voke Market Mover Blog

2012-01-09T11:14:00.003-10:00

IBM to Acquire Green Hat - Offers Part of a Lifecycle Virtualization Solution

IBM's intended acquisition (announced 4 January 2012) of Green Hat shows commitment to the importance of the lifecycle virtualization category by IBM. As application complexity continues to expand, lifecycle virtualization technology is absolutely critical to delivering a faster time-to-market and reducing both capital and operational expenditures.

Lifecycle virtualization is defined as the use of technologies such as virtual lab management, service virtualization, defect virtualization, device virtualization, virtualized cloud platforms, etc, to enhance the application or product lifecycle through reducing defects, lowering costs, speeding time-to-market, and increasing customer satisfaction.

Lifecycle virtualization is as evolutionary for testing as the advent of the IDE (integrated development environment) was for the development organization.

IBM has been absent in crafting a lifecycle virtualization solution within its application lifecycle management (ALM) offerings. While this acquisition is an important step for IBM, it offers only one component of lifecycle virtualization - service virtualization - to its customers.

To be viable in the lifecycle virtualization category, IBM must:
1. Take on the role of educating the market about the importance of lifecycle virtualization
2. Deliver state of the art lifecycle virtualization solutions that development and test teams can use and be productive with - the Green Hat acquisition is a start, there must be more substance to what IBM can offer as part of a comprehensive lifecycle virtualization solution.

To date, the lifecycle virtualization market has been void of the major ALM vendors to show the value virtualization can bring to the application lifecycle. Most recently, CA Technologies (not a vendor in the ALM market) with its acquistion of ITKO has been the only significantly sized vendor to publicly demonstrate the value of lifecycle virtualization. CA proudly showed off its ITKO acquistion at the recent CA World and consistently demonstrated how lifecycle virtualization will make a difference in dealing with today's complex applicat;ions and the need for a competitive time-to-market.

Development and testing teams are looking for and need complete lifecycle virtualization solutions to complement existing ALM solutions to speed time-to-market, lower capital and operational expenditures, and deliver on a total value of ownership. A lifecycle virtualization solution enables organizations to be more strategic with the most important asset in the economy of innovation - software.

Other significant vendors in the lifecycle virtualization category include:

CA Technologies with a comprehensive lifecycle virtualization offering that encompasses labs, defect virtualization, and service virtualization through its recent acquistion of ITKO and the CA 3Tera AppLogic solution

Citrix with its lab and virtualized cloud platform solutions offered through Citrix XenClient, Citrix XenServer, Crtirx CloudStack, and Citrix Cloud Portal

Electric Cloud with virtualized cloud platforms through Electric Cloud ElectricCommander

HP with service virtualization through its Service Virtualization offering

Microsoft with its virtual lab and defect virtualization (IntelliTrace) solutions through Microsoft Visual Studio Test Professional 2010 and Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate with MSDN

Parasoft with service virtualization and defect virtualization through Parasoft Virtualize

Replay Solutions with defect virtualization through ReplayDIRECTOR

Skytap with labs and virtualized cloud platforms through Skytap Cloud

VMware with its virtualized cloud platform solutions through VMware vCloud Director

Wind River with its lab and device virtualization solutions through Wind River Test Management (Lab Manager) and Simics

voke is predicting that lifecycle virtualization will be the hub of the modern application lifecycle. Lifecycle virtualization will help break down barriers between operations, development, and testing while aiding organizations in achieving a faster time-to-market while significantly reducing capital expenditures and increasing quality. For a complete vendor neutral analysis of the lifecycle virtualization category, see voke's Category Snapshot: Lifecycle Virtualization - November 2011.

Join voke in a webinar on January 18 for an in-depth discussion on lifecycle virtualization with Theresa Lanowitz, founder of voke and Jon Michelsen, founder of ITKO and CA distinguished engineer. Register here for the webinar.

2010-08-30T08:36:00.002-10:00

Citrix Embraces Virtual Lab Management and Acquires VMLogix

Citrix is acquiring VMLogix! For those who may be unaware of VMLogix, the company is the creator of products in the market segment known as “virtual lab management”. This is the part of virtualization that is going to transform the application lifecycle as we know it.

This acquisition is big news, especially for anyone that deals with getting software or applications to market on time, on budget, and with a high level of quality. I just realized, that sums up pretty much every business in the world, so why hasn’t VMLogix and its product category of virtual lab management taken the world by storm? We believe that virtual lab management is the biggest innovation for software to come to fruition since the introduction of the IDE (integrated development environment).

If you use virtual lab management technology in your organization it is guaranteed that you have saved your organization lots of money, lots of time, and have become the favorite technical professional of anyone you deal with.

Here is how virtual lab management can help save time and money and even create peace between developers and testers.

• Virtual lab management can help operations professionals get away from the tactical and time consuming task of provisioning physical hardware. This means less money spent on capital expenditures (read hardware), less time worrying about physical machines, and more time to work on more strategic initiatives.

• Virtual lab management can help developers easily replicate a defect discovered by testing. Testers know how fond developers are of saying “it works on my machine”. Virtual lab will allow developers to test in an environment as close to production as possible and easily replicate those pesky defects testers so frequently find. This will then lead to peace between developers and testers.

• Virtual lab management can help testers build out the perfect production-like test lab without spending exorbitant amounts on hardware, software, and infrastructure. There is no need to wait for provisioning of equipment, schedule scarce resources, and worry about exceeding capital budgets.

If you think this is too good to be true, visit www.vokeinc.com and listen to our free webcast series on “What Tool Should I Buy: Virtual Lab Technology” and hear from leading vendors in the market on “How to Justify the Purchase: Virtual Lab Technology”. We also have an in-depth piece of vendor neutral research “Market Snapshot: Virtual Lab Management” available to our subscribers.

Virtual lab management delivers a clear and quick ROI and can be used in an organization of any size and any vertical market. We know what virtualization technology has done for the data center; check out virtual lab technology to see what virtualization can do for the application lifecycle. In fact, voke predicts that virtual lab technology will be the hub of the modern application lifecycle.

Watch for Citrix to begin to set strategic directions for the application lifecycle. And, watch for Citrix and Microsoft to expand and strengthen an already strong and complementary industry partnership.
We have only begun to scratch the surface of what virtualization and cloud technology will enable and deliver to the market.

t

2010-08-19T10:13:00.001-10:00

HP and Fortify – Application Security Now in the Lifecycle

HP announced its intent to acquire Fortify Software. Fortify represents one of the last standing original independent application security software vendors. Back in 2003, application security vendors were all the rage. The idea that security vulnerabilities occur rather frequently at the application level was 100% accurate. The problem with getting development and QA shops to fully embrace the notion of application security was one of skills and communication across organizational boundaries.

Think about developers and testing professionals, they have full time jobs that keep them more than busy. Now, add the complexity of developing and testing for security – that is a difficult task to add to an already full docket. Thus, application security, while necessary and vital, never gained the traction in the market that was expected.

So, slowly one by one, the pure play application security vendors were either acquired or disappeared. Fortify represents one of the last pure play application security vendors. And while what Fortify stands for and can deliver, application security needs a heftier brand to put the message forth at the executive level. This is where HP comes into play.

HP’s acquisition of Fortify is important to the market in many respects. The intended acquisition helps HP shore up its application lifecycle offering in the developer arena, this is a big win for existing HP customers. HP can talk about the desired outcomes with C-level executives and have a comprehensive message for the business. Overall, this acquisition is positive for market.

Read a more detailed analysis of the HP acquisition of Fortify in our voke First Impressions research here.

t

2010-05-14T17:18:00.002-10:00

Citrix Synergy – Setting the Bar for the 2010 Conference Season
It is official – the 2010 summer conference season is now underway beginning with #CitrixSynergy in San Francisco!

Citrix set the bar quite high for the 2010 conference season, Synergy was all about simplicity. And with the explosion of complexity in IT over the past decade, simplicity is exactly what everyone is craving.

Citrix clearly understands that while the cloud is great and interesting and a cost saver and every other adjective that has been attached to it, the cloud is not the only component of modern solutions. Citrix clearly and concisely identifies “virtualization + networking + cloud” to create synergies across the stack and deliver virtual computing enabling people to work where and how they desire. This is brilliant and yes, simple. Making things “simple” is painstakingly difficult, that is why so few technology vendors can articulate a clear and concise value proposition – simple is hard.

Citrix CEO Sets the Tone
Citrix CEO, Mark Templeton, is one of the most visionary CEOs in the industry. His discussions are always focused and designed to deliver a message that resonates well with every audience member. Attendees of Citrix Synergy were fortunate to hear Mark’s view of virtual computing during the daily keynote sessions.

Within the first 10 seconds of taking the stage, Mark Templeton graciously thanked the Citrix customers. This may seem trite and expected, but the thank you was sincere and the audience knew it. This is in sharp contrast to what is on display at competitive conferences.

Each day was laser focused on one of two topics:
1. Virtual workstyle
2. Virtual datacenter

For each of these two topics partners and customers were prominently featured. Citrix highlighted an entire ecosystem of solutions that focus on “workshifiting” – putting work where you want it to be and move to a more optimal place.

The notion of “workshifting” was the backdrop for the keynote sessions and the entire conference. During the keynote focused on virtual workstyle, Mark made several observations that show why Citrix is able to deliver such innovative solutions.

Some of the key takeaway points about virtual workstyle were:

Citrix: There is no such thing as a technology project, only business projects that require technology.

voke commentary: This statement clearly demonstrates how Citrix thinks about the solutions they deliver. The company focuses on enabling business and making it easier for the business to work. This logic is in direct contrast to so many of today’s software companies. This simplicity is by design and a hallmark of Citrix discussions and solutions.

Citrix: Devices do not matter – we have screen size options depending upon our needs at a particular point. We have large screens for creation and empowerment, small screens for alerting us or “snacking” on information, and medium screens for entertainment and education.

voke commentary: Citrix makes the software that enables users to focus on on the experience of what they are doing. The ability to have access to your own information when, where, and how it is needed has been the goal for a number of years, we are finally seeing this achieved through today’s well behaved technology.

Citrix: BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) goes mainstream. Organizations do not want to own the physical hardware asset; they do own the data and IP. The BYOC concept helps organizations attract talent seeking intellectually stimulating environments.

voke commentary: BYOC is a smart concept that lets organizations focus on what really matters – being competitive in their market segment.

Citrix and Microsoft: The Ultimate Power Couple
The big highlight was the strong partnership between Citrix and Microsoft. A presentation by Brad Anderson, Microsoft corporate vice president of the Management and Services Division revealed how the partnership between the two companies is influencing desktop virtualization. Microsoft’s strong working relationship with Citrix is showing the industry that the tried and true quintessential software vendor is taking advantage of what Citrix has learned over the past 20 years about desktop virtualization and adapting to the world of virtualized computing.

The Microsoft presentation may have been the most important component of the Synergy event. Microsoft and Citrix make a compelling power couple that can really shape the way we use and view not just computing but virtualized computing. This is truly a partnership to watch.

The Synergy conference was a great start to conference season and really set the stage for the conference season. As an analyst, I am fortunate to attend the most important and influential technology events each and every year. If you are unable to attend the conferences, check back for blog posts on the events of the summer. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/vokeinc, and at the end of conference season, tune in to the voke webcast channel to get our commentary and analysis of all the conferences and the insight behind the Tweets.

Happy conference season.

t

2010-04-27T11:46:00.002-10:00

Virtual Lab Management – Bringing Peace Between Testers and Developers

Every person has heard a developer say “it works on my machine”. This simple and true statement has been at the center of so many non-reproducible software defects. The problem is testers need to work in an environment as close to production as possible, that means keeping developers out and keeping the test environment pristine. Developers need to move through the development process and make sure their code works, which means having an environment that suits their needs. In other words, the developer environment may not be pristine, but it works the way they need it to work so the developer can continue to work.

So in this age old conflict of “it works on my machine” who is right, the developer or the tester? Guess what, both are right! And now, thanks to virtual lab technology the phrase “it works on my machine” can be stricken from the vocabulary of a developer and never heard by a tester again, because they will always be able to replicate the defect in question.

How? Virtual lab technology. Virtual lab technology uses virtualization technology to give testers an environment as close to production as possible. This ability to take a snapshot of the production environment and replicate it through virtualization eliminates the expense of establishing, maintaining, and managing a test lab.

Testers can test in the environment as close to production as possible, identify defects and simply give the developer the URL of the defect! Developers are able to eliminate the time consuming back and forth dialog with testers and easily replicate the defect in the same environment as close to production as possible!

And, because virtual lab technology offers self-service provisioning the bottleneck of waiting for the ops team to provision an environment is gone!

Think about it – bottleneck reduction, environments as close to production as possible, reproducible defects – this is what we have been waiting for and it is here today in the form of virtual lab technology.

We at voke recently released our Market Snapshot Report: Virtual Lab Management in which we surveyed 100 organizations using virtual lab technology. We found that virtual lab technology helped increase productivity, decrease the number of servers and physical machines required, and saved money. Check out the report available to voke Research subscribers at www.vokeinc.com.

We also launched a new free on-demand webcast series to discuss the most frequently asked questions of voke analysts. In the first webcast series, we answer the question “what tool should I buy for virtual lab management”. We are also joined by leading market vendors Citrix, CloudShare, and VMLogix to answer the question “how do I justify a virtual lab solution”. Listen to our on-demand webcast series here.

So, think about how your organization is working. Are you being asked to lower your capital expenses and do more with less? Do you have to wait for environments to be provisioned? Do you have the age old developer/tester conflict on non-reproducible defects because of differing environments? If you answer yes to any of these questions, virtual lab technology is a solution to investigate. The ROI is quick and easy to identify and calculate. And, best of all, there are solid solutions on the market today to help you on your way to creating peace and harmony between your developers and testers.

t

2010-04-19T12:00:00.002-10:00

Your Next PC? The Personal Cloud, of Course
Since the introduction of the personal computer, we all like to longingly think about what our next PC will have. Will it be lighter? Will it have better graphics? Will it be faster? And the biggest question of all, do we really need all of the latest and greatest features. All of these are questions we ponder when a new operating system is released, or when our current PC just decides to quit functioning (usually at the most inopportune of times).

Well, what will your next PC be? No, it is not your next Personal Computer, it is your Personal Cloud! That’s right, the next PC you invest in may well be a Personal Cloud.

The Apple iPad is just the beginning of this move from the Personal Computer to the Personal Cloud. With the iPad, Apple has hit a grand slam, scored a hattrick, a touchdown, or any other superlative sports metaphor you can conjure up. The iPad is the next step in the computing revolution.

If you think Steve Jobs, the Roark of technology, would build a device such as the iPad to simply kill off wireless reading devices, well then DOS 2.0 with two 360Kb floppy disks is probably sufficient for your needs.

The iPad allows us to be free in many different capacities. The largest point of tethering for us all has been our favorite applications or apps in more modern parlance. Cloud companies are enabling infrastructure and allowing each and every one of us to work with the infrastructure we need and want instead of what we have.

The next step for the cloud? Offering up a PC, of course, a Personal Cloud to be more precise to go along with a device that truly allows technology to work for us.

The PC (Personal Cloud) will be available when, where, and how you need it. Your PC will have complete elasticity and give you only what you ask for – nothing more, nothing less. Think about having your business apps when you need them as well as your own personal apps when and where you need them.

There are software vendors in the market today that see the need to deliver upon the next PC, that is Personal Cloud. These vendors are enabling the business side of the PC, Personal Cloud, and know that rapid environment replication with the apps you need, when and where needed is essential.

Look at companies such as CloudShare and VMLogix to deliver on this new PC. And, look at companies such as Citrix and Salesforce.com that have been innovating on this idea for years.

When you think about your next PC, make it a Personal Cloud.

2009-09-08T09:31:00.001-10:00

Wanted: Virtualization Opinions

The benefits of virtualization are well documented. We want to know what you think about or what your organization is doing with virtual lab management.

As an analyst firm, we are constantly seeking information on how technology is being used, what the pros and cons are, and what the primary benefits are. Virtual lab management is the technology we are currently investigating.

The sweet spot of virtual lab management is for testers to have an environment as close to production as possible. The result of virtual lab management – eliminating the never ending back and forth between testers and developers about defect replication, environments, etc.

But this sweet spot is only one use case for the technology. Let us know what you think, how you are using the technology, what would you like the technology to do. All of this is covered in our survey.

If you take the survey, you will receive a copy of the research report when we publish it.

So, give us your opinion and get the full report. Just click here and you will be taken to the survey.

Virtual lab management – it’s not just for test labs!

t

2009-06-16T09:19:00.002-10:00

2009 voke Innovator Recognition
Today, we announced the inaugural voke Innovator recipients. voke recognized 19 companies or products for their innovation around the global lifecycle. All of the 2009 voke Innovators are having a profound market impact through their innovative products and services.

The 2009 voke Innovators all demonstrate and deliver ways of doing more with less to help organizations achieve greater productivity and value. Figure out how your organization can be ready for the next big wave of IT expansion.

Check out the list of 2009 voke Innovator recipients at http://www.http/vokestream.com

t

2008-12-04T12:01:00.001-10:00

Wanted: Your Opinion on the Economy

Everybody is talking about it. Everybody has an opinion on it. It’s the economy! Visit vokeStream to participate in voke’s survey on the economy and how it is affecting your organization. As a “thank you” for participating, enter to win an upgraded membership to vokeStream and one 30 minute inquiry with a voke industry analyst.

While you are there, request a membership and get a copy of our latest research “Fortune 500 Spending Required for IT Cost Savings.” This is the research everybody is referencing when the discussion turns to the economy and IT spending. Discover new and innovative ways to deliver strategic value to your organization.

t

2008-08-15T11:23:00.002-10:00

The Results Are In!!!
Remember a couple of months ago we put out a call to Business Analysts to take our survey on the role of the BA. Well, the results are in! The full report – voke Market SnapshotTM Report: The Role of the Business Analyst is available to subscribers at www.vokestream.com.

Here are a couple of nuggets to whet your appetite:
- 91% of survey participants say they use ineffective tools to define requirements
- 58% of participants say their applications “only sometimes” or “never” meet the needs of the user

We will be speaking in more detail about the report and how business analysts can enhance their roles in a webinar on Thursday, August 21 2008 at 2:00 PM Eastern / 11:00 AM Pacific. Join voke, Blueprint, and HP Software to find out the keys to business analyst success. Register here.

In other news, we launched the voke Market Mover ArrayTM Chart where we rank the leaders of the application lifecycle market based on technology leadership and market leadership. The voke Market Mover Array is the one and only independent analytical source for information on application lifecycle vendors.

As a corollary to the voke Market Mover Array, we also launched the definitive research on global lifecycle transformation. The global lifecycle transformation piece is being lauded as a roadmap to achieving business success by embracing the lifecycle.

We at voke have had a busy and productive summer, so check out our newly updated Web 2.0 platform for our research at www.vokestream.com. By subscribing you can read all about business analysts, the application lifecycle market and more.
t

2008-05-27T11:13:00.000-10:00

Services and Virtualization – Two Technologies Together!
Virtualization and SOA are like milk and cookies, peanut butter and chocolate, or baseball and peanuts – one without the other just does not seem right.

Join me in a webinar sponsored by iTKO, the purveyor of LISA with VSE (Virtual Services Environment) and learn how to optimize your SOA experience around load and performance testing using VSE.

The webinar is on Wednesday, May 28 at 2:00 PM Eastern / 11:00AM Pacific. Register here for the event. This is a must hear for anyone who is concerned with performance throughout the entire lifecycle.

2008-05-07T10:38:00.001-10:00

Wanted: Business Analysts
One of the most critical roles emerging in the enterprise IT organization is that of the Business Analyst (BA).

We are conducting a survey exploring the role of the BA, the processes they adhere to and their opinion on the market readiness of technology targeted to the BA.

We invite BA’s or anyone interested in requirements to take the survey! We look forward to hearing from you. Act now, the survey ends May 18, 2008.
t

2008-02-01T08:26:00.000-10:00

Share Price, Reinvention, and Google Envy – 3 Good Reasons for Microsoft to Buy Yahoo!

Today, Microsoft put in an unexpected bid of $44.6B to acquire internet pioneer Yahoo!

This is indicative of Microsoft, the pioneer in PC software making a move to stay relevant. Microsoft is the quintessential software company. With its franchise business of Windows being challenged by technologies such as virtualization and Microsoft’s own insular view of how people want to work and connect Microsoft is attempting to modernize itself with this move.

The problem with the Microsoft bid for Yahoo! is that Microsoft’s DNA is bound in a bits in a box, ownership of the stack, shrink wrap mentality. This DNA is what made Microsoft successful and dominant. However, the game of the 21st century is around connection, communication, and collaboration in a mobile environment.

Will Yahoo! accept the tempting offer? Will Microsoft take over one of the internet pioneers, dramatically change their business model, and attempt to compete with Google? What happens to the famous Yahoo! brand? Stay tuned…
t

2007-12-09T22:21:00.000-10:00

LISA LISA...ENCORE ENCORE
The iTKO SOV (Services Oriented Virtualization) was SRO (Standing Room Only)! Since there was such an incredibly large interest in this webinar, we will be doing a live encore performance! In case you missed the event, you can catch it live again – all you have to do is register here.

I will be presenting along with iTKO Chief Scientist John Michelsen. On the analyst side, I will present some statistics around virtualization including cost savings and discuss the need for virtualization strategies in every organization. From the iTKO perspective, John will talk about the solutions in SOA environments using LISA with VSE and discuss real life scenarios where LISA with VSE helped to significantly reduce costs while delivering both higher quality and a faster time to market.

So join us on Thursday, December 13 at 11:00 AM Eastern / 8:00 AM Pacific to learn about virtualization and services. Just remember to register here.
t

2007-11-28T18:24:00.000-10:00

Everything is Virtually Virtual!!!

A few months ago during a swim workout, one of the other swimmers in my lane seemed to be spending quite a bit of time on the wall. Not wanting to miss my interval, I waited until after the workout to inquire why she was glued to the wall during our longer sets. “Oh, I did a virtual 500”, she proudly stated. Being curious, I asked what a “virtual 500” was. She announced she “thought” about the 500 meter swim while the rest of us actually did the 500 meter swim.

Hmmmm…I have heard the word virtual used in some interesting ways, but to virtually swim!!! This was by far the most creative way to be virtual!!! The swimmer’s name, by the way, was Lisa.

Now, here’s a LISA that does virtualization the right way, iTKO’s LISA with VSE (Virtual Service Environment).

Check out how virtualization can really help in testing in an SOA. I will be participating in a webinar with iTKO Chief Architect, John Michelson. iTKO has just released their latest version of LISA with VSE (Virtual Service Environment). Find out how LISA with VSE increases collaboration across the entire lifecycle.

It is important for every organization to have a virtualization strategy throughout their organization. Tune in to the iTKO webinar on December 6 at 11:00 AM Eastern / 8:00 AM Pacific to discover some interesting statistics about virtualization in the lifecycle and see how LISA with VSE can ease your SOA testing.

Virtualization in the lifecycle can save you time, money and help you avoid confusion. See you on December 6!

t

2007-08-23T11:09:00.000-10:00

Hey, Hey It’s the Application Lifecycle 2.0
And as Davy Jones of the Monkees once said “I’m a believer!”

Do you too want to be a believer? Don’t “monkee” around, learn more about the application lifecycle 2.0 by joining me in an MKS sponsored webinar: “Begin With the End in Mind” on August 28 at 11AM Eastern / 8AM Pacific. Register here.

Get the latest analysis on…
- What the application lifecycle 2.0 is and how it impacts you
- What technologies play a role in the application lifecycle 2.0
- Silos, what are they good for
- Will your IT organization survive the transformation
And more…the application lifecycle 2.0 is here and ready to make an impact, don’t be left behind!

This is an exciting time for the application lifecycle – new technologies are emerging, acquisitions are being made and the IT organization is no longer just for techies – they are business partners in every sense of the word.

t

2007-08-16T20:37:00.000-10:00

Is It Virtual Or Real?

The big news today was the Citrix acquisition of open source virtualization company XenSource. I have commented many times in the past year about the future I think virtualization has and how it will be one of the defining technologies of the 21st century.

So, here is my philosophy on the acquisition….one if you are inclined to be a geek and another if you fancy yourself more of a business person. Either way, the net / net of this is virtualization is real and coming to an enterprise near you.

Citrix Acquisition of XenSource for Geeks
Citrix’ acquisition of XenSource to more effectively compete with VMware is a positive move for the market. This acquisition shows that the criticality of the virtualization market is understood and enterprises are focused on using the technology in multiple aspects of their business.

Virtualization delivers a malleable environment unconstrained by barriers. VMware has been diligent at delivering virtualization to the entire enterprise. The messages put forth by VMware accelerated the visibility and acceptance of the market. Microsoft has publicly stated they will deliver on virtualization in the presentation layer, server, desktop and the application. However, Microsoft’s timeline is somewhat delayed.

In addition to larger vendors such as VMware and Microsoft touting solutions for virtualization there are also smaller vendors with more specific solutions, especially in the area of the application lifecycle. Vendors such as Surgient and VMLogix have solutions focused on virtual lab management that go directly to the issues of time-to-market and resource utilization for enterprise development and quality assurance groups.

Citrix Acquisition of XenSource for the Business Minded
The recent activity and interest around virtualization including the VMware IPO and Cirtix acquisition of XenSource is indicative of the importance of virtualization as the leading technology of the 21st century.

In a week where the market was headed decidedly south, the VMware IPO emerged as a star. The timing of the Citrix acquisition of XenSource was impeccable. XenSource is an open source company specializing in hypervisors, technology that allows multiple operating systems to simultaneously run on a single host computer. These two events showcase enterprise interest in virtualization.

What does this really mean? It means the way Microsoft has shaped the market with the operating system, Windows, as the building block is about to undergo a transformation. The transformation means that technology can be built to run on any device, duplicated elsewhere and keep track of where and how it is running.

Think about the possibilities this can create. Software will not be tied to an operating system, rather it will be a malleable environment capable of running where the user wants it to.

Stay tuned….there should be more to come in this epic at VMware’s VMworld conference in September.
t

2007-06-11T12:59:00.000-10:00

Oh What a Week!
Early June 2007…The IBM/Rational Software Developer Conference or RSDC for those in the know kicked off with two major acquisition announcements.

The first announcement made on June 6 was the acquisition of Watchfire. Watchfire is an application security company with a solid lineup of products and services that will fit well with and complement the Rational brand.

Application security is one of those things that everyone *knows* they should be doing but conveniently and blissfully ignores it. This is IBM’s opportunity to solidify its dominant position in the application lifecycle by offering a holistic focus on application security.

Watchfire technology and services is a natural fit in the application lifecycle. And, IBM with its broad enterprise reach is in a position to educate the market on and implement application security solutions.

And, just to show you how serious IBM is about the software lifecycle, IBM announced its intention to acquire Telelogic. This move will catapult IBM to the next level in the application lifecycle.

The Telelogic acquisition shows IBM is thinking about the future…the future of convergence around embedded software systems and traditional software applications.

Both of these acquisitions are big news coming out of the RSDC this week. These acquisitions are as hot as the weather in Orlando!

And, the RSDC keynote was hip. It highlighted a live performance from You Tube phenom Judson Laipply who performed his evolution of dance. Absolutely one of the most entertaining bits at a tech conference – ever! He performed everything from the twist to break dancing and even my favorite the Brady Bunch’s “Keep On” while wearing a t-shirt that said “Cheetoh’s”. This is truly a developer’s dream.
t

2007-06-04T13:00:00.000-10:00

Back to the Future Part IV Premieres at Microsoft TechEd 2007
Retro is in – all hail to the 80’s! But in software?

I was fortunate to be in attendance as Microsoft kicked off its 15th annual TechEd conference in Orlando, FL with a “Back to the Future” spoof complete with an authentic DeLorean , a remarkably well preserved Christopher Lloyd and Microsoft's Bob Muglia transformed to Michael J. Fox complete with an authentic 80’s wardrobe and hair.

Microsoft was a good sport and poked fun at some of its past predictions including what the world would be like if the once much ballyhooed “BOB” had achieved any market traction. In the keynote, Microsoft opted out of vision and presented reality.

At the start of his keynote, Microsoft’s Bob Muglia said he would not give a “vision talk”. And, he was right, the listener had to make their own judgment about what was visionary or back to the future and formulate their own conclusions.

The crowd of 12,000+ developers went wild when the command line interface of Windows 2008 was shown! It just goes to show that all of the GUIness in the world cannot mask the thrill of THE great C:\>.

Microsoft missed a tremendous opportunity to prove to the world that they have been committed to a single vision for the past several years and are now capable on multiple fronts (technology, process, and people) to deliver real solutions, not just slideware. Instead of communicating its success, Microsoft took the tact of sounding like an IT company. They asserted that IT is broken – OK, we all know this, so give us some hope. Microsoft missed the opportunity to show and tell us how they are enabling their focus points of federated, interoperable, and secure software to deliver real business solutions.

Microsoft has an obligation to lead the industry. They certainly need to communicate that there is an understanding of what the problems of tomorrow are and how Microsoft sees them being solved. This leadership in the industry sparks debate, innovation, and even criticism. But it is necessary for evolution.

The good news about what I learned at TechEd is that Microsoft is working together internally.

Microsoft’s Marketing Machine Revs Up
The big thing to take away from today’s TechEd keynote was Microsoft’s subtle but big swipe at VMware. Microsoft knows virtualization is the key to the future and has plans to manifest it in:
- Presentation virtualization
- Server virtualization
- Desktop virtualization
- Application virtualization

Read this push to virtualization and the conversion of a VMware VM to a Microsoft VM as a way for Microsoft to embrace virtualization yet remain true to its franchise business of Windows.

Virtualization and how Microsoft handles it is going to be *the* event of the decade. Stay tuned for more on this one!

The Future is Today
Microsoft’s Jason Matusow led an informative discussion around Microsoft and interoperability. His insight proves that Microsoft understands the ongoing solutions required for a heterogeneous, global and dynamic world.

Kudos to Microsoft for bringing the issue of interoperability to the forefront and facilitating an open and intelligent discussion on the topic. This is the type of leadership Microsoft needs to exert in the industry.

As always, TechEd is poised to make the industry pause and think. Microsoft has lots of technology pieces. They need a motivational message around their plan to innovate on integration… a message to propel the enterprise to the future. The conversation around virtualization, operating systems and interoperability are a glimpse into the future.
t

2007-05-15T18:05:00.000-10:00

The Week That Was…
I had the pleasure and honor of participating in the inaugural podcast of “SD Times The Week In Review” with SD Times Editor-in-Chief David Rubinstein.

This is a weekly podcast that David will host and moderate while getting views, analysis and opinion of the analyst community on the week that was.

In this first ever SD Times podcast we discussed:
- JavaOne and the Sun announcement of JavaFX
- Microsoft and its Silverlight announcement
- VMware and their release of Workstation 6
- Coverity’s release of Prevent SQS
- SQE’s STAREast conference the week of May 14 and my presentation on “Communicating the Value of Testing”

Many thanks to SD Times and David Rubinstein for inviting me as a guest.

So, tune in and get voke’s insight on the highlights of the week we just had.
t

2007-05-13T10:49:00.000-10:00

We Go Together Like…
David Cassidy and puka shells, Donny Osmond and purple socks, or chocolate and peanut butter. OK, I am dating myself, but there are just some things that do go together. I spent the past 2 weeks realizing there is some truth to this concept, even in technology.

On April 25, 2007 I was honored to deliver the keynote address at the SQS Software Quality Conference in Dusseldorf, Germany. This is a major event in the software quality world, with attendees coming from around the European Union to hear about quality and exchange ideas with others. While preparing the content for my keynote, I had several conversations with SQS CEO, Rudolf van Megen. Mr. van Megen has a unique outlook on the quality market and its future direction. During our conversations he told me of the big push in the German market, specifically, to using offshore providers.

This move to offshore work by German corporations was not surprising in as much it was an interesting study in market trends. A scant three years ago, most attendees at the SQS Software Quality Conference were more than somewhat skeptical about using offshore providers.

Today, in 2007, after learning about some of the inherent perils of offshore partnerships, the German market is wholly embracing the philosophy. Interestingly, the German market is certainly using providers in India as well as eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, etc.), and South Africa.

With their pragmatic and disciplined approach to offshore partnerships, the German market learned the goal is not cost savings. The goal, rather, is to enable the strategic work of an organization by sending the tactical component to a trusted offshore provider. The German market has also taken in to consideration barriers, rather real or perceived, such as time zone, language, cultural issues, etc.

In just three years time, there has been a complete shift in thinking about offshore partnerships. Because of this, more strategic work is being enabled in the enterprise.

Now, with the strategic work staying local and tactical work going offshore, the technology that most likely goes together with offshore work is…yes, virtualization!

Virtualization technology delivers so much to an enterprise. First and foremost, it allows for a malleable enterprise environment to be delivered anywhere independent of an operating system.

The benefits of virtualization abound in a variety of use cases, but while I am talking about technology going together like David Cassidy and puka shells, offshore work is exponentially easier and far more predictable when using virtualization technology. Two of the more popular vendors offering virtual lab automation technology specifically for the application lifecycle are Surgient and VMware.

For example, an enterprise can use virtualization technology to allow its offshore partner to take an instantiation of an environment to use for development or testing. This “as close to production as possible” environment delivers enormous benefits to both the enterprise and offshore partner. The offshore partner does not have to wait for machines with the “standard” image to arrive at their location. Communication is enhanced. Predictable software delivery suddenly becomes achievable.

So, if you are using offshore partners figure out how virtualization technology can help you.

If you are using virtualization, figure out how you can gain efficiencies by engaging an offshore partner.

It’s as natural as chocolate and peanut butter or peanut butter and chocolate.
t

2007-02-13T14:13:00.000-10:00

It Just Keeps Getting Tougher!
Technology that is. Things are getting more complex – that means there is more source code to run things and more code means less optimal integration and some big tough problems left unresolved.

Think about one of the simplest tasks in any household, turning on a TV. Well, how simple is it now? My non-scientific study, yet curious observation of cell yells between vacationers and their caretakers at home indicates one of the most common things they discuss is how to turn on the TV!

Think about this – turning on an appliance that simply has an ON/OFF button. But, we have made things more complicated and the complexity has not been masked from the user. So, yes, the TV has to go ON but so does the surround sound, possibly the cable box, TiVo, and everything else in the system i.e. other audio devices such as a media server must be repressed and secondary to the TV. Then you have the complexity of the surround sound being out of synch with audio of the TV so every image is akin to a Godzilla movie – entertaining for a while but annoying when watching Sports Center in high definition and the faces look like melting wax and the words are behind what the person is saying. We have all faced this conundrum. The more technically advanced of us will run a series of isolated tests on the system and more than likely debug the problem. More often though the user of the technology retreats to a simple old TV and lives happily ever after but will not admit this defeat to anyone!

Masking the complexity of technology is a major issue. It is a factor in adoption of new technology. It is a factor considered when purchasing technology. And, it SHOULD be a factor when technology is being built.

So, the next time you are in your favorite airline club eavesdropping on the boor yelling into their mobile phone, listen when he or she attempts to explain to the unsuspecting victim on the other end how to turn on the TV. You will undoubtedly get a chuckle from their lack of cell phone etiquette but also how technology is making even the simplest tasks more complex not necessarily easier.
t

2007-01-10T15:50:00.000-10:00

Let’s Do Something New in 2007
The week of January 9, 2007 is shaping up to be an eventful week. At voke, we announced our Market Snapshot report for the network equipment testing market. Fanfare announced their ability to deliver much needed commercial testing products to the network equipment market. And, Apple announced its iPhone.

OK, you can see the connection between the voke and Fanfare announcements. But, you are probably wondering why the Apple iPhone is mentioned here. Let’s make some assumptions and connect some seemingly disparate pieces.

The network equipment market is all about making hardware or devices to connect to something via a network. Simple enough, we all reap the benefits of networked printers, TiVo (my personal favorite), and our laptops in an always connected network state.

Fanfare delivers commercially available testing products to the network equipment market. This means the network equipment manufacturers no longer need to cobble together their own proprietary tools to test network equipment and the software that runs it. The network equipment market is under immense pressure to reduce time to market while increasing quality in an increasingly complex market. The fact that Fanfare can give these network equipment makers a way to automate the testing speaks volumes to solving the dilemma the manufacturers face.

In fact, the voke Market Snapshot report for network equipment testing shows that skills and processes are in an evolutionary phase while technology for the market is in the innovation phase. What does this mean? This means the people in this market have strong technical skills with a high regard for process – always a good thing when quality is demanded by customers; yet the tools are relatively newcomers.

So, we have network equipment makers needing to test more effectively. Fanfare can deliver the tools to make this happen. But let’s tell the network equipment manufacturers that we want even more connectivity and we want it to work and we want the complexity to be hidden.

This gets us to the Apple iPhone. The iPhone looks sleek but is it really doing anything different than we already have. Maybe the form factor is enough for some to salivate and move their allegiance to the iPhone. The fact still remains that network devices are still largely isolationists. Apple has not delivered on completely connecting the individual to their environment.

The iPhone does a little of this and a little of that. It has a camera, web access, phone, e-mail and widgets, yawn. Widgets have been part of every demonstration in the Valley since 1993 – how often do you really need to look at the weather or your stocks? These sample widgets are so overused and trite and well…very 20th century.

Collectively, let’s do something different in 2007! Let’s not reinvent what we already have, let’s move beyond and truly connect. We have the skills, we have the processes in place, and now we have the tools to make sure testing can be automated and more accurate.

Oh, and by the way, will the iPhone make a phone call through its Cingular network? Let’s demand the bar be raised!
t

2006-12-13T11:54:00.000-10:00

2006 In The Rearview Mirror
According to the Gregorian calendar, the December 21 equinox is rapidly approaching and consequently so is the end of the year 2006.

It seems fitting that as we phase out of our last 365 and in to our next 365 we should pause to remember the good and not so good. So, here is our interpretation of 2006.

The Pittsburgh Steelers win the 2006 Super Bowl! This has nothing to do with technology or business, but the Steelers are the ultimate in sports teams (OK, American football sports teams). The Super Bowl win is an exciting start for the new year, but as the Steelers return to the gridiron for the 2006 / 2007 season they certainly lack the grittiness and determination that made them champions in February. And, as any Steeler fan will attest, the three basic tenets for understanding the Steelers are: 1) never give up, 2) it is always the fault of the quarterback and 3) defense will win the game for you because of tenet #2. File this for 2006 under – the people on your team make a difference.

"An Inconvenient Truth" otherwise known as “the Al Gore movie about global warming” takes the nation by storm. As technologists, we should be in awe of the fact that one of the biggest movies of the year was a video of a person showing slides from his Apple notebook. We have all known for so long this was the ultimate form of entertainment – the rest of the world now knows watching slides on a laptop is the epitome of hip. And, Duarte Design of Mountain View, CA was in the credit roll for "An Inconvenient Truth." Anyone who has ever worked in Silicon Valley knows Duarte as the savior of all things presentation and communication related. File this for 2006 under – this really makes you think.

Sony ships exploding batteries and known software defects, yet Dell gets the bad press on the exploding batteries and thousands of people camp out overnight to get the Playstation 3 with its known defect. How good is Sony’s PR machine that these two incidents are not causing major backlashes around Sony products. The exploding batteries manufactured by Sony and found primarily in Dell and Apple laptops ignite a frenzy among owners. Dell and Apple handle the customer backlash in a professional way, yet Sony skates away. And, in November of 2006, the Sony Playstation 3 shipped with a known software defect yet still causes pandemonium (in a good way) leading up to its release. The big feature of backward compatibility in the Playstation 3 does not work! So what! say people willing to camp outside of stores overnight to get the latest piece of tech wizardry from Sony. How unsettling is it that a major software defect was known about, reported on, and ignored! File this for 2006 under – spin is an amazing thing.

Hawaii’s 6.7 earthquake of October 15 is out of the national news cycles within 48 hours of the incident. More shocking is that the media failed to mention the lack of backup electrical generators for airports sitting on rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. File this for 2006 under – ignorance is bliss and we want our Kona coffee without commentary or knowledge of reality.

VMware gets serious and acquires Akimbi. Virtualization is real (pun intended). VMware represents a serious threat to the Microsoft franchise business of Windows. VMware is not attempting to recreate what Microsoft has done, they are leading the way to a different and arguably less constrained way of doing things. Akimbi, the darling of virtual lab automation – an emerging technology play, is scooped up by VMware. Through this acquisition, VMware effectively plays in the enterprise application lifecycle market. File this for 2006 under – taking the long view of the world.

Mercury is acquired by HP and one of the last independent enterprise software companies falls. Mercury made a business of close to $1 billion by producing software to test software. Software to test software may sound like a duplicate redundancy, but Mercury really made a difference. File this for 2006 under – you can never go back.

voke, a modern analyst firm for the Web 2.0 world is founded by Theresa Lanowitz. This is our blog, so of course we make it in to the year in review! voke is about enabling collaboration and communication between constituents, gone are the days of “Monday morning quarterbacking” or “hindsight being 20/20”. voke is about challenging the status quo and moving markets. File this for 2006 under – change is good.

Boeing discontinues production of the C-17 and the last DC-10 leaves U.S domestic service. These McDonnell-Douglas engineered and built birds are leaving the skies after serving the world. As these two planes are heading into the sunset, we anxiously await the arrival of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The Dreamliner is a technophiles dream plane. File this for 2006 under – evolution is mandatory.

The Tour de France is tarnished. The incredible sport of cycling is forever tarnished in this “did he or didn’t he” drama. One would think there would be enough science, technology, and common sense to determine what is authentic and acceptable. File this for 2006 under – just when you thought you could truly be inspired.

Bill Gates resigns in June from the day to day operations of Microsoft to focus his energy on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Stop for a second and think about this. Bill Gates has changed the world once with Microsoft. He now has the opportunity to change the world again. Bravo to Bill Gates – he is touching the life of every individual on the planet. File this for 2006 under – Bill Gates is cool and not just to the nerds of the world.

So there you have it, 10 events that made me think about how technology intersects with life on a daily basis. This is my 2006 in the rearview mirror.

And, as entertaining as it is to look back on time, it is of equal importance to think about what is ahead. Subscribers to the vokeStream can read firsthand our thoughts and predictions in the Future Watch documents. Instead of looking in the rearview mirror, look ahead, far ahead subscribe to the vokeStream.
t

2006-11-07T19:24:00.000-10:00

All We Know Are the Facts – the HP Acquisition of Mercury is Complete

Since I am in Los Angeles this week, I am in a Dragnet kind of a mood, and as Sgt. Joe Friday would say – “All we know are the facts, ma'am"

The facts are:
• The HP acquisition of Mercury is completed
• The cost to HP $4.5 billion in cash
• The acquisition was announced on July 25, 2006
• The acquisition was closed on November 7, 2006

All we know are the facts – all we know for certain.

The more important issues around this acquisition are about what is not seen or heard. On HP.com, banner ads for HP and Mercury, HP printers and toner, HP storage, and HP laptops rotate. The position of “Business outcome. The next big thing in IT” swaps places with HP’s VoodooPC acquisition. What is wrong with a headline screaming that the $4.5 billion acquisition of Mercury is complete?

Instead of boldly announcing a successfully completed acquisition in a reasonably short time, viewers are left to watch quirky ads with upside down people and upside down fonts. Perhaps Dramamine (motion sickness medication) should be offered on the site as well.

The ads also appear to confuse internal issues with customer issues. Do customers or potential customers really need to be reminded that HP paid $4.5 billion for Mercury? Every time an enterprise customer sees that number they think of what they are going to have to pay so that HP can deliver a positive ROI number.

At Mercury World, Las Vegas in October attendees were promised more detail upon the completion of the acquisition. We still do not know:
• The organizational structure - who is running what?
• The branding – does the Mercury name stay or go?
• Roadmaps – who needs HP integration and why?
• How the culture clash will be managed?

We do know that the combined sales force will meet in February of 2007! That is three months away. And, they are meeting in Boston! Boston, in the dead of winter, now there is a reward worth waiting for! Watch for former Mercury sales executives to take their Q4 commissions and head for warmer climates.

We also know the main focus of the HP CEO is to be able to invoice customers around the world! Yikes! Just a month ago, we were told the ultimate goal was to “delight” the customer. I suppose a customer can be delighted to receive an invoice.

Meanwhile, as HP tries to figure out what should be communicated internally and what is for public consumption, the battle lines are being drawn. Both Empirix and IBM have offered Mercury customers incentives to switch allegiances to their software provider…and people are not only listening, they are acting.

Empirix, with its modern technology architecture and creative approach is forcing a market disruption around testing. This vendor has been diligent at carving out a market niche for themselves in areas where Mercury did not compete. Now, Empirix has plenty of opportunities to add new customers and to satisfy their application testing needs.

IBM, the industry’s stalwart vendor, is taking advantage of its lifecycle solution and market opportunity. IBM can attract lifecycle customers with its Rational and Tivoli brands.

Now that Mercury is history, what do we know? All we know are the facts!

For more detailed analysis around the HP / Mercury acquisition, IBM and their application lifecycle strategy subscribe to vokeStream Prime at www.vokestream.com

What’s next?...the only thing for sure is change.

2006-11-07T19:14:00.000-10:00

VMWorld 2006 – VMWare – Software Innovator with a Social Conscience

Along with 7,000 others, I am attending VMWare’s third annual conference! Let me reiterate that number – seven thousand attendees at a conference in its third year!

VMWare is the new cool! The company is so cool they are not only creating industry changing technology, they are also helping in the global movement to conserve energy!

A software company helping with energy conservation – how 21st century is that? At the opening session of VMWorld, PG&E (electric and natural gas provider to northern and central California) announced an energy conservation plan around server consolidation and virtualization. Businesses can receive a credit from PG&E for $750 - $1350 for every server removed. The program caps at $4 million per company!

VMWare is making software that will change the way we use technology. VMWare’s philosophy is to take control of the resources and use what you need, when you need it, and where you need it. VMWare CEO, Diane Greene emphasized the need to change the way the operating system is viewed. She advocated the licensing of software to resources, thus making it more virtual. An example of virtualization for those of us on the pre-deployment side is that of VMWare’s Lab Manager. Lab Manager allows testers to virtually create an environment as close to production as possible and marshal complex software configurations across the lifecycle. This means the days of building and maintaining expensive test labs are gone. The tester can send the developer a URL to pinpoint a problem. The developer can then instantiate an instance of the tester’s environment and work on either solving or deferring the defect.

With their virtual appliances, virtual infrastructure, virtual desktops, and virtual software lifecycle management VMWare is pushing the industry beyond its comfort zone. VMWare is advocating standards established and controlled by third parties and are truly breaking down geographic barriers. And, this technology is just getting started.

If VMWare is a new name to you, put them on your watch list. VMWare is proving that virtualization is not just for the data center.

What’s next?...What do we know for certain?

2006-10-13T18:16:00.000-10:00

Leaving (the Software World in) Las Vegas
The final (assuming the HP acquisition of Mercury closes) Mercury World was held in Las Vegas, Nevada the week of October 9, 2006. Captain Mercury had one last hurrah - I am sure many of you remember Captain Mercury, the superhero of load testing!

Mercury World has evolved to an industry bellwether event. Attendees can be assured they will be educated as well as entertained. And, true to their DNA as a software company of vision, Mercury ended their run as an independent company in grand style. The venue was splendid…the Bellagio. The keynote speakers were inspiring…Dr. Jared Diamond (author Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse), slam poet Rives and the supernova in a shining event, former US Secretary of State, Dr. Madeleine Albright.

Back to the business of Mercury World…the conference was kicked off by Mercury CEO Tony Zingale and CMO Christopher Lochhead. These two executives were full of zeal and certainly engaged the crowd. In an interesting use of vocabulary, Mr. Zingale continually referred to the impending acquisition of Mercury by HP as the “merger”. Nice positioning to the core group of Mercury customers who made the trek to the Nevada desert to get one last glimpse of Mercury, untouched by the hands of giants.

HP CEO, Mark Hurd, also spoke to the crowd. He certainly showed that HP is not about flash and showmanship as he delivered his matter of fact dollars and cents address about why the Mercury acquisition made sense for HP. In an apparently genuine moment, Mr. Hurd spoke not only to the Mercury customers he hopes to retain but also to the Mercury employees he hopes to retain. He was sincere in extending HP hospitality to both.

CEO Hurd made a point of declaring that “…there is a commitment from the HP software business to delight you in every way”. Yes, he used the word “delight”. Students of architecture always speak of “delight”. However, in the technology world “delight the customer” was always associated with AT&T…and look at the fate of AT&T! You can draw your own conclusion.

Mercury made some solid announcements around SOA testing and announced two new products: Mercury Service Test and Mercury Service Test Management. These products are yet two more pieces to the overall application lifecycle ecosystem that Mercury has been diligent in creating.

Mercury’s partner pavilion showcased some 60 partners and their wares. As I ventured through the pavilion, I realized that over the years Mercury has created incredible synergy with its partners - from boutique professional services organizations such as RTTS and SQS to large offshore providers such as Wipro, Infosys, and TCS to hot software companies such as VMWare and Hyperformix showcasing the future of software quality and management. This pavilion full of technology and services was teeming with people seeking information.

Mercury made a splash in the desert this week, but what happens next? Now, we wait for the HP acquisition of Mercury to close. We must wait and see if HP truly understands what they bought. Hint: it is a software company with 55% market share and 65% of company revenues from products and services focused on the quality and testing of applications. Yes applications, the competitive differentiator in business today, the profit side of IT.

The Mercury testing business has not been a central theme of communication by HP as to why they are purchasing Mercury. This lack of apparent enthusiasm for and understanding of the testing business and HP’s track record in software has spawned opportunity for other vendors in the software quality business. Empirix and IBM are offering existing Mercury customers incentives to switch to their respective products. This seemingly tactical yet highly strategic move by two competitors should not be ignored by HP.

Empirix is a crafty software company that is quite competent in the area of productization. They are customer-centric, agile, and smart.

Conversely, IBM is a stalwart in the industry known for its professionalism. This announcement by IBM signals a “game on” call to the industry.

When we next hear about Mercury, it will presumably be the news around the closing of the acquisition. Empirix and IBM have called “next” and are ready to take on Mercury. Will HP become a player in the world of software where applications are crucial? Will Mercury with the moniker of HP remain the proverbial 800 lb. gorilla in the software quality market? Will the Mercury spirit live on or will HP’s renowned processes get in the way of innovation and agility?

Stay tuned, the next 12 months are going to be better than a game 7 of a Red Sox vs. Yankees series in the bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, bases loaded, the winning run on third, and a full count scenario!

Sorry for the very American reference to baseball… to put it in more global terms…the next 12 months are going to be full of competition, agony, winning, losing, nervousness, fear, opportunity, and excitement. And, that is just the beginning!

What’s next?...flexibility…

2006-09-28T15:00:00.000-10:00

“IT’s the Future”…A Clever Play on Words by SQS

I recently had the pleasure of delivering the keynote presentation at the Software Quality Systems (SQS) conference in Zurich. SQS is always an excellent and gracious host at their conferences. And, as usual, the conference was chock full of information. Tracks included:
- Outsourcing
- Methodologies
- IT Governance and best practices
- Organizational structure and effectiveness
- Auditing (internal and external)
- The culture of quality
- Test automation
- Creating secure test data
- Embedded systems

This was not the typical conference focused on development and test tools, nor was it a bunch of techies showing their test scripts. The conference made one question their quality practices within IT and what they were really doing to modernize their practices to better serve their customers.

The conference title - “IT’s the future” or “It’s the future” is really a clever play on words – think about it or IT. We constantly talk about the future, but do little to actually propel ourselves into said future, especially on the IT side. The enterprise IT organization largely behaves today, in late 2006, the same way it did at the beginning of this decade.

Here is a prediction… the IT model of today (2006) is outmoded. Enterprise IT organizations spend far too much time and money focused on tactical projects rather than being concerned about creating strategic business advantages through what enterprise IT may be capable of delivering.

Given that we appear to be stuck in the past, how far into the future has IT advanced? We talk about it, but do we really do anything to move boldly to the future? Here is another prediction…service levels worldwide are decreasing and will continue to decrease because of the inflexible systems being created by enterprise IT organizations. Since the application runs the business, it is far easier to see the inflexible systems being built by enterprise IT organizations…does the phrase “I’m sorry my computer is so slow today” sound familiar to all of us?

The SQS conference was an excellent place to challenge enterprise IT organizations to focus on what they were doing, how they were doing it or IT, and why. And, the future we are talking about here is not the Star Trek type of future, it is logical evolution. Enterprise IT organizations really need to take stalk of who their customer is and what their purpose is.

SQS conferences are always provocative, creative, and interesting as well as a place for me to immerse myself in German! The information presented at the SQS conference in Switzerland was not about pure technology; rather it was about solving problems and looking ahead to how those problems may manifest themselves and ultimately require more creative solutions. The conference was a treasure trove for exploring the future by way of unique perspectives of the speakers.

With an international flair not duplicated by conferences in the United States, the SQS conferences give multinational companies a global view of business and how software is supporting that business. I was pleasantly surprised to speak with a variety of exhibitors at the conference who were focused on delivering quality user experiences for integrated devices and traditional enterprise IT software. In fact, I was told this problem has been becoming more pervasive in Europe.

Continuing with the theme of the future, SQS included an entire track on the convergence of embedded systems and enterprise applications. SQS knows something by presenting content and case studies around convergence...they know the future exists in convergence. The convergence of embedded or device software and traditional enterprise IT software is imminent. However, this realistic topic is something that most enterprise IT organizations choose to ignore. The answer around convergence is usually that devices are rogue and have no need to access enterprise software. This view is not 21st century. Here’s another prediction…by the beginning of 2008, enterprise IT organizations will begin to understand the benefit of device software to rounding out the enterprise software supply chain, thus delivering more customer satisfaction. The enterprise IT organization will also realize device software is more than mobile devices.

How is your IT organization viewing embedded or device software?

The outgoing nature of the SQS staff fosters a fertile environment for networking among attendees and the conference offers an impressive collection of sponsors and exhibitors. If you ever have an opportunity to attend an SQS conference do so – it is not your ordinary conference experience.

I want to thank SQS for inviting me to deliver a keynote focusing on the future of the quality ecosystem in the enterprise. And, I also want to thank the SQS team for teaching me some new German vocabulary words! Until we meet again…Tschuss!

What’s next?...funf, vier, drei, zwei, ein!!!

2006-07-25T14:48:00.000-10:00

A Long Way To Go And A Short Time To Get There
That is what HP (NYSE: HPQ) has ahead of themselves as they announce their bid of $52 per share or $4.5 billion to acquire Mercury Interactive Corporation (OTC: MERQ).

The prognosticators at Israel’s Globes newspaper called this acquisition on May 1, 2006 but with a price tag of a paltry $3.5 billion. When this “fictitious” article hit the press, Mercury was quick to insist the rumors were false and expertly put a spin around the notion that they wanted to remain an independent software company, put the NASDAQ delisting behind them and continue to serve their constituents with high quality software. What a difference $1 billion can make!

In Mercury’s defense, they were moving along in 2006 appearing as though they were going to remain independent and possibly even somehow re-invent themselves. Some examples of this pursuit were the two acquisitions made in 2006 totaling $123.5 million. For those keeping score the tab was $105 million for Systinet and $18.5 million for Tefensoft.

Now, there are two interesting things about both of these acquisitions: the first is they were forward looking and new technology, not about customer acquisition; the second is neither acquisition had anything to do with their flagship product line of testing. So, while Mercury was going about creating the cloak of independence they were ignoring their bread and butter constituents – the testing customers. One may have interpreted this as Mercury may be willing to sell off the testing business and have a go at being a re-invented independent company.

Fast forward to July 25, 2006 and HP is, in fact, buying Mercury for $4.5 billion – the second largest acquisition in the company’s history. The primary questions are what is HP getting and is it worth $4.5 billion?

The initial reaction to the amount of money being paid is to compare it to the IBM acquisition of Rational back in 2003 for a scant $2.1 billion. At the time of the IBM / Rational acquisition the reaction was IBM over paid. The reaction to the HP / Mercury acquisition – HP is over paying.

The larger question is what is HP getting by buying Mercury? HP gets an instant enterprise software business for the short term. Mercury is, at its core, a testing company. Mercury owns over 50% of the testing market. Mercury has had a great ride in this market since there have been no competitors capable of dethroning the savvy marketer…that is until now. Mercury, long the dominant player in the testing market was able to indulge in premium pricing because the competition could not figure out how to stem the Mercury tide. However, a company from Redmond, WA by the name of Microsoft quietly entered into the testing market via its Visual Studio Team System product line. Mercury’s responses to the entry – hide its head in the sand and ignore the problem and maybe it will go away. Microsoft, known for its aggressive high volume / low margin pricing model, announced in May of 2004 its intent to enter the testing market. Mercury did nothing and continues to do nothing about Microsoft’s growing and wanted presence. Will HP attempt to compete with Microsoft? Or, does HP now want to compete with IBM and its Rational suite of products. HP has a long way to go to compete against either Microsoft or IBM and a short time to get there.

With this short term “insta-software” business HP is also buying a culture clash. Mercury is a software company and behaves as a typical software company. HP is a hardware / toner company. The two cultures are not conducive to one another. Mercury has long been focused on the application. HP on the other hand is focused on the network. These two approaches are fundamentally different and require a different mindset of how to market and sell products. The total number of Mercury people who make the transition to HP and stay more than one year will be minimal, at best.

HP should enjoy its “insta-software” business while it lasts because Microsoft and IBM are not docile competitors.

HP may very well think they will be purchasing a world class sales organization with the Mercury deal. The Mercury sales organization is as aggressive and tough as any in the business, but…sales is a context sensitive and highly transient profession. And, selling for a vibrant energetic company like Mercury once was is a far cry from selling for a toner company.

The argument could be made that HP is acquiring top executives. Yes, Mercury’s executive team is strong, but how many top executives in a growing company are willing to take senior manager positions in a behemoth like HP? Executives will stay for 366 days and then "pursue other interests."

HP may think they are getting top worker talent through its acquisition. Realize, Mercury’s foundation has been weakened by its recent NASDAQ delisting and investigation. Much of the top talent has been recruited to other hot companies in the Valley. And, Mercury’s people at the worker level were superb in their execution, making them attractive targets for some of the hottest companies such as E-Bay, Google, VMWare (EMC), etc.

And, without a doubt, HP is buying a large risk. The risk of the unknown and what will happen with Mercury’s 2005 fiscal and quarterly filings, their first and second quarter 2006 filings, and the pending lawsuits filed by shareholders.

So, at the end of the day what is HP getting for $4.5 billion? Answer: a short term software business that is likely to be consumed by Microsoft and IBM.

Customers of Mercury’s products should be wary of the new steward of the technology and begin to investigate other options. An investigation of other options is warranted even if they make no move. If customers decide to move away from Mercury products, the move should be a phased process and customers need to understand both the soft costs and hard costs of such a move.

Given the purchase price is astronomically high one has to wonder what other companies were in the bidding war for Mercury and is Compuware the next independent software company to fall?

What's next?...are you flexible?

2006-06-26T20:40:00.000-10:00

Jenny…867-5309…
I thought of this Tommy Tutone 1982 one hit wonder as I wrestled with the latest machinations of my mobile carrier. And, quite honestly, no blog is complete without some overt reference to 1980’s nonsensical music!

Let me get to my problem. I spend quite a bit of time on my bicycle. These rides are not just around the block to visit friends, rather they are Lance Armstrong inspired long distance events of 100 miles or more. One minor problem, I don’t have the luxury of having Johan Bruynell and the Disco team trailing me to provide food and support. Without the resources of the Team Discovery, I have to take my own food as well as communication device. This means a light weight, durable, and reliable cell phone. Easy problem to solve, right? Wrong!!!! I recently had to expand my Cingular calling plan to a family plan – even though I am the only person on the plan. So why does a family of one need a multi-number plan? Good question – here’s the problem and the solution…

When you are 50 miles or so from home and night is falling and the wind picks up and you just had your third flat tire of the day, the most important possession in the world is a working cell phone. But, in order for the cell phone to have enough importance to bring along on the ride, it has to be light weight, durable, and offer some ability to provide a connection. Nobody wants to take their Smart Phone on an athletic event and risk damage or loss. Given this scenario I thought of the perfect solution to my cell phone / cycling woes. I would buy a small, light weight, reliable practically disposable cell phone to take with me on my bicycle and leave my bulky yet feature rich Smart Phone at home. After some amount of investigation, I decided upon the 2 ounce Firefly. This meant I could leave my 5.8 ounce HP iPAQ at home.

This seemed to make perfect sense – two phones or an extension, if you will, and one number, right? Wrong!!! It seems in their infinite wisdom, the mobile carriers have deemed that only one number can be assigned per smart chip. If I wanted to have the same number on both phones, I would have to fumble around with the smart chip each time I wanted to use the less important but more durable Firefly. This did not seem logical or even remotely sensible. Again, after some amount of investigation I found it to be true. Why was I not surprised that the inflexible, rigid, and outdated business model of the mobile carriers again rendered a logical and simple problem complex and cumbersome.

In the long run, my safety on a bicycle is far more important than the illogical business model of the mobile carriers. I took the only solution I could – create a “family” plan for my Firefly and my HP iPAQ. Yes, this solution works, but I have another phone number to manage. I remember the promise of a single universal phone number for each person. That vision went by the wayside as soon as new area codes were granted.

It would be refreshing if the mobile carriers were to spend one day in the real world and modify their plans to reflect what people really do. We are in an unfortunate situation where the carriers have customers locked in to contracts and provide at best, pathetic to mediocre service. These problems all come back to not understanding the usage requirements of the customer. And, the lackluster service offered by the mobile carriers points to a massive failure of the much ballyhooed customer relationship management (CRM) systems. If the CRM systems really worked, we as a collective population would not have to be held hostage to the mobile carriers.

The huge lesson learned here is…understand use requirements before you begin anything lest you end up like the mobile carriers – that is a warning that will frighten anyone! And, realize the majority of the world does not have the resources of the Disco boys for their SAG needs!

Go Team Discovery!!! Vive le Tour de France!!!

What’s next?...what's the word?
t

2006-06-15T19:47:00.000-10:00

Think Before You Leap…
At Microsoft Tech Ed, I had an informative conversation with Jason Beaudreau, Director of IT for Altair Global Relocation. When I first met Jason, I had no idea who or what Altair Global Relocation was. I figured they moved people around, but really did not think a relocation company would be a poster enterprise for technology. Think again!

Jason told me Altair was a global company and gave me an impressive list of corporate clients, all household names. He then told me that Altair employed a mere 200 people with a scant 20 in the roles of IT. And, the next thing Jason said was Altair wins business because they can differentiate themselves from the competition through technology. The technology helped them be more efficient and accommodating to their customers. Jason really stressed the people aspect of the business describing how understanding the customer’s needs was the major focus of the business.

My next logical question was around outsourcing. No, Jason informed me all of their technology, which is the lynchpin of their organization, was crafted inside Altair in their Dallas, TX office. Wow!!

As Jason explained their application life cycle, I realized that Altair was the embodiment of something I have been an advocate since the last century. Altair’s internal technology team operated and behaved like a commercial software company. They understood the benefits of and the necessity of requirements. They understood the user / customer and worked with them throughout the life cycle to make sure the aforementioned requirements were being met. And, they tailored popular development processes to meet their own unique needs. Think about the magnitude of what they are doing. Altair has a minimal, tightly integrated staff, knows their customer, and focuses on requirements along with usability. Brilliant! Altair works like a commercial software company. The difference is Altair is able to deliver relocation services because of the custom software they identify and create internally.

Altair has clearly made a good decision. They know their business but realize it is imperative to have compelling technology to meet the demands of their customers. Altair can be proud of their choices and the way they behave.

What’s next?...the idea of service providers
t

2006-06-14T16:21:00.000-10:00

Er / Ment…
At Tech Ed, the Microsoft spokespeople were certain to stress that the company was moving from supporting the developer to supporting development. This may seem like a big case of over analyzing semantics and word parsing. Trust me, this is a major statement.

By publicly communicating the movement from er to ment, Microsoft is saying they are serious about the application life cycle. Microsoft understands and knows the developer, but what about the rest of the players in the application life cycle chain – the development and deployment aspect? This is something Microsoft has been wrestling with for a while. How do they move up the all-important stack from er to ment? Start by introducing products (of course we should expect products from Microsoft) that will attract other members of the life cycle…architects, quality assurance groups, business analysts, project mangers, etc. A big check mark on the product side with Visual Studio Team System, however, Microsoft is still in search of the acceptance and understanding of the other participants in the application life cycle. Hence, their focus on moving from er to ment.

I am encouraged that Microsoft will do more to make this transition than ship products and modify SKUs. Their language will change, it will be subtle at firs but will ultimately be peppered with terms such as “design and architect”. Watch for the outward signs that Microsoft is moving in the direction of supplying, supporting, understanding, and working within the entire application life cycle.

A subtle, yet telltale change going from er to ment. Can Microsoft do it? Their long term success depends upon it.

What’s next?...behavior.
t

2006-06-14T16:15:00.000-10:00

It’s the Little Things That Count, Really…
I left Boston and Microsoft Tech Ed 2006 today. As a road warrior and conference veteran I must say the Tech Ed experience in Boston was superb.

The show, as always, was well organized and met the needs of a variety of attendees…developers, architects, analysts, managers, students, purchasers, executives, partners, and even competitors.

Microsoft has really set the standard for hi-tech events. Realize, this event was attended by well over 13,000 people. To scale quality to that size takes some effort. Microsoft always manages to take care of the creature comforts at its events. With Tech Ed being a developer-centric event, the typical staples were on hand. For those not familiar with the care and feeding of developers, that means plenty of caffeine and processed sugar along with wireless internet access, plenty of power, and comfortable seating. Microsoft delivers on that 100%. But what about the rest of us, those that see white food as something to avoid and couldn’t identify a “vente” (I think that’s what they call it) from a tall in a Starbuck’s lineup. Microsoft consistently delivers a stream of fresh water and an assortment of healthy snacks such as fresh fruit and nuts. I stress the fresh part of the previous statement. I commend the Microsoft events team for really understanding their customer’s needs. And, most importantly, they make sure the attendees really have no reason to leave the show, after all, isn’t that the ultimate goal?

As I return home, I do not have that post-conference fatigue associated with navigating an unwieldy venue and constantly searching for hydration and healthy fuel for the body.

Microsoft Tech Ed is one of my favorite annual events. And, even as the conference grows in size, it continues to deliver value and a quality experience.

What’s next?...the importance of understanding your customer, it is far more than words.
t

2006-06-13T17:54:00.000-10:00

When It’s Time to Change, You’ve Got to Rearrange…
I’ll admit it, I am a product of 70’s sitcoms, primarily The Brady Bunch. Who among us cannot remember Peter Brady belting out his memorable line “when it’s time to change, you’ve got to rearrange…” about change in the midst of teenage angst and puberty Brady style!

Well, the software industry is well beyond puberty and really has to change and rearrange. The software industry is no longer about software…it has to change and rearrange to be a hybrid.

Microsoft is, without question the definitive quintessential software company. The problem is the company is, at its core, an operating system company. Everything Microsoft is and does is about selling and installing more copies of Microsoft Windows. Windows is the franchise product – period – full stop! Now, this is not an entirely bad problem to have, but what about the future. People and enterprises are no longer paying in excess of $500 (US) for a single productivity application to put on a proprietary closed operating system.

Microsoft has to change from being a software company and figure out how to become more of a hybrid company. Hybrid is defined as providing solid software but supplementing that software with some sort of viable services. The services supplementing the software can be either professional or managed. Given Microsoft’s ability to build out an ecosystem of partners and in effect show more feet on the street, it makes sense for Microsoft to look at ways to deliver managed services as well as figure out some crafty way to extend the usefulness of its traditional Microsoft Office product line. True to its ways, Microsoft is attempting to achieve both by delivering managed services as well as exposing the Microsoft Office line as a development platform.

At the Tech Ed 2006 keynote, Bob Muglia, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President, Server and Tools business eloquently stated how the new Office 2007 will really extend the development platform by being extensible and by becoming truly integrated and most importantly, just working. The just working part of this equation is the piece that will make interrupt driven knowledge workers and field workers take notice.

What Microsoft has been wise enough to realize is they have won, hands down, the desktop productivity war. It is beyond ridiculous for anyone to even attempt to erode that market. But, this realization has two parts…Microsoft also realizes that we have become e-mail addicts and most of us are addicted to Outlook – this bodes well for Microsoft. We live on our desktops in Outlook, a push sort of environment. And, for those of us with Smart Phones, what do we do most frequently? We obsessively check our e-mail. So, this simple realization gave birth to what may very well be Microsoft’s most brilliant plan. The plan is simple…give people what they need where they spend the most time. Microsoft realized the abysmal failure (my assessment) of the promised land of CRM. Microsoft also realized the promises of CRM , while never delivered, are not all bad, it is really a matter of implementation and understanding the human way people work. Hence, we will soon see Outlook, the addictive application, be used for everything we want and need to search on, store, and send. After all, we have so much information that we always need to figure out where it is.

Microsoft took a fundamental assumption of massive market penetration of the Office product line and inverted it. By doing this, we are going to see something bold and new come to something reliable and familiar.

Microsoft is figuring out how to change and rearrange.

What’s next?...less is more, especially in software development.
t

2006-06-12T19:07:00.000-10:00

Expression in the Land of Beige?!
Americans are obsessed with beige. They live in beige houses with beige furniture, beige floors, and beige walls. They wear beige pants and drive beige cars. They use beige computers and beige monitors and eat from beige plates atop beige tables and beige counters.

OK, maybe I am exaggerating, Americans choose from a palette consisting of eggshell, taupe, sand, nougat, tumbleweed, caramel, mocha, latte, stone, and light tan. Guess what, it is still beige by any other name!

As a society ensconced in beige it seems only logical that the human interface of the software designed by primarily Americans has been anything except revolutionary. Admit it, software interfaces have been rather beige!

At Tech Ed 2006, Microsoft is presenting its four new tenets for “People_Ready” software. As part of making the tenets reality, they are focusing on the correlation of said tenets and their products. One of the highlights of this movement has been the little publicized, but ultra cool Microsoft Expression product line.

Microsoft Expression is targeted to the designers of applications. That’s right, the people focused on human engineering and user interface! The people who work in lofts with exposed bricks and beams and studios with multi-colored walls, not beige carpeted cubicles with faux wood beige desks! Microsoft is targeting the designer!!! Microsoft is paying homage to the saviors from all that is beige!

Microsoft is the quintessential software company with a franchise business to preserve and protect. Part of that franchise preservation is coming through products for real live designers. Microsoft envisions a day when designers will be part of the development process. I do not think it is going to be that simple, but this is a start in the right direction. Microsoft has the clout, talent, and presence to build out the ecosystem required for design and subsequently designers. Microsoft can arm a cadre of partners with design experience to work with their tools. Realize design knowledge and expertise is not something that can be institutionalized through a few training classes. This is why Eichler’s are creating such a stir at the moment and mid-century modernism is gaining in appeal.

Solid design is critical and necessary for highly reliable and functioning software, regardless of where it is residing. Microsoft can help shape a culture of expression through software. This need to design more effectively must be part of the overall process, because some aspects of software creation are still art with some discipline.

What’s next?...technology is on a roll, where are we headed?
t

2006-06-11T17:57:00.000-10:00

The Red Sox Nation and Microsoft?
I spent a productive afternoon of doing nothing taking in all that is Boston. Boston is one of the greatest, if not the greatest American city. It has history, music, culture, art, august educational institutions, an efficient and well used transit system, architecture and, of course, the Boston Red Sox. I love Boston and I love the Red Sox, but I do not randomly clad myself in their logo. As I meandered from one section of town to the next I was struck by all of the Bostonians showing their support for the Boston Red Sox. These were not people on their way to or from a game – these were people out for Sunday brunch, shopping, meeting friends, enjoying the bucolic Sunday afternoon. There were people in pink Red Sox hats, the St. Patrick’s Day green Red Sox hats, jaunty tweed Red Sox hats in the tony Beacon Hill area, Red Sox t-shirts, jackets, blankets, and umbrellas, and the traditional good old fashioned Red Sox logo hat. Why was everyone so willing to express their support for the Red Sox? The team was not engaged in a summertime showdown or playoff game with the reviled New York Yankees nor had they just won a championship. I thought about this and then realized – this city is on message. They are all saying “we are loyal to and support our Boston Red Sox”, the city is passionate about the team and the support transcends everything. I submit that no other American city shows this much enthusiasm for a team on a regular basis. Throughout the afternoon, I noticed a few interlopers trying to distract from the Red Sox message – there were some from Detroit, some from Chicago, some from the University of Rhode Island, and certainly a smattering of MIT supporters. None of the interlopers were able to achieve critical mass to overtake the zeal and support found for the Boston Red Sox.

I thought about how on message the city was with their support of the team and realized that Microsoft Tech Ed was in the perfect city in 2006. Microsoft is the company it is because they have an uncanny ability to stay on message. The company has a well crafted communications plan and everyone in the company is passionate about it. There have been and continue to be technology interlopers who attempt to gain recognition but none can stay on message quite like Microsoft.

At the opening keynote for Tech Ed 2006, Microsoft unveiled its vision of “People_Ready” software and its four tenets:
Manage complexity and achieve agility
Protect information and control access
Advance business with IT solutions
Amplify the impact of people

And, true to their amazing ability to stay on message, several Microsoft product people used the keynote as a platform to describe through demos how these tenets are going to be realized now and within the near future.

Long after Tech Ed 2006 is through, Microsoft will be touting the promises of “People_Ready” software and its tenets. And, anyone you encounter from Microsoft will be able to tell you the tenets and their value propositions. That is staying on message and that is truly powerful.

What’s next?...technology disruptions – where do we go from here?

2006-06-08T22:15:00.000-10:00

Life is a Database Old Chum…
We are rabid consumers of information. We want our information fast. We want our information to be accurate. And, we want our information any time and any where. We can be this demanding because we know everything of importance has been cataloged, filed, arranged, and assigned a key field – at least electronically. Now, as consumers of data we are not too concerned about the infrastructure supporting our insatiable need for fast, reliable, and on the go information. However, someone has to do the behind the scenes work so we don’t suffer in our quest for information. For years we have had developers toiling over performance algorithms to help us over the hurdle of server constraints. It was the best we could do.

Enter ENCIRQ. The ENCIRQ Data Foundation Framework gives developers everything they have been wanting…a way to get away from the classic client / server database architecture. Client / server is so 1980’s. With this model, ENCIRQ just moved a rather classic industry into the 21st century.

ENCIRQ does not need an operating system, but is certainly capable of working with a variety of them if you desire. But, the biggest breakthrough for ENCIRQ comes because of the breaking of the client / server mold. ENCIRQ’s data foundation is inline code. Inline code – this means no performance or size constraints of a server. To the masses this means a quick, simple, elegant, modern, reliable solution to the quest for information. And, we can free up all of those developer ergs to work on other things.

ENCIRQ is acting as a liberator from the shackles of 20th century computing: operating systems, IDEs, and proprietary API’s. What does this mean…it means the devices we carry will be unified in their approach to giving us what we need, when we need it, and where we need it. It’s time to move to the 21st century and realize traditional client / server models have a purpose, but to be truly free, we need to lose the overhead constraints a server imposes.

Demand your information be fast, reliable, and available.

What’s next?...Microsoft Tech Ed 2006 in Boston, MA. It’s not really a conference as much as an experience. Microsoft always makes you think, so watch for the Tech Ed posts.
t

2006-05-25T22:24:00.000-10:00

Folklore and Software…Pure Inspiration
I first encountered Trolltech about four years ago and have been intrigued since. After you get over the odd name and being reminded of Peer Gynt and the Three Billy Goats Gruff legends, you realize the company has some interesting technology that will go a long way in helping with device software optimization (DSO). You also realize that Trolltech is a company of and for developers – after all, if trolls are exposed to sunlight they turn to stone. And, we all know that real developers prefer to work their magic in the wee hours of the night and avoid those harmful ultra-violet rays at all cost.

So why do I find Trolltech so intriguing? They have a simple product lineup – Qt and Qtopia. Their mission is to unleash the creative power of the developer. In this day and age of turning software development into a structured discipline instead of a creative expression, Trolltech’s mission is commendable. There should be a little creative expression in everything we do, otherwise it is just rote and quite honestly, boring. In the case of Trolltech, the developer is free to create, innovate, and explore.

The Qt product delivers true cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, AIX, etc.) application development and internationalization (I18N). Since we live in a global world with heterogeneous operating systems this is a huge win for global organizations. Trolltech Qt means you can truly develop for any platform in any locale.

Qtopia allows for the customization of the user experience of Linux based devices. This means the customer gets what they expect and demand – an easy to use graphical user interface.

With customers as diverse as Motorola, Skype, Adobe, Google, NASA, IBM, and Samsung, Trolltech proves that, true to their legend, trolls are sometimes nice and can help in navigating the not so nice world of software development.

What’s next?...life is a database.
t

2006-05-24T21:23:00.000-10:00

If Everyone Wrote Clean Code Would You Too?
As I mentioned earlier, Coverity is one of the vendors to watch. They really can make your code cleaner, more reliable, and more secure.

I saw a presentation given by Coverity CTO, Ben Chelf , that unequivocally proved to a room full of highly skilled developers that it is neither simple or pleasant to cover 100% of your code when searching for bugs and the simplest of things are not really as simple as they appear. At the end of the session, developers were clamoring to find out more about what Coverity could do for them. This is what every good demo sets out to accomplish.

Coverity views the software life cycle as “design / code / system test / QA / release. " The Coverity products fit squarely in the “code and system test” portion of the life cycle and focus on quality, security, and concurrency. By conducting 100% code coverage of all possible paths in the source code, Coverity can uncover bugs early in the life cycle – read as - before deployment of the code. This basic truth about detecting bugs earlier in the life cycle has been around for quite some time, yet many development organizations choose to not invest in this practice? Why?

The area of application security is another gold mine for Coverity. Coverity knows that the same security issues that exist in enterprise software applications will make appearances in device software. There is a remarkable bridge here with what Coverity can deliver in terms of application security. Yes, network security is important, but application security represents the last mile and the most opportunity for any would be hackers. One of the largest objections to application security tools has been the high rate of false positives. Coverity promises the false positive rate to be less than 20%. Security vulnerabilities are coming to a device or an application near you, so be prepared.

And, finally, Coverity can handle concurrency issues by detecting errors in multi-threaded programs.

Coverity has a stable of innovative products to help developers eliminate costly bugs and security vulnerabilities. And, Coverity understands that source code is source code regardless of where and what it may be powering. Software bugs show no favoritism and will appear in enterprise software or device software – it is up to the wise developer to eliminate them early and easily.

What’s next?...we live in a global world, shouldn’t your products and applications?
t

2006-05-23T20:09:00.000-10:00

Understanding the Gem
One of the unique vendors I encountered at the Wind River Worldwide User Conference was Kuka Controls. The company, among other offerings, makes two products that can really enhance the experience between device software and a traditional Microsoft Windows environment. The two Kuka products with so much to offer in terms of integration are VxWin and CeWin.

Kuka’s VxWin allows Wind River’s VxWorks device software operating system to run on the same PC as Microsoft Windows. There are certainly benefits in terms of hardware reduction, overall weight decreases of the entire system, and reduced mean time between failure (MTBF). But the benefit around unification is delivered via integration of a device software operating system and the standard as well as ubiquitous Microsoft Windows operating system. This means a device can use Windows for a GUI display or enterprise connection. Some of the scenarios this enables are: completion of the ERP system for manufacturing facilities by connecting to enterprise systems, knowledge workers in the field with task specific devices connecting to enterprise data. VxWin can deliver solutions to bridge the gap between devices and the enterprise.

Kuka’s CeWin delivers the same sort of connectivity as VxWin but the connection to the device operating system comes via Microsoft Windows CE. CeWin allows Windows CE applications to reside in a Windows based environment. This saves on hardware costs but allows for practical business applications to co-exist in an environment that uses and needs the speed and functionality of a device software operating system.

If you believe there is a whole world of connectivity untapped, check out what Kuka can offer with its VxWin and CeWin products. These two products can begin to build the bridge that will deliver integration and unification between devices and traditional applications. This is something customers are demanding. The longer we wait to connect devices and applications the more difficult the process will be. Smart enterprises will deliver complete connectivity. Devices and business applications have a bright future together.

What’s next?...is it easy and cheap to find bugs early, if so, why doesn’t everyone do it?
t

2006-05-22T18:32:00.000-10:00

Look What I Found...
One of the biggest benefits of going to conferences is coming across new and exciting vendors in the industry. While you are attending the conference and caught up in the excitement, it’s thrilling to find a new gem with innovative and creative ideas, products, and offerings. Last week at the Wind River Worldwide User Conference, I found five exciting “newish” companies and one stalwart with a new twist on things.

The five new companies I uncovered last week were:
Coverity
Encirq
Klocwork
Kuka Controls (VxWin)
Trolltech

And the one big surprise came in the form of IBM Rational with its realtime offerings.

There was one unique thing I noticed about each of these vendors. They all have products, services, or offerings around a theme of unification. Unification of devices. Unification of existing applications and device software. Unification of the enterprise to the field. This is exciting. These vendors have a clear vision that the problems faced in developing and delivering software is universal. And, they all have unique solutions that ultimately make the customer (whoever the customer may be) satisfied.

I’ll blog a little more about each of these vendors later this week, so stay tuned.

What’s next?...Doing the right things right the first time makes a big difference in the end.
t

2006-05-18T18:31:00.000-10:00

Changes
The 2006 Wind River Worldwide User Conference concluded today. This conference was edgy. From the ultra-hip urban graphics on everything from signage to hotel room keys to a Phil Gordon hosted poker tournament, Wind River is shaking up a staid and conservative industry.

If there was one clearly identifiable theme at this conference, it was think differently. Wind River is at the heart of the DSO (Device Software Optimization) movement. While the core DSO tenets are standardization, openness of both standards and source, the espousing of best practices and an ecosystem it really means that all of the billions of IP enabled devices will be able to connect securely, reliably, and safely when and where they need to.

Shaking up an industry that has been content with building software for processors in devices is a tall task. Contentment is always a troublesome companion. Technology and the tools we build are capable of allowing constant connectivity. And, society is demanding connectivity. Society as a whole may not use the tech jargon of “connecting through a pervasive, low cost, reliable network to other devices”, but they are thinking it. They are thinking about connected homes where the lighting, sprinklers, media, and security systems are integrated, affordable, and easy to use. They are thinking about cell phones that can heal and replace themselves. They are thinking about eliminating the daily inconveniences of paperwork and envisioning the concept of a linked together personal space and being able to establish their own profile and identity in places such as their office, a hotel, or any checkout queue.

In reality, the DSO movement will be the catalyst for making our lives simpler through technology – it just has to be implemented.

Wind River showed that this vision takes more than a developer to deliver. In fact, it takes an ecosystem consisting of partners and suppliers, and ultimately customers.

Wind River has broken out of the tools for developers only mode and introduced products, solutions, and services for all of the stakeholders in the product life cycle. For the first time, a software vendor in the DSO market has released a product that will enable device software to be managed. This is a significant step forward in the DSO market. This now means device software will be accountable for its behavior. Wind River has products to ensure quality in the device software. And, of course, there are the Wind River developer products. One can argue that this life cycle is still lacking in some areas – of course this is true, there is still a need for security, data management, etc. But, what Wind River has done is take the bold move of delivering products against a vision. By delivering more tools and services to stakeholders in the product life cycle, the value of what the device software engineer is creating moves further up the stack of the organization to managers and executives. Over time, the economy of reuse will be realized in the organization.

Change is good. Looking at problems differently and thinking about the results is what makes change happen. Look around, talk to your customers and you may be surprised by what you find.

This has been a week full of communication and collaboration for an industry that needs to move beyond its original instantiation and on to the next generation. Use the raw materials created by vendors in the DSO market and lose the companion of contentment.

What’s next…requirements are essential – understand the needs before you proceed.
t

2006-05-17T17:17:00.000-10:00

Back to the Future…Almost
Do you recall the big vision of a few years ago…the one that said because of connected appliances in your house along with a low cost, pervasive and reliable network, when an appliance begins to fail, a simple message is sent to the appropriate repair person and before you even know your appliance has a problem a fix or patch has been dispensed.

I thought this concept was brilliant, with the exception of one fatal flaw…household appliances rarely break. Or, let me rephrase this, the unattractive ones that you want to replace but can only justify replacement if they break never fail!

I’ve lived my entire adult life not being able to justify replacing a traditional white appliance with a luxurious, high tech, minimalist design because the random and ugly but perfectly functioning white appliance would never break.

So, while I thought the concept was useful, I realized its practicality was lacking – those white appliances are just too durable – that old Maytag commercial is true. I finally moved into a new house with gleaming state of the art, high tech, stainless steel Jetson – like appliances. And, to tell the truth, I had kind of forgotten about the old promise / vision of self healing appliances. I thought that the promise / vision had been proffered to the public so frequently, that new appliances could probably communicate failure. Well, now that I was in my brand new house with my Jetson – like appliances I would have the opportunity to find out if that promise / vision had ever been delivered.

Within one month of being in my new house, my stainless steel, double decker Fisher & Paykel dishwasher displayed an error code message. It read “ERROR 2 – MOTOR” on both the top and bottom dishwasher – that’s right two of two dishwashers failed. My immediate thought was this promise / vision of self healing appliances is real. I waited to watch the next step. Well, the next step was the dishwasher just stopped. I had no clue what my next course of action should be. In my over 20 years as an adult I never had a white appliance fail. After some research, I called the repair person. Since my dishwasher was under warranty, the repair person had to call a representative. After three weeks of washing dishes by hand, a repair person arrived at my front door. Their mission, inspect the dishwasher to determine the problem. It seemed it was not sufficient that I reported the “ERROR 2 – MOTOR” problem. The repair person promptly pulled the error code up and told me the problem was the motor. Another two weeks went by and the repair person returned with the appropriate parts. After fixing the motor, the repair person commented on the ease of diagnosing the problem by just scrolling through the error code panel. He claimed the repair process was expedited! He has clearly been more than a little out of touch!

What could possibly be next…my Sub-Zero Wolf oven displayed an error code, I phoned the repair person and it’s been over a month, I still have no oven and not even a shadow of a repair person has phoned or stopped by. Maybe those ugly, white, clunky appliances aren’t so bad after all! Or maybe, just maybe the promise / vision of self healing appliances could be fulfilled. We have the technology, why not?

Today, Wind River announced the “Wind River Management Suite”. This technology will make it possible to use a pervasive low cost network to send diagnostic reports back to the originator, regardless of who or where they are. Now, there are no excuses. The devices can communicate! The raw technology materials are ready and waiting. The burden is now with the manufacturers.

What’s next?...exploring critical path technology.
t

2006-05-16T17:58:00.000-10:00

Blinded by Science … and Business
Science makes great things possible. Science and business together provide us with solutions. When you think about the equation of: Needs + Features = Benefits this is what purveyors of technology need to offer to their customers.

Today, at the Wind River Worlwide User Conference I hosted a panel comprised of business and technology visionaries from Motorola, Philips Semiconductors, and Smiths Aerospace. These trailblazers in the DSO space are looking at things differently; far differently than they did 3 years ago. Today, they are concerned with who their customers are, what their customers expect from them, and building out a workable ecosystem of their value chain. In some cases, their competitors may also be their customer. They inhabit a world in 2006 that was not even dreamed of in 2003.

What is certain from the way these business leaders are thinking about DSO makes it clear that devices need to be reliable, secure, and integrated while delivering value to the customer. Devices are not isolated. Devices are not rogue. Device software is not homogeneous. And, it is clear these leaders are looking for complete end to end solutions to develop, run, and manage their projects for all of the participants in their ecosystem.

So while science may blind us, it’s business that delivers the benefit as long as the customer describes their needs. Remember, Needs + Features = Benefits.

What’s next?...is technology accepting our challenges?

t

p.s. my thanks to the panelists: Paul Steinberg of Motorola, Martijn van Dam of Philips Semiconductors, and John Alber of Smiths Aerospace.

2006-05-15T15:06:00.000-10:00

Anticipation…
In my last post, I mentioned the importance of beginning with the end in mind. This fundamental and basic design principle translates into the customer of the product being satisfied. Satisfied with how the technology works, its reliability, and the delivery of expectations. I think of the workaround “solutions” that we all accept and undertake because basic design principles were not followed. And, I think of so many promises that were made and broken regarding technology.

So, as I await the start of the 2nd annual Wind River Worldwide User Conference and the announcements that are sure to coincide – I think we are at an inflection point in the market. That is one of having sufficient tools and technology to deliver products that make a difference. And, the difference can be made if we begin with the end in mind. Ask the basic questions about use and break free of the technology searching for a solution shackle. Let’s identify problems and be creative, thoughtful, and purposeful in our technology solutions.

What’s next…identifying some of the problems that if we begin with the end in mind a real difference can be made.
t

2006-05-11T20:11:00.000-10:00

Welcome to “What’s Next?”, a blog designed to provoke thought, incite debate, and spark dialog among not only technologists, but all who benefit or attempt to benefit from the technology we are so dependent upon.

On the whole, I believe the technology industry has done a superb job in creating the tools to make technology useful. I also believe that we have failed to really capitalize on said tools to make technology, ubiquitous, relevant, and most importantly transparent. We still struggle too much with technology. We need to think differently about what we are doing and really begin to solve all problems with the end in mind. So, just think about what I’ve said. My subsequent posts will make you realize that we can certainly attain far more than we have – after all, it’s just software, it can do anything!

What’s next for me….I will be at the Wind River User Conference in Orlando, FL from May 16 – 18. I’m hoping to be inspired by what I hear and see and to find some answers about “what’s next?”
t