Andrew von Nagy looks into a strange bug (?) in the Broadcom wireless chipset used by the popular Apple iPhone and iPad, along with many other portable devices. This issue threatens to lock out a network for no reason, a serious denial of service situation.

The latest generation of mobile devices, including the Apple iPhone 4S, may be causing performance degradation on your Wi-Fi network, which could be reported as a Denial of Service (DoS) attack by WIPS (wireless intrusion prevention systems).

© Stephen Foskett for Gestalt IT, 2012. | Revolution Wi-Fi: Are Apple iPhones Misbehaving on Wi-Fi
Read more posts categorized as Wireless

Not a bad pitch, as far as it goes. It’s got a nice end-to-end story to it since Cisco will manufacture the desktop, network and servers. And they have setup professional services packages to support VXI for with major virtual desktop infrastructures and repeated the VCE / Acadia concept by offering ‘guaranteed delivery’ for predefined configurations. That certainly helps to handle any objections raised during the sales cycle and ensure that customers can’t reject Cisco’s sales advances without taking the time to consider them.

What is it about IT infrastructure that customers need to feel all safe, supported and positive about making a ‘radical’ decision to buy servers, networking and desktops that are exactly the same as they already use today ? IT Departments have been selecting best of breed products for the last thirty years and building critical infrastructures that work. Today, CIsco and HP want us to trust them to supply the entire solution ‘because they know best’. Hah. It all comes at a nominal fee. Or is that phenomenal fee.

HP WebOS / Palm

We haven’t heard what HP is planning to do with WebOS, but the journalists are telling us that HP has a major announcement for WebOS in January. So here is what I’m anticipating for that announcement:

• announce a tablet that is a thin client for corporate desktops, and possibly including IP telephony integration with HP IP Telephony product.
• support for Microsoft HyperV and VMware with approved configuration (bundled services)
• announce other versions of the tablet for the retail market to sell alongside their printers and PCs for home users. Complete with crapware, of course.
• I don’t believe they will release a phone version of WebOS at this time or possibly ever. HP is focussed on enterprise computing and home computing – that means tablets (and the phone market is too competitive plus working with carriers requires a lot of resources)

Because what Cisco is doing is an incremental and obvious step in extending themselves into new markets, I’m expecting HP to do exactly the same thing. Except HP owns WebOS.

Comparing Cisco Cius and HP Palm tablets

• Cisco Cius is running Android, HP Palm runs their own WebOS.
• HP has a unique selling point and the ability to differentiate their product.
• Cisco can open the platform to Android software developers and form for a better partner ecosystem.

Whither the iPad

The problem with this lovely story is the Apple iPad. No doubt Cisco and HP have been working on their tablet stories for the last two or three years. I also have no doubt that the unexpected success of the iPad selling twenty or thirty million units in the first year has seriously upset their plans. But the thing really bothering them would be rise of the articles in the press about the iPad moving into the enterprise. Cisco and HP think that they own the enterprise, and it’s their right to make money out it. The idea that Apple can crossover a device from the consumer marketplace is going to kink them up. Users do NOT WANT to get a Cisco CIUS or HP Palm tablet, they want an Apple iPad. And Apple has released a set of tools that provide the functionality the IT needs to administer the device. All those restrictions and limitations of the iTunes store are exactly what corporate IT wants to control their iPad devices. If you have spent time researching the Apple Enterprise iPad tools, you’ll be impressed with whats in there for managing a fleet of iPhones and iPads. Nice.

And I’m beginning to think that the iTunes store was always designed with corporate IT in mind but adapted for use in retail. Certainly the features for corporate IT are all in place.

The EtherealMind View

Let me summarise a bunch of thoughts around this topic, in no particular order.

• I’m taking the view that Cisco and HP believe that there is market for corporate tablets and we will see a lot of them this year.
• Cisco has delivered the opening round of their tablet strategy after strutting it at Cisco Live in Las Vegas last year.
• Cisco has announced their desktop strategy in the form of the VXI initiative – effectively a sideways attack on the corporate desktop market that plays to their ‘strengths’ of Servers and Networking.
• Cisco will be promoting a ‘full service’ strategy with ‘validated designs’ for deploying Virtual Desktops to address customers concerns about Cisco not being a desktop computer company.
• Cisco will be using their existing IP Phone / Unified Communications infrastructure as a launchpad for attacking the thin client desktop market so that customers perceive they have a ‘track record’ in desktops. They won’t attempt to compete directly with Dell and IBM for desktop computers for fear of losing them as Networking / Borderless Networks customers by announcing Intel based PC’s.
• The shift to tablets will drive a new emphasis on wireless networking and probably will include interoperability solutions and drive 802.11n and 5Ghz wireless…. at last.
• HP is running behind Cisco as usual. HP’s lawyers stop them from announcing anything before it’s finished so you never know what the roadmap looks like or what developments are occurring. By then, HP looks like grandma when it’s finally arrives – last, a little disheveled, and kind of old news.
• Apple iPads are likely to cramp Cisco and HP because the users would rather have iPads than a Cius or Palm tablet.
• Apple iPads are proven reliable, and have corporate friendly administration.
• Apple’s iOS is proven software and in the fourth or fifth generation. Who wants to trial anything else ?

Although I’m speculating on the HP tablet, I suspect that networking will see a new focus on remote computing, wireless networking and supporting virtual desktops in 2011. Of course, I could cynically note that this drives directly into the marketing maelstrom that is Cloud Computing by supporting edge access to information : I could be cynical like that, couldn’t I ?

References

• Cisco VXI Clients demo – yes those bloody videos, but there aren’t any other images yet.
• Cisco VXI Overview
• Apple Enterprise iPad support
• Apple – iPhone iOS Enterprise Deployment Guide

© Etherealmind for Gestalt IT, 2011. | Cisco Cius versus iPad versus HP WebOS – Year of the Tablets
Read more posts categorized as All, Desktop, Networking

Former HP CEO Mark Hurd created the circumstances of his own demise

Shakespeare said it best in Hamlet: “For ’tis the sport to have the enginer / Hoist with his owne petard.” Thus it is with Mark Hurd, hoisted by his own petard; ousted by his own rules.  Shocked by his abrupt resignation, many speculated that some juicy scandal was hidden underneath.  But the news since Friday has left observers scratching their heads: could the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world really have been brought down for lying about his dinner companions?

Hurd’s downfall is a tragedy in the classical sense, though perhaps not as we would use the word.  He refocused Hewlett Packard after the twin flops of Carly Fiorina and Patricia Dunn, and was reportedly not popular inside the company, ruling with an iron fist.  Eager to avoid further scandal, Hurd is said to have enacted a code of conduct with strict rules for individual accountability.  Where other companies may have doled out wrist slaps for expense report shenanigans, HP found cause to terminate employees.

Thus it was that Hurd was forced to resign after allegedly harassing marketing consultant Jodie Fisher and attempting to whitewash her name from his expense reports.  Other companies and CEOs may have swept such behavior under the rug, but that was not the HP way under Hurd.  He settled the sexual harassment claim and resigned after a board inquiry into his expenses.  Perhaps the only really questionable element of this non-scandal is the cash windfall he pockets on his way out.  Now all that is left is for commentators to make sport and investors to make trouble as the details emerge.

Hurd leaves behind a remarkably strong company.  The internal struggles resulting from the 2002 acquisition of Compaq, itself still digesting Tandem and Digital Equipment Corporation, have been overcome.  It is unclear whether the 2008 acquisition of Electronic Data Systems will disrupt the company’s culture, but it and the 2009 purchase of 3Com push the company in the right direction financially.  These purchases depleted the company’s cash position and forced it to take on debt, but have resulted in revenue growth and, more importantly, set HP up as the heir to IBM’s enterprise IT throne.

Commenting on Hurd’s resignation, HP Board member Marc Andreessen noted correctly that “HP is not about any one person.” The fallout from the scandal is unlikely to dent the company’s market position or disrupt its growth.  It may even be a positive move as the company seeks to emulate Apple as well as IBM and become a multi-market customer-focused technology juggernaut.  The next HP CEO should combine Hurd’s strict leadership with a passionate and creative flair.  Too bad Steve Jobs is already taken!

© Stephen Foskett for Gestalt IT, 2010. | Mark Hurd’s HP Tragedy: Hoisted With His Owne Petard
Read more posts categorized as Exclusive, Featured, Tech, Top Story

Cisco has been attempting to kick start the video market for ten years, especially IPTV (that’s why IP Multicast still exists). The telepresence stuff hasn’t been profitable yet, and videoconferencing market is so dire that Cisco went a bought Tandberg to pump some cash into it.

To date, video looks like a loser. But Cisco is obviously not giving in.

It’s not Innovation

Google produced the hardware design for all the silicon and sent out reference units. Google produced the Android Operating System, seeded it and marketed it. Developed and tested an API. Then made it open source (and it’s based on Linux).

Google has created and promoted a community that will develop for Android so that Cisco can buy cheap developers.

Hardware can be manufactured by existing contract manufacturers so the Cisco doesn’t evan value add to that part.
Cisco does the following:

• Design some plastic to go around the CPU, RAM and battery
• Cisco writes the equivalent of Microsoft Word for Windows that integrates with existing IP Telephony platforms that they already have. This includes APIs for third party developers.

And that’s supposed to be innovation ?

It’s not Shipping

• Cisco says 2011. Recent experiences in manufacturing and delivery problems
• If you can’t deliver one switch that costs quarter of a million dollars, that’s already designed and in production how can I believe this date ?
• The world can change between here and next year.

Did I point out it’s not shipping. And Cisco can change their mind at any time. Be very careful.

It’s not the first

It’s not the first Android tablet announced, and many will be shipping before the end of the year. It’s won’t look so cool when it’s “just another tablet”

Cisco, Apple and Facetime.

I speculate that Cisco and Apple will get together and integrate Facetime into IP Telephony. Facetime is already SIP enabled, and only needs a small amount of work to access a directory service.

And Apple got to use the name “iOS” with Cisco’s permission, what’s the payback ?

Keep Cool People

No really. It’s not exciting. The show isn’t over until the fat lady sings and so far it’s only the first act.

The EtherealMind View

Look, how hard was this to do ? Cisco has invested almost nothing to make this product. They have access to the manufacturing, a team of developers in India and an existing market to sell the product to.

This isn’t innovation. This is ME TOO, I want to follow the market and make computers like HP and IBM.

Mark my words, when you have Servers in the Data Centre and Tablet on the desk, then Desktop PCs are just around the corner.

© Etherealmind for Gestalt IT, 2010. | Cisco Cius – That’s not Innovation, it’s ME TOO.
Read more posts categorized as All, Desktop, Networking

Firstly, like many geeks I must admit to having a very uneasy relationship with Apple and it’s products; I still keep thinking style over substance, overpriced and under performing kit. So why is my laptop of choice a MacBook, why do I own an iPhone and an iPad? Why am I looking forward to June 7th and Steve’s keynote where he’ll certainly announce a new iPhone?

Like it or not, Apple’s stuff just works; my MacBook boots up in the half the time of my Windows Laptop (actually it’s even faster since I put an SSD in it), applications just work; hardware and software work in harmony because they have been designed in concert to work together. I don’t measure TCO for my home kit but the time I save with at least one piece of kit which just works is great. It gives me the time to hack about with Linux, ESX and Windows. And of course, hidden under the covers, there beats the heart of the ultimate geek operating system, Unix!

And then there’s the iPhone and the iPad; Apple have taken control-freakery to extremes; even telling you what languages you can develop in and then controlling the method of distribution and if Steve doesn’t like it, it isn’t coming in. But the app-store is so unbelievably convenient; installation of applications is just a tap away and despite the fact that Steve’s control-freakery is simply wrong, I still happily use the devices and ignore that nagging voice in the back of mind.

Sure Apple’s stuff is more expensive but it just works; it’s a fairly sad indictment that to get stuff that just works, we are willing to pay more but that appears where we are at the moment. Apple have developed the iBlock or various iBlocks; perhaps quietly and subconsciously, various strategists in the Enterprise Industry have been influenced by this seductive idea that things should just work?

People are getting used to the idea that there’s an app for everything and it’s simply a tap away to get. Our users are getting used to this on the iPhones and now their iPads; we can expect that they are going to ask why they first can’t get the same service for their desktops and eventually for their enterprise servers. And they’ll just expect everything to work and work *now*.

But a word of caution and take this from the voice of experience; Apple’s TCO in a heterogeneous environment soars, it is painful to get it to work with anything else. It wants to do everything it’s own way and plays very begrudgingly with others. If you need to do something slightly out of the ordinary, you will struggle to do so.

Apple is great as long as what you do is what Apple wants you to do in the what it wants; which is why it will always struggle in the Enterprise. Let’s hope that the various Enterprise stack vendors learn both the positive lessons from Apple but also take account of the downsides.

© Martin for Gestalt IT, 2010. | iBlock?
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Why does network-attached storage (NAS) have such a poor reputation? This isn’t what the vendors want to be talking about, but some recent product announcements and discussions led to this thought. IT folks as a whole don’t trust NAS for real work, and 20 years of effort from big names like Sun, Microsoft, NetApp, IBM, and the rest hasn’t changed that.

Fear

Back when I used to teach the “Storage 101″ session at Storage Decisions, I was consistently amazed to find little awareness of enterprise NAS systems. People complained about LUNs and Fibre Channel but when I suggested using NFS or SMB their heads almost exploded. “We would never use that for application storage,” they shouted. “File servers are for home directories, not data center stuff!” Clearly, NAS faces an uphill battle.

In a recent piece I wrote, I referred to what I consider to be the prime best practice: Use the right tool for the job. It’s a simple statement, and one that resonates beyond IT and the technology world. But it can be devilishly difficult to see what the right tool is sometimes. Why not use NAS for virtual machine storage? NetApp has been beating that drum for years, yet NAS has a very small footprint in VMware. How about databases on NFS? Exchange over SMB? Block storage has a massive lead over NAS in all of these areas.

Rear this “best practices” piece, Use Process Solutions For Process Problems, Technical Solutions For Technical Ones

IT folks seem downright fearful of file-level storage protocols. Has NFS really burned them that badly over the decades? Can SMB/CIFS really be as bad as they think?

Loathing

I wonder if this terror has more to do with the products people have used than the fundamental concept of file services. Many NAS servers (and clients) are barely functional. Sadly, NFS and SMB are easy to get 80% right, but the 20% corner case interaction takes decades to overcome. My daily storage consulting work exposes me to a myriad of NAS configurations, and few of the multi-platform combinations end well.

Note: Although it has long been known by a variety of names, the Windows NAS protocol is currently called Server Message Block or SMB. Common Internet File System (CIFS) was a failed mid-1990’s attempt by Microsoft to make this protocol standard on the Internet.

Consider the Mac. Apple added an SMB client to OS X in 2001 but, despite many updates, it is far from reliable. Mac users in general loathe connecting to Windows file servers, and business users have located numerous bugs in the handling of Mac-specific file types. It’s bad enough that one company, GroupLogic, created an entire AFP server for Windows just to solve these tricky issues.

This situation often happens in reverse, too. Windows admins are justifiably cautious when deploying non-Windows SMB servers, whether software (Samba, Novell, etc) or system (NetApp, Celerra, BlueArc, etc). As a very early NetApp user, I watched their CIFS/SMB server evolve over a decade and a half into a fairly robust solution, but the early years were downright painful.

Lest you throw rocks at Redmond, know that SMB is not alone with functionality problems. The interoperability of NFS servers and clients is a bit better thanks to open(ish) standards and open source implementations, but its reputation is just as bad. And Apple’s proprietary AFP protocol is downright notorious.

I’ve been there myself many times. I tried to set up a home server based on open source software (Linux, FreeBSD, Samba, Netatalk, etc) but rejected it outright after many frustrating years. Today I use a Mac Mini for file sharing in OS X and serving iTunes music and movies (goodbye, Firefly!) And years of fighting with Samba in enterprise environments taught me two things: It’s possible to get it running well with Windows clients but it’s astonishingly easy to get it wrong.

Enterprise NAS?

We all know that interoperability is devilishly difficult. I don’t envy the NetApp and EMC engineers that have to tweak and tune their server for every possible client, bugs and all. And I am impressed that, after probably millions of man-hours of work, they were able to come up with something stable for a subset of use cases. But this just makes me even more cautious about third-party NAS servers.

I talk to storage vendors all the time, and many of their new products support NFS and SMB. But my internal alarms start going off when I hear about these products. There are two simple reasons for this:

1. As mentioned above, NAS is rare in primary data center applications. It may be common for user files (euphemistically called “unstructured data”) and certain distributed applications (simulation, rendering, etc), but most use cases still call for block SCSI (FC/iSCSI) storage.
2. As further mentioned, getting NAS right takes a massive amount of effort. New and small vendors tend to slap Samba on their (Linux-based) box and call it a day. This is very, very far from being sufficient for enterprise use.

This is why I usually ignore NAS functionality in storage systems except for long-tenured and deep-pocketed vendors. Although the world is turning to “Unified Storage” and multi-protocol support, I’m focusing primarily on block (SCSI) and cloud (REST) capability because the former has proven somewhat easier than NAS to get working and the latter is both simple and “green field” with no legacy concerns.

© Stephen Foskett for Gestalt IT, 2010. | Why Do I Ignore NAS?
Read more posts categorized as Storage

Iomega’s new ix12-300d brings EMC’s SOHO company into the data center

EMC’s Iomega unit today released the 12-drive rack-mount storage product we have all been waiting for. It was never a question of whether Iomega could produce such a beast: The EMC LifeLine software and Iomega hardware were definitely up for it. The question was always if EMC would direct Iomega to fill the gaping hole in their storage lineup between the 4-drive ix4-200r and the entry-business AX4 arrays. The new ix12-300r packs 12 drive bays, scaling from 4 TB all the way to 24 TB, and backs it with quad gigabit iSCSI, redundant power, and everything else the small data center needs.

Stepping Up

The ix12 is a big step up. Although they sold multi-drive RAID systems even before the EMC acquisition, this new device is unlike anything we’ve seen before from Iomega. This slim (2U) chassis is all drives up front, with 12 hot-swap slots full of 3.5″ SATA storage. Under the hood is a dual-core 3 GHz Intel Core2duo E8400 “Wolfdale” CPU, a major horsepower upgrade from the single-core Celeron in the ix4-200r. It also has double the memory (2 GB) compared to that 4-drive product.

If you’re concerned about performance after trying out a desktop ix4-200d, you needn’t worry. The desktop unit has a lowly 1.2 GHz Marvell 6281 and just 512 MB of RAM. While this might be enough for a desktop user, it could never handle the pounding of servers in a shared networked configuration. The ix4-200r, with its 3.2 GHz Intel Celeron D 352 “Cedar Mill“, offered much better performance even though its name was just one letter different. And the ix12’s CPU is three times faster still, though it remains a single-controller system.

More significant changes lurk around the back of the ix12. Dual redundant power supplies, a frequent request in this class, and variable-speed fans, surround four Ethernet ports. Each sports gigabit speed and the set supports Microsoft Windows MPIO, can be aggregated with 802.3ad, or used in VLAN configurations with up to 4 VLAN tags per port. The ix12 speaks just about every language, from NFS and SMB to AFP and iSCSI, and now adds WebDAV and DFS support, too.

A few limitations separate this new ix12 device from its enterprise-grade brothers, however. As noted, a single controller manages all access, so redundancy and parallel processing are limited. Although the ix12 sports 12 drive bays, it only has four SATA channels internally; each bay shares a channel with two others using SATA expanders. Don’t expect to push wire speed over all four Ethernet ports at once, even with all this newfound CPU power.

A Wall of Drives

Base ix12s ship with 4 drives installed, but we were disappointed to learn that additional drives must be purchased in 4-disk packs from Iomega. Although this decision is understandable, the ix series remains a holdout amid growing legions of bring-your-own-drive competitors. At least the company supports mixing and matching drive sizes, including 1 TB and 2 TB at present. We suspect that the unit uses the same reliable 5900 rpm Seagate Barracuda LP drives as the ix4-200d.

Iomega added a few tricks to the LifeLine software to take advantage of a possible 12 drives installed. First up is the addition of dual-parity RAID-6 for improved data protection. The company (and this reviewer) suggest this over RAID-5 once more than 5 drives are combined in one set. Don’t worry, though, because RAID configuration can be changed online and any unused drive can be used regardless of its location in the array. The ix12 also adds drive spindown, saving power when the RAID set isn’t in use.

Like the ix4, any portion of a RAID set can be carved out into an iSCSI LUN for Ethernet-connected hosts. Iomega claims that LUN provisioning times have improved with the added horsepower and software tweaks, and we hope this is true. A maximum of 256 LUNs can be configured in this way, though even 12 drives are unlikely to drive much performance to that many storage users.

Where to Use It?

Although not listed yet, Iomega promises that the ix12 will have a place on the Exchange ESRP, Windows Server and Hyper-V logo list, and VMware Compatibility Guide this month. It’s already the first Iomega product to be “EMC E-Lab Tested”, meaning it is on the EMC Support Matrix; this fact alone speaks volumes of EMC’s expectations for the unit. My own experience shows that Iomega iSCSI is fine for smaller VMware and Hyper-V deployments.

Clearly, the ix12 is a new kind of Iomega array. If the 200d and 200r were a sign that the company wanted to move out of the house, the ix12 is a demonstration that they have graduated. Starting at US $5,000, the ix12 is all business and its resume ought to impress in interviews. It can’t quite boast the scalability and redundancy of established arrays (including its brothers from EMC), but it ought to be an easy acquisition for companies looking for a little more storage here or there.

One is left with questions, though: How big will EMC let Iomega get? If 12 drives are acceptable, what about 24? Is SAS off limits? What about 10 Gigabit Ethernet and even Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) eventually? Can we dream of dual controllers? At some point, the Iomega lineup could even threaten the CLARiiON!

Then there is the competitive landscape. Iomega leapfrogged the 8-drive Data Robotics lineup and landed squarely in competition with the likes of the revitalized Overland Storage but at a much lower price. We also have Netgear, HP, Dell, and Promise, and there is an attractive D-Link box packing 15 drives and 10 GbE. Iomega also has to worry about its own big brother, the Dell/EMC AX4, starting around $12k. It’s a competitive market, and Iomega is in for a fight as even more vendors wake up to the possibilities in this market.

© Stephen Foskett for Gestalt IT, 2010. | Iomega Graduates and Goes to Work with the ix12-300r
Read more posts categorized as Storage

1. the iPad launch by Apple
2. the completion of the Sun takeover by Oracle

But actually they had a very common theme: control.

Let’s take Apple and the iPad and indeed all their products; Apple exert complete control of the hardware that their product runs on; indeed on their mobile devices, they even control the applications that run on their hardware. Some people hate this, they really do not like this controlling element; they go out of their way to do things to break-free of this controlling element.

But for some reason, we stick with Apple’s products; we may hate the company but we love the product; we accept their control grudgingly. We like the fact that we don’t have to waste our precious time making things work together. And at the end of the day, we can get out of the relationship with Apple pretty easily if we really decide we don’t like them.

Now let’s take Oracle and Sun; Larry has looked back at history to the IBM of the 60s and I suspect at his friend Steve and decided I want some of that control.  In fact, Oracle found people who say that are looking forward to Oracle controlling the whole stack? The one throat to choke but I’m willing to be that in big Enterprise computing, no-one really wants this; they don’t want to be locked in to a single vendor. We’ve been there and done that; we have choice, we have competition.

Yes, at one level, life would be a lot easier with a single throat to choke but we know where that leads and we know if we get too much into bed with Oracle, it’s going to be major struggle to get out of the relationship. There’s too much at stake to allow Oracle the same level of control we grudgingly accept from Apple.

© Martin for Gestalt IT, 2010. | Controlling Behaviour
Read more posts categorized as Featured, Tech

Making a list? Who's naughty and who's nice?

Who’s naughty and who’s nice? The average computer geek of the last decade would have placed Microsoft atop the naughty list. The average corporate IT manager’s nice list probably wouldn’t have included EMC and Oracle. Yet Google, Apple, Sun, HP and even IBM don’t have this frequent negativity directed towards them. What’s the difference between naughty and nice when it comes to IT companies? I’ve heard complaints of the greed and arrogance of these companies, though their boosters would point out that it’s easy to envy the success of others.

But things are changing. Microsoft has a bona fide hit on their hands, with Windows 7, Xbox, and Bing re-introducing the company to new customers that don’t harbor old grudges. Inside corporate IT, the halo cast by VMware seems to highlight the re-energized EMC in much the same way. With their competition taking dents in the ongoing battles, Microsoft and EMC just don’t look so bad anymore.

Microsoft: Hearts and Minds

The blooms in many Microsoft competitors’ rose gardens seem to be fading. With “do no evil” Google only finding lucre in the filthy advertising business and the naughtiness of “evil as we wanna be” Apple peaking, Microsoft’s Internet and consumer efforts are starting to seem downright approachable. That’s one way to change your image: Wait for your competitors to catch up and your customers will catch on. The geek parade still loves Google and Apple, but their ambitious drive and massive revenue are distasteful to many.

Every time I write about Apple products, at least one credible geek has to call me out for being a fanboy. The core of their arguments seem to combine scorn for friendly interfaces and pretty hardware, a distaste for Apple’s huge profit margins, and a belief that the faithful wear Apple-tinted glasses when looking at alternatives. I guess Apple users look like a bunch of sissies to the more manly geeks in the audience.

In fact, it’s become something of a badge of pride to stick by Microsoft, even as the UNIX weenies and Apple-heads wander off. They ask “who’s got the most market share in desktops and servers?” Windows Vista’s appetite for hardware and unstable nature might have challenged them, but the quick, slick, solid Windows 7 has reaffirmed their faith. And they know that those who throw stones at Windows Server are living in the past: Ridiculous naming aside, Windows Server 2008 R2 is every bit as great in the data center as Windows 7 is on the desktop.

But there’s more to Microsoft than Windows. Even ardent Microsoft haters have to admit Bing is solid, functional, and even clever. Indeed, Microsoft has taken the search battle right to Google and is working hard to innovate past their rival. Xbox has a solid beachhead in the gaming world, challenging successful and innovative products from Nintendo and Sony. Azure puts a developer-friendly face on the nascent cloud computing market and is anything but a “me-too” to Amazon EC2 and VMware. Barring any major product or PR disasters, Microsoft is well on the way to renovating their sagging corporate image.

EMC: Keeping It Real

EMC is leaving the little storage market behind and doesn't look as big and scary in the larger IT world

What Microsoft is to average computer users, EMC is to enterprise data storage folks. No one denies that they make great products, and have dominated the market for two decades. Although they don’t have the massive share Microsoft has in the desktop OS market, no one comes close to EMC in enterprise storage. They spent the last decade steadily growing to control 25% of the market leaving a wealth of competitors fighting it out far below.

Through all this growth, however, EMC has never been loved by their customers. I’ve known literally dozens of IT shops who refused to buy from EMC, even though the sleazy sales tactics that turned them off (and indeed the sales reps themselves) are reportedly long gone from the company. Like Microsoft, EMC hasn’t softened its approach as much as their competitors have hardened theirs. With the market getting tougher, the tough guy doesn’t look so bad anymore.

I hear that things have improved inside the company, too. All giant corporations have their share of intrigue, politics, and dead weight, and EMC is certainly no exception. But the reports I hear from insiders are positive, and improving all the time. EMC is making some smart moves, giving acquisitions the independence to thrive and building revenue outside their enterprise storage base. Hiring great folks like Scott Lowe, Christopher Kusek, and Ed Saipetch doesn’t hurt, either.

Customers seem to be sensing a change, too. It’s hard to hate VMware, RSA, Legato, and the rest of EMC all at once, though some have grudges against two or three. EMC is successfully diversifying into other areas of information technology. Like Microsoft, EMC’s new customers never learned the old stereotypes. Now that they’re swimming in a much larger pond, EMC looks neither as big or as bad as it once did.

You Will Decide

Are EMC and Microsoft really turning the corner? We will all know in a few years. If the geeks of tomorrow no longer resent their success and hold past mistakes against them, both companies could enter a renaissance not only of credibility but of business success.

Santa Claus image: Public domain from Project Gutenberg

Gorilla image: public domain from Pearson Scott Foresman

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. |
Are Microsoft and EMC beginning a renaissance of geek respect?


This post was categorized as Apple, Computer history, Enterprise storage, Gestalt IT, Personal, Virtual Storage. Each of my categories has its own feed if you’d like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

© Stephen Foskett for Gestalt IT, 2010. | Are Microsoft and EMC beginning a renaissance of geek respect?
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This change should not come as news to anyone who closely watches the company. Georgens was said to be the most-likely successor for Warmenhoven since his hiring in 2005 to lead NetApp’s enterprise storage systems group. He previously led LSI’s Engenio subsidiary and has experience at EMC as well. Analysts speak of Georgens with respect and expect little immediate change in the company’s strategy.

NetApp’s press release went out at 4:05 Eastern time, just after the close of the stock market. First-quarter 2010 financial results were announced at the same time, further diluting the market effects of the transition. The company’s stock was trading down slightly after-hours, but no major market movement is expected as a result of the transition. Warmenhoven will remain with the company for a short time before his expected retirement in 2010.

This executive succession stands in contrast to many companies inside and out of the storage industry. Many have speculated, for example, about who might be picked to replace Joe Tucci at the helm of NetApp rival, EMC, but no clear successor has emerged. No company’s succession plan has drawn more speculation than Apple, which has been tightly tied to the fortunes of CEO Steve Jobs. Both could learn a lesson from this gentle NetApp transition.

© Stephen Foskett for Gestalt IT, 2009. | NetApp Shows How CEO Succession Should Work
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