Google Chrome - First Take

At heart, I am a technology geek (and a reef aquariums geek).  So, I just had to try the new Google browser, Chrome.

I have had it installed for about 24 hours on both my work laptop and my home PC.  And, though that certainly is not enough time to put it through its paces fully, I have to give it 2 thumbs up and a "so what..."

Others are not so complementary.

Here is what I can tell you so far.  I like the default homepage.  It organizes the recent pages very nicely and shows the recent bookmarks. 

It imports all of my data from Firefox very well.  Nothing was lost.

It does seem to handle Javascript much better.  I do not see the slowdowns like I use to on Firefox when I had a lot of tabs open.

It works with every page I use...so far.  And I have tested it with Google Adwords, LoopFuse, Joomla-based sites, Forums, Blogs, Flash intros, etc.

And now for the "so what".  So far, nothing in this browser has presented anything to me that makes me say, "this is my browser".  I am coming to realize that, at least for today, a browser is just like a window.  Yeah, some are double-paned, some have decorative components, some insulate better than others. 

But, at the end of the day, a window is something you look through, not something you look at.  And this window is just like the rest.

Oooh, you know what?  I just made that up but I really like it.  I think I officially deem that statement Copyright ME.  :)  Feel free to use it, but give me credit if you do.  LOL

Philadelphia Zoning Board REJECTS Unisys Billboards on Two Liberty Place

It is a good day for Philadelphia residents.  The Zoning board voted unanimously to reject 2 16-foot Unisys logos on Two Liberty Place.

Why Unisys thought they were entitled to that to begin with is beyond me.  After all, they were only getting 2 floors of the 58-story building (Wikipedia entry).  A Unisys (NYSE: UIS) spokesperson said that they would go back and re-evaluate their decision to move into the building. 

If I had to guess, there was probably a collective sigh of relief from Unisys management and board members.  Rumor is that there were very few people who wanted to relocate their office to Philly.  And, why would they?  There are plenty of reasons to stay away, from the traffic (ever taken the Schuylkill Expressway?) to the City Wage Tax.

Of course, Unisys is going to have to go somewhere.  They sold their current campus years ago in a cost-cutting measure and their lease will not be renewed.

Microsoft bows under Virtualization Pressure

One can argue that as Microsoft goes, so does the industry.  But, more and more, Microsoft is under pressure to bow to the industry.  Chinks in the armor started to appear with the dawn of the web.  Netscape took the immediate lead.  But, Microsoft countered, as they typically do, and won with IE. 

The typo modus operandi for Microsoft, IMHO, is this.  A new technology emerges and Microsoft is late to market with an inferior product.  They finally wake up and try to build a better mouse trap.  typically, they fail.  So they do the next best thing.  They buy one of the major players.

However, this MO is not working for them lately.  You saw this with open source, specifically Linux.  Microsoft is not able to defeat Linux, so they bought one of the leaders.  Ok, so they didn't buy Novell, but they are certainly beholden to Microsoft now.  And, let's not forget their attempt to kill Linux by throwing millions into SCO.  You will notice, however, that they have recently taken a softer stance on open source and are trying to be better IT citizens.

It is happening again in the world of search engines.  Google is kicking their proverbial ass.  So, they tried to make a superior product (MSN) and are failing.  Next step?  Buy the major competitor to Google:  Yahoo!.  But, that didn't happen.  So, we will see what happens next.

Let's move on to the meat of this post:  Virtualization.  Microsoft was late to the space.  VMware has 87% of the market and continues to innovate.  Meanwhile, Xen (Citrix) is the open source player who could also threaten.  Microsoft tried for a long time to squash it and their licensing and support models gave no room for VMware to be a part of a Microsoft-run data center.  So, first they innovate.  Virtual Server was a lame attempt.  Now, however, this Hyper-V product was a second shot and it may well be the first time in a long time that their product is actually BETTER than the competition.  Time will tell.

But,the news is that Microsoft realizes that Virtualization is here to stay.  To that end, they announced major changes to their licensing and support policies for 41 applications.  Here are the details:

• SUPPORT
  • OLD:  No support for VMs.  If you have a problem, you must be able to duplicate it on a physical server.
  • NEW:  MS will now support 41 applications (SQL Server, Exchange, IIS, etc) in a VM.  VMware is currently not in the program.  But, that will change shortly.\, I imagine.
• LICENSE
  • OLD:  The old policy stated that software was linked to a physical server and could only be moved once every 90 days, a definite challenge in the virtualization world.
  • NEW:  This policy is gone.  Applications can be moved dynamically.

Good news for everyone! 

I am hiring at PERFMAN

I am now ready to start building my marketing team and I am looking for two capable professionals in the Philly area.   You can find the details on LinkedIn:

Marketing Communications Manager

Product Marketing Manager

If you think you have what it takes, let me know.  I am especially looking for folks who have had experience in the enterprise software space and knowledge/experience in the IT operations and virtualization space.

Unisys in fight over building signage

There are times when marketing can go too far.  Unisys has done just that.  But, I wonder if they have an ulterior motive.

Earlier this year, Unisys announced that they were moving their corporate headquarters from Blue Bell, PA to downtown Philly.  Why?  Its a long story that is directly tied to their revenue or lack thereof.  They have had such horrible financial results over the course of many years.  Because of that they sold the campus they currently call home and leased it back from the new owners.  They have continued to shrink from what was once a $20 billion dollar company to around $5 billion and the space is just too big for them.  The thought, I assume, was get out of Blue Bell (because their lease is expiring,) and move downtown to get themselves back in the mix.

They chose one of the new Liberty buildings and they will occupy a couple of floors.  But, they want to put 2 16-foot high lighted signs on the sides of the building.  Are you kidding me?  If they had half of the building, maybe.  But, they only have 2 floors. 

So, the whole thing is now before the zoning board and there is a battle brewing.  Rumor has it that no one wants to go to the new Philly office because of the city wage tax, the additional commute, the cost of traveling downtown, etc.  They are literally struggling to find 150 people to move there.

Maybe they are using this sign issue as a way to get out the move.  Maybe they are hoping that they lose the battle and can get out of the deal.

As an ex-employee of Unisys, I can not believe that Joe McGrath still has a job (or many of the executives for that matter).  What was once a great company is no more.  Take a look at their Income Statement.  Yahoo! has the income statements for the prior three years and each year they have lost millions of dollars.  Yet, McGrath continues to get raises and bonuses while good people are laid off.  And the ones that are still there are being treated so poorly it is unethical.

MMI wants to split the company up.  Its unfortunate that it has gotten to that point, but it is the only option left.  But, first, fire the management team. 

I saw the writing on the wall and got out in 2006.  The company is out-of-business, dead-in-the-water, finished.  They just don't know it yet.

Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Management Summit

Day Two at the Gartner Summit and all systems are go.  The show is much smaller than last year, from what I can tell.  But, the crowd is generally enthusiastic and those that we talked to are very interested in PERFMAN. 

This was the first step in a rebirth for PERFMAN.  To coincide with the show, we re-launched our website with new branding and messaging.  It is hard to imagine a software company being in business for over 20 years with hundreds of customers such as :  Nestle, Lockheed Martin, JB Hunt, Conseco, the IRS and NOT having any recognition in the marketplace.  Well, I was wrong, Gartner knows who we are and our log was on the slide deck!

And that transitions to my next topic.  The show itself was decent for a guy like me who is new to the space.  If you are trying to learn a new market, a Gartner show is fabulous.  But, if you are already up to your neck in the space, then you typically have to wade through the presentations to get your nuggets.  Gartner Summit events in my experience (this one and the Open Source Summit) are very motherhood and apple pie.  They spend most of their time in the ether and rarely dive down below 50,000 feet.

Forrester, on the other hand, will get specific and tactical.  And, personally, I think that leads to better successes for the participants.

Anyway, the show is almost over and then its back home to build the marketing machine.  Take a look at the new site and give me your thoughts.  Its not the final product, but its a start.

Personal Internet Use at Work

A new study on "cyberslacking" was posted in the June issue of CyberPsycology and Behavior Journal (who knew there was such a thing) says that not all personal internet use at work is detrimental and that companies should not have a black and white policy against it. 

I couldn't agree more.  In today's world, the lines between work and personal are just too blurred.  Take me for example.  Currently, I am commuting  almost an hour and a half each way to work.  That means I don't get home until seven and last night 8:30pm.  So, in order to make up for that, I need to get a few things done at the office.  If not, the alternative is that I leave early.  And, how many people don't go home and get online to do personal things and end up doing something work related.  Every night I end up checking website stats, proofing some copy on the new site, reading an article about a competitor or the industry.

Putting in place a policy that states no personal internet use is actually detrimental to the company itself.  Most of us are salaried employees, meaning we get paid no matter how many hours we work.  So, do you think most slack off and put in less hours?  Not a chance.  Most of us put in 50 or more hours in the office and more at home.  So what that I check the bank account for my wife or read an article about Tiger Woods.  That 10 minutes is a sanity break to allow my mind to relax a bit before I dig into the next big project.

Web 2.0 Tool for Competitive Analysis

In my quest to understand the market and do some competitive analysis, I found 2 great new tools that make competitive analysis a breeze.  Both are from the same company.

The first is call Competitious and is their first effort at a web 2.0 competitive analysis.  The second is their GA product call RivalMap.  I started using Competitious and then found RivalMap via their blog after 8 hours of importing data.  Luckily RivalMap has a simple conversion tool. 

RivalMap allows you to add your competitors, their products, etc.  You can also add RSS feeds, a wiki for each and you can build a complex competitive feature comparison.  Finally, it also enables uploading of files and SWOT analysis.  There are multiple versions, based on number of users and file space, but the basic version is free.  The most expensive version is $199/month for 25 users and 30GB of storage.  Above that is an "Enterprise" version.  Not too bad if you ask me.

The Next Chapter...PERFMAN

As I mentioned a few weeks back, I was preparing to depart EnterpriseDB and I outlined the reasons in this blog post.  Word has gotten out and my departure was mentioned along with the new CEO at EnterpriseDB by Matt Aslett and The 451 Group yesterday.

Well, without further ado, I wanted to announce where I have landed...  The company is called PERFMAN.   But, don't go looking for the site yet.  Let me provide you with a bit of an explanation first.

PERFMAN is what I like to call a 20 year-old startup.  Why?  Well, PERFMAN has been in business since 1987.  They have hundreds of customers who are very happy with their product and they have had 100% implementation success.  They are also profitable.  But, they have no sales and marketing organization.  Their business is word of mouth and a couple of trade shows.  So, what makes them a start-up?   The difference is that now the company is focusing on growth and the pieces are being assembled to enable that growth.

What does PERFMAN do?  PERFMAN is a pioneer in the performance and capacity management space.  Their product suite works across multiple platforms form mainframes (z/OS) to Unix (AIX, HP-UX, Solaris) to Windows and Linux and even manages VMware!  It is very robust and powerful.  

So, I have joined the team as the VP of Marketing and will be helping to reshape and expand their presence in the market.  My first job...a new corporate presence and new product positioning.

Go ahead and look at it now (www.perfman.com).  It will look dramatically different in a few weeks.

I am very excited about this opportunity and will be posting a lot more about this space as I blog.  But, for those of you who rely on me for open source and database banter, especially my unrelenting attacks on Oracle and MySQL, have no fear.  I have no intention of stopping that. 

New CEO at EnterpriseDB

As I am sure most of you have heard by now, EnterpriseDB announced their new CEO today. Ed Boyajian, formerly of Red Hat fame, will be taking over the reigns at EnterpriseDB on June 9. You can read the whole story here.

This is great news for EnterpriseDB. Though I was not directly involved in the selection process, I did get a chance to work with Ed briefly before I left the company and I have to say that he is just what the doctor ordered. Andy has done a phenomenal job growing the company from an idea to 300 customers and millions of dollars in sales. Ed will now come in to take the baton from Andy to drive this company to take its rightful place as the leading open source database company.

Andy will be staying on, of course. He will continue to focus his efforts on strategic business development, a role he has had from the beginning.

Congratulations to EnterpriseDB and the team!