So here we are at IBM Pulse 2009. It's another IT management podcast special this time with John Willis. So what did you think of the day one keynote? It was interesting, you know, the dynamic infrastructure. I mean, in one note, it's IBM doing what they do best, right, is trying to figure out the really big picture, right, and the idea of dynamic infrastructure, of starting to manage all the business assets and treating them as becoming electronic, you know, the brain of everything you're doing. I mean, I think that's really cool, and yet in the Maximo, I mean, that acquisition really made sense. Now, the reality is that, you know, a lot of the stuff they talk about with, you know, the utility organizations, they're not doing the smart, they're already doing that stuff themselves, right? So, and the truth of the matter is that, you know, I think that in a lot of ways it's a lot bigger piece than, you know, they're trying to buy. So it's a pretty big vision is what you're saying. Yeah, and, you know, maybe bigger than they've ever, you know, maybe this one could be their brick wall, you know, because it's one thing to talk about a large vision within IT, but then to try to take a vision that encompasses, you know, everything that we do in our daily life. So have you talked with people afterwards? Like, what are other folks saying? You know, the thing I ask, and I hit a couple of people after it, and it was the cloud, you know, and what you get classically from most of the customers I've talked to is that, yeah, I hear this cloud thing is really something we should be looking at. So, you know, I get the sense that really none of the really big customers that are really focused in on, you know, getting their job done today, which is monitoring, provisioning, you know, getting the data center, getting their IT infrastructure to have some meaning. You know, they're just, the cloud is just this thing that's hovering around there, and, you know, it's like, yeah, I have to learn about it someday, but. Right, and so what do you think about the way IBM talked about, like, cloud computing today? Well, I'm hoping they go a little deeper dive the rest of the week, like today and tomorrow,
2:03because, I mean, they're, you know, they gave no sense in that presentation that they really had a vision on the cloud, or what it really meant, or, I mean, if I go around the room and I ask all these people, what's your plan of cloud, and they're like, yeah, that cloud thing's something. I mean, at the very least, they should have set the stage and given their definition of what they think of cloud. Right, right. Well, there was one sort of worded definition that the stand-up people were giving, right, about virtualization, and I should have been, I think Doug McClure was recording it, so maybe we can figure out the tape on that. Yeah, yeah, no, and that was a standard, like, if it's low cost, then it's immediately available. Right, right. You know, the kind of utility aspect of it, but I think that they kind of brushed over, like, everybody assumes that everybody knows what the cloud is, and to me it sounded like they didn't know what the cloud was, and they're making this assumption that everybody else knows what it is, you know, so. Right. Well, have you seen any sessions that might, there's like a whole cloud track, right? How are those looking? They all start after lunch. There's a, I want to follow that whole track. There's like two or three today, there's even a box this evening, and then there's about four tomorrow, so I'm going to hit all those, and, you know, hopefully I'll have a better explanation of what I think IBM thinks the cloud is. Now, the one thing that I will say is that has some promises that T-SAN, the Tivoli Systems Automation Manager. Right. Which is, you know, sounds like that's being co-developed by some of their customers, and that is going to be this kind of today working on kind of the self-service provisioning of virtualization. But, you know, in a couple of discussions, it sounds like they're really close to just heading on maybe even things like Amazon Web Services and stuff. Oh, yeah, yeah. That would definitely be the excitement right there. So, yeah. So, I don't think we'll hear anything about that, but I'm expecting to hear a lot about the T-SAN today or tomorrow. That seems to be their first, at least Tivoli's first real cloud play. Right. And, again, I think it's more going to be the, you know, how do we do self-service provisioning, immediate provisioning, utility-based provisioning within the on-premise environment.
4:06So, do you have any other first-day impressions? Yeah, I was, you know, glad I didn't pay for the conference. No, I mean, so far, you know, it was painful, but, you know, I mean, now the reality check is that, you know, it was painful to sit through. In fact, the only useful presentation this morning, really, in my opinion, was the Harley-Davidson presentation. Right. I mean, other than that, you know, it's just the, you know, it's just this dog and pony every year. Here's where I make my friends. Now, the dog and pony every year, it's another story, you know. This year, it's dynamic infrastructure. Last year, it was something else. Can't we have something last more than two years? Right, right. If it's a really good idea, it should actually last more than a year. So, the ideas, the ideas stay the same. The names change. That's right, that's right. The guilty. That's right, yeah. I mean, on-demand, hey, you've been hit, you know what I mean? Whatever, yeah. But, yeah, well, why don't we just stick with that one? That was great. Yeah, I always liked on-demand. Yeah, yeah, let's stay with that one, so. In fact, what IBM now calls the cloud is what they used to call on-demand, which was their own message, and had differentiation, and instead, they got something clouded. And, in fact, if anything, that's when we should be circling back to the whole on-demand. Because now we actually have. They don't give a crap whether it's cloud or whatever. And we have the tools to finally deliver on-demand. Absolutely. Yeah, no, and I think that's the point, is that if you really want to tell a story, you're making up a story. Right, you know, you shouldn't have to come every year to a marketing blitz and campaign and music. If it's a good story, just tell me the story. I really don't. I mean, maybe some people like the tap dance and the, you know, the da-da-da-da, and now let's go back to the gin and the field, you know what I mean? I just. A post-news network? Yeah. Yeah, I just want to hear. And I get the sense that other people sitting out there, I mean, it's somewhat entertainment, but they didn't come here to get, you know. Right, well, we'll have to check in with you when the cloud track chapters get told. Yeah, no, I think that, I mean, that's the bottom line, is once I get through the cloud tracks, then, you know, I'll have, you know, a lot to say.
6:06Well, fantastic. Well, we'll see everyone next time. So, John Willis, our man in the clouds.