IBM is dying, and its killing me. The company that brought so much technology and innovation to the world The leader in patents, the leader in Operating System, the inventor of thin film technology, the inventor of most compression algorithms for Audio and Video, the leader in memory and storage quality, the largest investor in Technology R&D in the world has CANCER.
Go look it up even HTML was invented at IBM (called GML). Its a long arduous death. Lead by a person who only wants a parachute as big as the last CEO. IBM say's they are about mobile, and the cloud and big data and a few other HYPE things. IBM was about the pursuit of excellence, and great people, and the best customer service. Right now they focus on spreadsheets, and the stock market. If you focus on the best you can do for clients, making things that people want, you don't have to worry about Wallstreet.
IBM will be out of the HW business in 36 months..the Power Platform is all about dead, the sold off their Chip manufacturing, they can't compete in the intel space even thigh they lost the data center to intel based products. And why? becsue they decided to not run Microsoft on Power in 2001. Instead of VMware IBM wold have Virtualized Windows? why not DB2 for windows? IBM INVESTED SQL! and the RDBMS. Now they are also rans..chasing someones else's idea's and ideals.
I can keep going.. and will..till next time stick to the consulting truth. Good consultants say yes GREAT consultants say no..
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
The Internet of Everything?
Man, its gone from the "Internet of Things" to the "Internet of Everything" to what next? I know "The Internets Internet"?
I Hate Marketing! They destroy all your belief systems, say anything they want, coin phrases and slogans that are senseless and meaningless. What the heck does the Internet of Everything mean? It's Cisco at it again? I have not finished ranting about them yet, but that's for another day.
Ok, the Internet is the greatest thing ever but it's also the bane of our existence. The instantaneous nature of information right or wrong drives our everyday lives now. Yes there is greatness in the Internet, I want everyone to make a list of the things they love about the Internet, and then a list about what they hate. bet the hate wins..!
I've decide to build the Antinet, something to slow down the disinformation and supposed knowledge, and create a BlankAPedia that can't explain anything!
I'm also working on a Facelessbook, and a Twiddledumb, and Slowgram to fight the anti-social media.
Txt my ass, I'm making calls, and sending letters.
Watch this space it will go blank for a while..maybe i can't write for a magazine.
I Hate Marketing! They destroy all your belief systems, say anything they want, coin phrases and slogans that are senseless and meaningless. What the heck does the Internet of Everything mean? It's Cisco at it again? I have not finished ranting about them yet, but that's for another day.
Ok, the Internet is the greatest thing ever but it's also the bane of our existence. The instantaneous nature of information right or wrong drives our everyday lives now. Yes there is greatness in the Internet, I want everyone to make a list of the things they love about the Internet, and then a list about what they hate. bet the hate wins..!
I've decide to build the Antinet, something to slow down the disinformation and supposed knowledge, and create a BlankAPedia that can't explain anything!
I'm also working on a Facelessbook, and a Twiddledumb, and Slowgram to fight the anti-social media.
Txt my ass, I'm making calls, and sending letters.
Watch this space it will go blank for a while..maybe i can't write for a magazine.
The rise and fall of ERP consulting
As an prior consulting leader in ERP I've seen this before, but this could be a for a longer haul. Three things are happening that are changing the consulting industry for ERP. 1) limited new license deals. This means that the ERP providers are doing less new deals and are living on roll outs of existing or selling new products into these clients, like "big data" analytics, or mobility. 2) hundreds of supposed trained skills available for clients to hire directly, driving ERP consulting as a commodity.
3) the move because of item 2 toward self integration.
There is so much detail in each we can try and cover, but let's start with the last first. The economy has slowed down much IT spending and consulting rates did not match the cost abatement needed. The onslaught of remote and even local landed lowered cost further, but eroded both the quality of most ERP consulting organizations and thus it's "value" proposition. The additional pressure by the immigration policy and services made it more difficult for consulting firms to move to lower cost models using foreign national skills. With less work being generated by lower license sales a glut of skills existed, good or bad, this drove salary rates down by almost 25% (in my experience), making it 300% lower to hire skills instead of using consulting.
More happened. Most non-foreign national skill moved over time to business side roles within enterprises from consulting, or moved away from ERP to emerging technology skills. This also eroded salary within ERP services, and drove more hire to self integrate. Then layoffs occurred at the big ERP firms and more consultants appeared on the street and the rates for direct sub contracting went down, and both foreign national visa holders and us nationals scrambled for jobs at enterprises and away from consulting. Oh there are plenty of warrior mercenaries still trying to get you to sub them long term, but that's a fools path with so much skill on the street. Not that hiring anyone means long term loyalty, because if the markets turns again well the house will empty fast!
That's were we are now. With limited projects, many enterprises in production support mode, and a glut of moderate based skills available in the market.
As we have tried to hire certain skills we have seen hundreds of resumes but all with moderate experience, skills and other challenges. So we are a mixed bag, with perm skills hired to lead, some landed subcontractors, some remote subcontractors and a sub to hire model, with the flexibility to test each other before getting committed!
We are like many ERP enabled enterprises, doing roll outs internally, eschewing the systems integrators for cost and control. Do I see that changing? Nope not for a long time.
Let me say one more thing I trust my System Integrator Partners, I just can't afford them anymore.
I'll post more on this with some facts an figures, and what also looks like indentured servitude?
As my dad said you can't be stupid and cheap, but well i've told you all that before..
3) the move because of item 2 toward self integration.
There is so much detail in each we can try and cover, but let's start with the last first. The economy has slowed down much IT spending and consulting rates did not match the cost abatement needed. The onslaught of remote and even local landed lowered cost further, but eroded both the quality of most ERP consulting organizations and thus it's "value" proposition. The additional pressure by the immigration policy and services made it more difficult for consulting firms to move to lower cost models using foreign national skills. With less work being generated by lower license sales a glut of skills existed, good or bad, this drove salary rates down by almost 25% (in my experience), making it 300% lower to hire skills instead of using consulting.
More happened. Most non-foreign national skill moved over time to business side roles within enterprises from consulting, or moved away from ERP to emerging technology skills. This also eroded salary within ERP services, and drove more hire to self integrate. Then layoffs occurred at the big ERP firms and more consultants appeared on the street and the rates for direct sub contracting went down, and both foreign national visa holders and us nationals scrambled for jobs at enterprises and away from consulting. Oh there are plenty of warrior mercenaries still trying to get you to sub them long term, but that's a fools path with so much skill on the street. Not that hiring anyone means long term loyalty, because if the markets turns again well the house will empty fast!
That's were we are now. With limited projects, many enterprises in production support mode, and a glut of moderate based skills available in the market.
As we have tried to hire certain skills we have seen hundreds of resumes but all with moderate experience, skills and other challenges. So we are a mixed bag, with perm skills hired to lead, some landed subcontractors, some remote subcontractors and a sub to hire model, with the flexibility to test each other before getting committed!
We are like many ERP enabled enterprises, doing roll outs internally, eschewing the systems integrators for cost and control. Do I see that changing? Nope not for a long time.
Let me say one more thing I trust my System Integrator Partners, I just can't afford them anymore.
I'll post more on this with some facts an figures, and what also looks like indentured servitude?
As my dad said you can't be stupid and cheap, but well i've told you all that before..
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Are you being duped into deduplication
I have been presented deplulication solutions from both IBM and HP and man what a mess this is...no one can do the ROI for me? Oh I tried it myself , I'm pretty good at ROI, but with dasd and archiving solutions new backup and compression methods what does deduplication really save now.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Cloudy with a Chance of Rain
OMG...yeah thought I'd used my daughter's language today. Let get to the topic it's Cloud again..man oh man I am getting Cloud attacked daily so much so that the Cloud feels like lightning thunder and rain every darn day..
I try to not screen my calls, but I inserted a weather person to take all the cloudy calls this week!
The point is everyone is using this as it entry point, but no one is making any investment in the why...why does Srizona Iced tea need a cloud offering.. And yes folks we do, and we are using SAAS cloud offering already, like base amp and Airwatch and we are looking at other ways to use cloud.
BUT don't just call and say its cloudy and raining, tell me why you think a particular solution is advantageous in the cloud instead of on premise..
Yeah OGM I get the marketing Jargon already, but I want facts, results, cost cutting, Human capital advantages, and even more. I am no longer giving the test answers to the vendors here, I looking for people who actually know how t o justify their solution.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Disaster recovery
Man I am tired of the doom and gloom but before I get started does Obama have a disaster recovery plan? perhaps he should get some of my spam mail from every cloud and virtualization vendor who tries to convince me that virtualization is disaster recovery. Interesting that at my company the owner said a real disaster means the building got hit by a plane and no one who knows how to take an order lived!
I think he has a point here worth talking through..(even though I do all the talking here in the blogisphere). So you do all the right stuff, second data center or cloud disaster center, both of them off your power and network grid. You even have generated power in your primary for 14 days as well as a satellite dish on you roof...but if the disaster is catastrophic, your building will likely not survive and everyone who reports to it to perform work on your systems is likely to not have access into the location or even worse the disaster shut down their power at home and all telecomm is down within some geographical grid.
So what is disaster recovery really? Well one more anecdotal reference. Way back in my IBM career I was managing a banking territory, and we had our own bi-annual conference. 6 or 7 banks would gather, and this was also around the time IBM was in a joint venture with diebold called siebold, for ATM or banking systems. Well I digress, when the subject of disaster came up so did keeping the ATM network up, so we discussed the scenarios. During the scenario discussion someone asked "what about client access to the ATM network during a nuclear event". I looked around the room, and said " let me see how should I answer this, perhaps we should not care if we can extract money from our ATM, perhaps we should worry about the fact the most everything we know will be slag, and everyone within the area of the "nuclear event" will be dead!!!
Ok I just had to tell that, now what is disaster recovery? I think it's about being able to get your people to your systems either in a remote environment or a remote location, meaning buses.
But let's not get confused with what a disaster is..a disaster in this sense is an extended outsage caused by something we can recover from, like a hurricane or a snowstorm.. It sure as hell is a not a nuclear event, a terrorist attack, a military coup, or even an airplane into your building..the disaster means you will have the people to do the work on the systems, not expired from some cause...without them it really is not a recovery issue, it's a hope you can survive issue..
Let's talk again soon, thanks for the input. At the sound of the click please leave your name and number!!!! VMWARE my ass give me a scud missile......
I think he has a point here worth talking through..(even though I do all the talking here in the blogisphere). So you do all the right stuff, second data center or cloud disaster center, both of them off your power and network grid. You even have generated power in your primary for 14 days as well as a satellite dish on you roof...but if the disaster is catastrophic, your building will likely not survive and everyone who reports to it to perform work on your systems is likely to not have access into the location or even worse the disaster shut down their power at home and all telecomm is down within some geographical grid.
So what is disaster recovery really? Well one more anecdotal reference. Way back in my IBM career I was managing a banking territory, and we had our own bi-annual conference. 6 or 7 banks would gather, and this was also around the time IBM was in a joint venture with diebold called siebold, for ATM or banking systems. Well I digress, when the subject of disaster came up so did keeping the ATM network up, so we discussed the scenarios. During the scenario discussion someone asked "what about client access to the ATM network during a nuclear event". I looked around the room, and said " let me see how should I answer this, perhaps we should not care if we can extract money from our ATM, perhaps we should worry about the fact the most everything we know will be slag, and everyone within the area of the "nuclear event" will be dead!!!
Ok I just had to tell that, now what is disaster recovery? I think it's about being able to get your people to your systems either in a remote environment or a remote location, meaning buses.
But let's not get confused with what a disaster is..a disaster in this sense is an extended outsage caused by something we can recover from, like a hurricane or a snowstorm.. It sure as hell is a not a nuclear event, a terrorist attack, a military coup, or even an airplane into your building..the disaster means you will have the people to do the work on the systems, not expired from some cause...without them it really is not a recovery issue, it's a hope you can survive issue..
Let's talk again soon, thanks for the input. At the sound of the click please leave your name and number!!!! VMWARE my ass give me a scud missile......
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Why the cloud is bullcrap
Yeah I said that, I've spoke at conferences in support of cloud computing, and even helped lauch some cloud ideas at IBM and Navisite, but man it's becoming a cliche already...so many meaning it's become like cellular carrier claims 1g 2g 3G 4g omG! Since there is no real governance to claims to the otherwise I'm going to start a new paradigm called Universal Enterprise Open Heterogeneous Computing. See I used big words but I can't make an acronym so I'll need to try again? How about Inter-Galatic, Virtual Autonomic Network Homogeneous operating environment or IVANHOE..I like that it's was a 1960's tv show sort of poor robin hood rip-off, and well the moment Cloud computing started it was then called mainframe......
Thursday, October 8, 2009
ERP Projects
Ok the best line I ever heard from a sponsoring executive of an ERP project was the following:
"We are going to war, make no mistake their will be casualties, we will stop and bury our dead we will carry our wounded and infirm, but now let me be clear success is our only objective so we will shoot the stragglers"
I'm telling you that a benevolent dictatorship is the only way to run projects. Of course you need the input of great people, and the trust that your decisions are well thought out and supportable. This does not means you just satisfy everyone, but it means that you analyzed the pros and cons and gain a level of consensus that you didn't "miss" something...PS this is where your TOP consultants should really pay a dividend they are supposed to "KNOW" from experience.
Great projects are not about lying to yourself about what you can accomplish, its about knowing your limits, and getting to the truth. And trusting consultants who can say "no"..
"We are going to war, make no mistake their will be casualties, we will stop and bury our dead we will carry our wounded and infirm, but now let me be clear success is our only objective so we will shoot the stragglers"
I'm telling you that a benevolent dictatorship is the only way to run projects. Of course you need the input of great people, and the trust that your decisions are well thought out and supportable. This does not means you just satisfy everyone, but it means that you analyzed the pros and cons and gain a level of consensus that you didn't "miss" something...PS this is where your TOP consultants should really pay a dividend they are supposed to "KNOW" from experience.
Great projects are not about lying to yourself about what you can accomplish, its about knowing your limits, and getting to the truth. And trusting consultants who can say "no"..
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Stupid and Cheap
Okay...back to the basics...My father told me you can't be stupid and cheap...
Now what does that mean? well he explained...if your stupid you need lots of money to pay people to do the stuff you don't know how to do, and if your cheap you better be really smart!
This goes for customers too. I wonder what people negotiate today when they hire a consulting firm to do anything? I mean really, if you had the skill then you would not need them would you? (there goes my dad's saying again)
Ok one more thing, not to take any shots at the globalization of consulting, but lets be real...Why does Anyone think that the "process, localization, consultative skills" required for successful implementations can be done remotely or even with "technology skills" I mean heres an example, one of my best friends Meenagi Venkat who s now a VP at IBM (but was the best ever SAP consultant that ever lived) told a story one day in front of a client..s BIG client, in the Telecom industry, starts with a V.
Well, many of the vendors were talking about their "offshore" consulting headcount.
One said they had 10,000 SAP CONSULTANTS, (already using the consulting word was an insult), and others said 5,7,4, thousands of consultants...So Meenagi ask the client to just follow the math...(it was 2000 when this occurred, but the number would not change that significantly)
He said "lets assume that Indian companies, EMEA or North American based companies had done 200 SAP implementations in India over the last 5 years, and lets say that no consultant ever repeated on any engagement, and lets say the avg size of the SAP team was 20 team members, how many Indian based (life cycle experienced) SAP consultants are there? Simple math says 4000 right, but would you call a (1) life cycle person a consultant? Not me...
Anyway...clients have brought doom upon themselves, commoditizing skills and putting success at risk every time,,,
PS I don't care if its India,Russia,Romania,Vietnam or China..its all bull unless you dive deeper...
But I guess you can be stupid and cheap Dad...god rest his soul...
Listen close someone is always lying
Now what does that mean? well he explained...if your stupid you need lots of money to pay people to do the stuff you don't know how to do, and if your cheap you better be really smart!
This goes for customers too. I wonder what people negotiate today when they hire a consulting firm to do anything? I mean really, if you had the skill then you would not need them would you? (there goes my dad's saying again)
Ok one more thing, not to take any shots at the globalization of consulting, but lets be real...Why does Anyone think that the "process, localization, consultative skills" required for successful implementations can be done remotely or even with "technology skills" I mean heres an example, one of my best friends Meenagi Venkat who s now a VP at IBM (but was the best ever SAP consultant that ever lived) told a story one day in front of a client..s BIG client, in the Telecom industry, starts with a V.
Well, many of the vendors were talking about their "offshore" consulting headcount.
One said they had 10,000 SAP CONSULTANTS, (already using the consulting word was an insult), and others said 5,7,4, thousands of consultants...So Meenagi ask the client to just follow the math...(it was 2000 when this occurred, but the number would not change that significantly)
He said "lets assume that Indian companies, EMEA or North American based companies had done 200 SAP implementations in India over the last 5 years, and lets say that no consultant ever repeated on any engagement, and lets say the avg size of the SAP team was 20 team members, how many Indian based (life cycle experienced) SAP consultants are there? Simple math says 4000 right, but would you call a (1) life cycle person a consultant? Not me...
Anyway...clients have brought doom upon themselves, commoditizing skills and putting success at risk every time,,,
PS I don't care if its India,Russia,Romania,Vietnam or China..its all bull unless you dive deeper...
But I guess you can be stupid and cheap Dad...god rest his soul...
Listen close someone is always lying
Saturday, September 5, 2009
So I forgot to get on and post the IBM and Oracle ...Sun debacle..
Sun did fine, lots of guys at the top richer than ever , but as usual the people in the trenches that kept Sun alive are being cast aside..
on the IBM front, Palmisano was throwing furniture over losing JAVA...his people screwed this up big time...if your portfolio and integration effort was so JAVA focused (geez IBM had more Java Developers than Sun did) then you can't fathom why they would not have just paid the 5 bucks more????
Reminds me of the book Bib Blues, good reading if you want to watch the mistakes that IBM made over the years, includes xerography patent, RISC proceesors, DOS/Windows, Intel bailout, Wang bailout...and so much more we can cover some of this in the blog one day....
But back to missing Java. Larry Ellison will monetize and license Java and make IBM miserable, its not open source so he can somewhat do what he wants..and the IBM Websphere stack will be in a nuclear holocaust!
So Larry laughs, Suns top guys get rich(er) IBM gets screwed and the Sun little people get wiped.. all in all exactly how the world works bad guys win again...(gee does that mean IBM is good guys? lets not take the leap yet)
Tomorrow we talk about the CLOUD.....hahahaha I'm laughing already
Sun did fine, lots of guys at the top richer than ever , but as usual the people in the trenches that kept Sun alive are being cast aside..
on the IBM front, Palmisano was throwing furniture over losing JAVA...his people screwed this up big time...if your portfolio and integration effort was so JAVA focused (geez IBM had more Java Developers than Sun did) then you can't fathom why they would not have just paid the 5 bucks more????
Reminds me of the book Bib Blues, good reading if you want to watch the mistakes that IBM made over the years, includes xerography patent, RISC proceesors, DOS/Windows, Intel bailout, Wang bailout...and so much more we can cover some of this in the blog one day....
But back to missing Java. Larry Ellison will monetize and license Java and make IBM miserable, its not open source so he can somewhat do what he wants..and the IBM Websphere stack will be in a nuclear holocaust!
So Larry laughs, Suns top guys get rich(er) IBM gets screwed and the Sun little people get wiped.. all in all exactly how the world works bad guys win again...(gee does that mean IBM is good guys? lets not take the leap yet)
Tomorrow we talk about the CLOUD.....hahahaha I'm laughing already
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