Chuck's Blog

So Why Don't Server Vendors Focus More On Storage?

I was in a briefing today, and a customer asked an interesting question.

She wanted to know why it seemed like the big server guys (IBM, Sun, HP) were only half-heartedly going after the storage market, and weren't investing in storage technology, services and support the same way that focused players (e.g. EMC and others) were.

We ended up talking about different aspects of the industry, and I guess they found it pretty interesting, so I thought I'd share it here.

I'll Do It Myself (Not!)

There must be a male "do-it-yourself" gene somewhere in our DNA.

And as I talk to many IT organizations, there seems to be a certain stubborness in accepting help in the form of consulting or other services.

I think that this sort of thinking will have to change radically in the next few years.  I believe IT organizations will have to become even more adept at figuring out what they want to be really good at, and what things they'll want to turn to external services or expertise.

So Where is ILM These Days?

Alive and well, thank you ...

EMC started aggressively promoting the idea of ILM (information lifecycle management) maybe four years ago.

I thought it'd useful to offer a bit of a retrospective on the concept; where it's worked, where it hasn't, how it's evolved over the years, and where it might go from here.

It's turned out to be one of those divisive topics in the blogosphere, so I'm expecting a bit of commentary to follow ...

Social Media at EMC

Ever get the sense that something big was going to happen soon?

My spider sense has been tingling for the last six months, and it just keeps getting stronger.

Social media (blogs, wikis, forum, Second Life, et. al.) are collectively poised to transform many of the core business processes that underpin any large company, including EMC.

IBM has launched after this in a big (although strangely IBM-unique) way.  And many of our industry peers seem to be active as well.

And, for a variety of reasons, I seem to be standing somewhere near Ground Zero for social media at EMC.

Does Anyone Take The SPC Seriously?

The Storage Performance Council has been around since 2002.  Its stated goal is to provide independent cost/performance metrics for storage arrays.

But has it achieved its stated goals?  And does anyone (other than a few vendors) take them seriously?

We occasionally get asked why we don't participate, and there are some good reasons -- none of them particularly sinister (apologies in advance to consipiracy theorists everywhere!)

But why is there no good independent performance metric for storage? 

And why do some vendors (like IBM) continue to insist that the test (and their participation) is relevant?

It's an interesting perspective on the storage industry, and how simple things can get really complex once you look at them.

Managing Security Event Information

A while ago, I opined that IMSPs (information management service providers) might be hampered by corporate information security mandates.

At the time, I had started to meet customers who wouldn't consider using a service provider for backup, archiving, etc. simply because they (or their security officer) couldn't get over the idea of sending their important information to a third party for safekeeping.

Since then, the tide seems to have turned.  I see more and more customers who are actively pursuing strategies to move more and more of the information management burden to specialized service providers.  I guess they're getting more comfortable with the security provisions of these offerings.

Today, there are IMSPs who will do backup, or archive your email, or instant messages, and so on.  And I think we'll see more and more of this.

So, I'm going to go out on another limb here and predict the emergence of a new IMSP service: one that manages security event information as a service,

And we might see this sooner than later.

IT's Next Inflection Points

Today, I'd like to invite you to go see Jeff Nick's excellent presentation at the recent Software 2007 conference. 

No, I'm not just being lazy.  It's very good material, IMHO.

For those of you who haven't met our CTO yet, Jeff is one of those very rare brilliant and insightful individuals who packs a ton of heavy structured thought into each and every statement.   Usually it takes me more than a few cycles to unpack what he's said, and realize the depth of the thinking.

If you want to climb deep into EMC's strategic view of the future of IT, you might want to take a moment to see him in action.

Text version is here.  Videos are here.

Excellent material, and extremely thought-provoking. 

BTW, if you go to the video page, check out some of the other presenters as well ;-)

Classification Convergence

Maybe you saw the recent acquisition of Zantaz by Autonomy.  Nice piece in Byte and Switch about not only that deal, but other related activity.

A few months ago, I took a leap of faith and annointed information classification as an up-and-coming "killer app" for the next few years.

I got a few scornful comments at the time.  But I think recent activity might be pointing in that direction.

Grass Roots Innovation

If you tend to read the usual management articles and books on airplanes like I do, you probably realize that the whole subject of innovation is a very hot topic. 

As well it should be.

I see it as analagous to Darwinian evolution -- unless there are some good mechanisms in place to adapt and thrive in a changing ecosystem, the outlook for your species is very poor indeed.

Much of the discussion I've read about is around "organizing for innovation", which sounds interesting at the outset, but I find it difficult to reconcile with how I think people and organizations work.

Simply put, I think that "organizing for innovation" will require -- ahem -- innovative approaches.  And I think that each of us -- regardless of role -- can become innovators without waiting for organizational mandates.

Yes, even in IT.