Thursday, February 10, 2005

Living the Media Guerilla's Transparency Nightmare In a previous entry, I point to Mike Manuel's Media Guerilla blog where he describes how transparent journalism can reveal some awkward moments. Although my example doesn't involve that moment that many journalists have experienced -- the one where they ask a question and the PR person pipes in like an attorney exclaiming "objection!" -- it involves an equaly awkward moment that gets caught on tape.  One  where the interviewees have no idea what the answer is an obvious question is. I mean, like REALLY obvious. Who's to blame for such an embarrassing moment? Of course, the interviewees should be well-versed in their subject matter before meeting with the press. But the PR folks are the safety net. Their job is to anticipate questions -- especially the obvious ones -- and make sure that their clients are good and ready before taking that interview. Understandably, you can't be prepared for every question. But let's say the client is an organization looking to get press and the main message is that the organization is focused on five critical issues. Shouldn't the client be prepared to discuss each of them in detail? In this "case study" of how transparency can reveal some awkward moments, I'm meeting with Oracle's Tony DiCenzo and Sun's Peter ffoulkes to get introduced to the Enterprise Grid Alliance -- an organization that they were representing at a recent grid event in Boston. I didn't ask for this meeting. I was pitched on it and accepted, given that my primary beat is enterprise computing. During the meeting, which I recorded, ffoulkes and DiCenzo explained to me that the EGA is focused on five primary objectives and even has working groups assigned to each one. The five working groups (and initiatives) are even listed on the organization's Web site. As explained to me, they are: Terminology (Reference Model) Accounting Grid Security Component Provisioning Data Provisioning After being told of the objectives, one by one, I asked for an explanation of each. After all, if I'm going to explain what the EGA does to ZDNet's audience of enterprise technologists, they deserve to have each of its major initiatives explained. Only, there was one problem. When I asked what "data provisioning" was, neither interviewee had the answer. Neither did either of the two PR counselors who were accompanying them. For me, it was as strange moment. It seemed like an obvious question. Perhaps for them, it wasn't. I was told they'd get back to me. Unfortunately, given how frequently I write, I have to get the stories out while they're fresh in my mind. There's really no time to get back to me. And so, the story goes out with text like this: Unfortunately, when it came time to discuss what data provisioning was, neither ffoulkes nor DiCenzo could answer. Want to be a fly on the wall for the awkward moment? You can download the MP3. 9:55:10 PM    comment [] RadioEdit

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

IT Matters Podcast Interview: Novell exec chat on Open Enterprise Server In ZDNet's sixth IT Matters podcast audio interview, Novell director of product marketing Charlie Ungashick stopped by to discuss Open Enterprise Server...(more).. 11:47:38 AM    comment [] RadioEdit

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

ZDNet's experiment in media transparency Serendipitiously, just when big media and grass roots journalists (aka bloggers) are coming under fire for a variety of transgressions in credibility, has the multimedia publish-and subscribe technology of podcasting come to the rescue, enabling journalists to broadcast new "transparency channels" that prove their credibility? In ZDNet's proof-of-concept of media transparency, executive editor David Berlind's experiment includes a column that relies on quotes from a recorded interview and then podcasts the uncensored and unedited recording. In the name of offering a view of the raw materials that journalists might otherwise obscure from public view (what could be considered a form of media transparency), not only was the raw recording podcasted, the column itself contains in-line time-codes in the text that allows readers to fast foward to exact location of the quotes in the audio file (download the MP3). This way, readers can check them to see if the interviewee (in this case, Scott Young, CEO of Userland) was misquoted, taken out of context, or if the interview was directed in a way that forced Young into saying something he might not otherwise volunteer (some journalists are accused of pursuing an agenda). With transparency channels like these, readers might be able to better gauge the credibility of a journalist or media outfit. For a full explanation of the experiment, see Can technology close the credibiity gap? or check out ZDNet's Special Report: Media credibility: Where podcasting meets transparency. 7:13:03 PM    comment [] RadioEdit

Friday, January 14, 2005

Gauging embedded Windows' industrial strength Meet Miles Wade. From now on, when I hear about those serious mission critical systems that are used in those heartland industries that drive the economy, I will be thinking about Mr. Wade. Wade designs hardened systems for the oil exploration industry -- systems that must survive the rigors of a drilling platform in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico equally as well as they must survive the sub-zero temperatures of foribidding climates where other oil reserves exist, without remote intervention. For the most part, these systems are unreachable through the Internet and the personnel in the field who rely on the systems for their personal safety are not savvy enough to fix the systems if something goes wrong. These are systems that can't go down. So far, the systems Wade designs are based on the embedded version of Windows XP, otherwise known as XPe. The applications that the systems run keep close watch on what's going on "in the hole" are are all based on Windows. But even though some expense would be involved in rewriting those applications, as Wade tells ZDNet executive editor David Berlind (download the MP3), why he's being driven to alternatives. Strangely, neither security nor licensing costs, two areas of weakness for Windows' when compared to Linux, rank high in Wade's decision making. Not only does he see some advantages in embedded Linux over XPe, he also feels as though he's on his own when it comes to supporting XPe -- a state of of affairs that wouldn't change if he moved to Linux. Overall, Wade's preference is to stay with XPe. But as he tells David, Microsoft isn't making it easy and he has a message for Microsoft's Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. 4:07:31 AM    comment [] RadioEdit

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

IBM's 500 patents: Gift or gauntlet? On one hand, the 500 patents that IBM has released for unencumbered use by open source software developers is a giant step in the right direction if you ask open source attorney and advocate Larry Rosen. Said Rosen in David Berlind's podcast interview (download the MP3) of him, "IBM is saying we will not assert these patents against you and that's a great relief." On the other hand, some members of the anti-patent movement, particularly those in the European Union like Florian Mueller, the campaign manager of an anti-patent website, are accusing IBM of hypocrisy. But, is there more to IBM's pledge of non-assertion than meets the eye? Could IBM's posession of certain patents actually work to the benefit of the open source community in ways its not imagining? According to the official text of the pledge, there's an exception clause that virtually guarantees revocation of a developer's right to use the patents: "..the commitment not to assert any of these 500 U.S. patents and all counterparts of these patents issued in other countries is irrevocable except that IBM reserves the right to terminate this patent pledge and commitment only with regard to any party who files a lawsuit asserting patents or other intellectual property rights against Open Source Software." According to Rosen, this language -- which he refers to as the legal language of mutually assured destruction -- is a reasonable way of turning the pledge into a double edged sword. During the cold war, according to Larry Rosen, the United States said "we're going to protect South America and Europe and other portions of the world with our nuclear shield. And if you go after us, or any of them, be prepared to have our nuclear weapons strike you. I don't think that's necessarily an ineffective way of dealing with a problem." Rosen characterized the open source community as being somewhat defenseless against ruthless patent infringement claims and said "In terms of intellectual property strategy, the open source community on its own does not have a lot of patents and it is subject to what happens by other companies who do have patents. In this case, IBM is saying two things. First of all, 'Those patents are now available to the open source community without any worry. We won't assert them against you.' Second of all, it's trying to impose this very specific and well defined shield and saying, 'Not only are these 500 patents available to the open source community, but, we may assert these 500 patents against anyone who sues the open source community' and that's a kind of 'you bomb us or our friends, and be prepared to be bombed back.' There's nothing necessarily unethical about it. Countries do it. So should companies. So, who should be thinking twice about suing the members of the open source community? Perhaps Microsoft. Has the eve of a patent nuclear war arrived, or will the cold war hold? Only time, and a handful of patent attorneys, will tell. 5:13:46 PM    comment [] RadioEdit

Monday, January 10, 2005

Who to watch and what to do in 2005 After a quick hit on Intel CEO Craig Barrett's on stage encounters with Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler (download the MP3), David Berlind interviews THINKStrategies founder and managing director Jeff Kaplan to get his insights into utility computing, managed services, outsourcing, and the IT research sectors in 2005. Kaplan gives advice for potentially displaced IT workers and identifies the companies to watch as a growing percentage of IT budgets are allocated to services versus capital expenditures. While Kaplan says that IBM, HP, EMC, Sun and Oracle are moving into position to take advantage of the shift in IT culture, that doesn't mean they're out of the woods just yet. HP for example fumbled its utility strategy in 2004 and has a consumer strategy that Kaplan says is a distraction as long as the company isn't broken up. More management changes could be on the way there while, at Computer Associates and Microsoft, adjustment away from annuity-based revenue streams are imperative for those companies to survive the new IT order. For IT workers that have been or could be displaced, it's time to stop commiserating says Kaplan, and instead, start forming a plan of attack which includes picking up the necessary skills to stay competitive in a global economy. Consolidation is far from over and Kaplan predicts a mop-up of many of the services sector's smaller players. Finally, on the heels of Gartner acquiring the META Group, Kaplan talks about the shrinking demand for IT research and the balance that large research outfits must strike betweeen servicing vendors and enterprise buyers without creating brand-threatening conflicts of interest. 2:25:32 PM    comment [] RadioEdit

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Interview re: today's Microsoft's security announcements with Gytis Barzdukas Today, Microsoft announced the consolidation of its anti-virus utilities into one downloadable solution that will get periodically updated as well as the beta version of an anti-spyware product based on the company's completed acquisition of Giant in December 2004. In ZDNet's first ever podcast, Gytis Barzdukas, a director of product management in Microsoft's Security Business and Technology Unit, explains the announcements to ZDNet executive editor David Berlind and discusses how Microsoft gingerly toes the line of including improved security in Windows without being too threatening to the vendors (ie: anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, anti-phishing) that thrive on the constant attacks faced by users of the desktop operating system. 5:26:19 PM    comment [] RadioEdit