Total Immersion

For anyone who might be interested (and for those who aren’t ) I’m running a half marathon on October 12th. Its not my first - I did that a couple of months ago, baulking at the idea of sponsorship in case I didn’t finish. Which I did. So, this one is the Royal Parks Run in London. I’ve decided to run for UNICEF, what a fine bunch of people, and I quote, “working for children and their rights.” I would very much appreciate any sponsorship, as of course would they - I want to raise a thousand quid so the way I see it, that’s only 200 kindly souls donating a fiver. How hard can that be?

So, if you do feel like splashing out five pounds (but of course , don’t feel limited by that!), you can donate here. Thanks for all your support, and for reading!

Thanks to David’s connection with Euan Semple (I was idly following Twitter links), I stumbled across this post which led me here. Priceless comment fourth in the list, thanks for pointing it out David!

I was fortunate enough to attend the IT Security Analyst Forum a few weeks ago, where I was one of many analysts meeting with a number of security vendors. A a kindly gentleman was there recording the proceedings, and I just came across the videoed results - isn’t the Web marvelous?

Anyway, if you’d like to know more about Freeform Dynamics, how we operate or my views on IT security, please do watch the below!

Part 1: About Freeform and general security views

Part 2: what trends are you noticing?

Part 3: has the analyst forum been a success?

P.S. Yes that is my bald pate in the first frame…

… was how the Oxford Dictionary of Computing defined a system administrator. Or at least it did in the second-hand copy of the first edition, I used to own in my university days, 20 years ago (ouch). While I loved the self-effacing humour, only today did I discover it was also a hat-tip to Dr Johnson, whose dictionary, first published in 1755, defined a lexicographer as:

“A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and signification of words.”

In these hyperbolic days of IT, perhaps it is right to wonder whether one day the role of the administrator can once more be distilled to that of a lexicographer, be it no less useful or rewarding a position nonetheless.

I was asked today whether I could pop into town for a half hour briefing next week, and I said I’d prefer phone in the first instance. When asked why, I gave the following example of my London routine. I thought it would be useful to post it here for future reference:

- leave home, 07.45
- Get train, 08.08
- Arrive Paddington, 09.25 (on a good run)
- Get tube, 09.35
- Walk to destination, arrive 10.15
- Briefing finishes, 11.15
- Walk to tube, 11.30
- Tube to Paddington, arrive 11.50
- Next Train, 12.30
- arrive at station, 1.50 (on a good run)
- get home, 2.15

So that’s 6 hours 30 minutes for a 1-hour briefing.

Don’t get me wrong, I love meeting people face to face, and it would indeed be preferable in many cases. With phone briefings I can quite literally fit 5 times as many in (allowing for coffee breaks), which is also time well spent!

It’s an interesting experience, starting a new blog - like any investment, one has to take the long view. As a stake in the ground, Totalimmersion currently has up to about 40 readers a day - it’ll be interesting to review this in a year. Meanwhile, its being syndicated to my chums at IT-Analysis.com, whose hit rate is much better. But watch this space, the only way currently is up!

By total coincidence, Tony and I both posted a green review of Storage Expo yesterday evening. Thinking about it, it was probably watching Tony checking a certain vendor’s credentials that at least partially prompted my own post - so perhaps its not that big a surprise… and not the first time yesterday I accidentally trod on Tony’s broken toes, sorry mate 

Still, topical, topical!

Random thoughts…

- walking in was like the scene at the end of Trading Places, the noise, the hubbub. “Lots of people!” I remarked to Bob Plumridge. “Yes, but they’re all vendors!” he replied. True, but different later.

- First session went pretty well, good level of questions and feedback

- Most of day spent taking repeated bites of the Expo apple. Too many people I know to list. Symantec, Riverbed, Pillar, EMC, LSI, Emulex, Plasmon, Quest, 3Par, Copan, IBM. Lots of conversations, all good. Friendships remade, relationships rebuilt, business redone. Sorted.

- Podcast with Reed on future of storage. It has one. Cool.

- Quick review of second pres with Xerox - then more of the same

- Second presentation coincident with football kick-off England vs Russia. Disproportionate number of females in audience, which outnumber males - realise football is answer to rebalancing sexes in IT. Pres goes OK despite diminished numbers.

- Leave conf too late, arrive at pub after everyone has left, story of my life.

And tomorrow is another day.

I know those stalwarts at Cisco have been doing this for yonks, but today saw my first videoconference briefing, via WebEx. A few issues with setting up the camera at my end, and quite jerky but it did make it more of a participatory experience. Thanks Lisbet for organising and Chris for the call!

Sometimes, this job is, well, just a job and sometimes it’s a damn good wheeze, such as when I was invited to come along to the Silicon.com agenda setters panel last month. My approach was quite deliberately to try to bring to the party people who wouldn’t necessarily be top o’ the list but were still ground breaking in some way - hence for example Rob Pardo of World of Warcraft fame as well as all the usual suspects, Jobs, Schmidt, Benioff and the like.

The final list is here, with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg at the top. We don’t see Facebook as a major business tool, but I have to agree with another agenda setter, JP Rangaswami, that it’s rattling a few cages in corporate land. That doesn’t mean traditional IT business leaders have been pushed out - with John Chambers, Diane Greene and Mark Hurd rubbing shoulders with the new media darlings and offshore tycoons.

Fascinating to me was how much there is of the IT industry about which I have very little understanding. We talked about the inner workings of venture capital for example, and the influence of Asian manufacturing. Great, mind expanding stuff.

I can’t wait ’til next year - if they’ll have me of course!