It’s time for Interop to go back to the future
In the movie “Back to the Future,” Dr. Emmit Brown built a Delorean-based time machine that when the “flux capacitor” was powered with 1.21 gigawatts (pronounced jig-a-watts in the movie), it would allow someone to go back in time (or ahead). I just got back from this year’s Interop conference and it started me thinking about the past. So let’s set the old time machine to the spring of 1995 and we’ll attend an Interop conference. Remember those days? Read more
Communities can be the driving 'Force' for sustainable customer value
In the original Star Wars movie, Obi Wan, aka “Ben,” Kenobi described the force as something that surrounds us and binds us all together. Those who believe in the Force can use its power to do things that some might consider impossible. The key to its power is belief in it. Read more
The exception is the norm in today's IT environments
I’ve been doing a series of interviews with IT executives over the past few months about their technology plans for the back half of 2012. I’ve had a number of discussions on a variety of topic areas but there has been a big theme that I’ve noticed. It seems one of the biggest challenges with IT is dealing with so many issues that were once exceptions to IT, or even not allowed, that have become part of the new norm for IT. Read more
Arista sings 'Hey, you, get onto this cloud…' with it's SDN solution
In theory, software defined networks (SDN) are this generation’s next “big thing” in networking. The promise of SDNs is to decouple the tight linkage between the physical infrastructure and the software running the network. This can help cloud providers manage their networks better, allow for true multi-tenant networking and aid in the movement of virtual machines. It’s so hot right now that almost every mainstream network vendor has an SDN strategy, as has given rise to many startups. Read more
Infoblox comes out of the 'BLOX' running
The long-awaited IPO for DDI (DNS, DHCP and IP Address Management) finally happened and, like Splunk the day before it, BLOX rocked. It opened at $16 and got as high as $23 and change during the trading day, settling in nicely at just under $21 per share.
It’s nice to see tech IPOs back and doing well. A few people have asked me if I thought this IPO was sustainable, and my answer each time was an emphatic “YES,” for the following reasons. Read more
Let's Not Count Microsoft's Windows Phone Chickens Before They've Hatched
There’s a song called “Pass the Dutchie” from the early 80’s by a band long gone called the Musical Youth that starts “this generation rules the nation.” It’s not that great a song, but I heard it today while driving home and for some reason I started thinking about how “This Generation” of youths has ruled the mobile phone nation.
Apple’s rise from the ashes to the highest market cap company of all time was largely due to the iPhone, and Google’s mobile play, of course, has been as successful as Android has been popular. Read more
Cisco needs to push its channel to adapt to the 'New IT'
As I mentioned in my last posting, Cisco held its annual Partner Summit reseller conference in San Diego last week. While the overall tone of the conference was positive, there was one issue that I felt was worth bringing up, as it could have some long-term impact on Cisco and its channel.
RELATED: Pros and cons of Cisco's current relationship with its partners. Read more
Changes in the Air at Cisco Partner Summit 2012
Last week, under the sunny skies of San Diego, Cisco held its annual reseller Partner Summit. The setting was fitting as the show itself indicated that there are sunnier skies ahead for Cisco and its Partners. Read more
For Brocade, the time is right for VSPEX
Last week EMC launched its eagerly awaited VSPEX architecture. VSPEX is a turnkey reference architecture made up of best-of-breed partners to deliver an end-to-end cloud solution. The solution, while led by EMC, also involved collaboration from such partners as Brocade, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft and VMware. VSPEX is another option for customers who do not want to build their own from scratch nor want a converged solution like VCE. It’s a proven solution that’s been validated by EMC. Read more
Cloud-based disaster recovery is dependent on a network fabric
According to much of what I hear and read, we’re on the precipice of everything moving to the cloud. Why should an IT or business leader care? Lower cost – check, got that, better mobility – got that too. Anything else? There is another element of cloud though that tends to fly under the radar and that is the benefit to a company’s disaster recovery plan. Read more
A Different Type of WAN Optimization is Needed from the Branch to the Cloud
Cloud has obviously become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, topics of conversation in the tech industry today. I’ve done a number of presentations, panels and roundtables on the subject and the big topic of conversation is always security and deployment strategy, which makes sense based on where we are in the evolution of cloud. However, I do think one of the often overlooked topics of investigation is the impact on the network and how to optimize user experience. Read more
What do Infoblox and March Madness Have in Common? One and Done
March Madness wrapped up this week with Kentucky winning the NCAA tournament and coach John Calipari finally getting to cut down the net and get his ring. Of late, the term “One and Done” has become synonymous with Coach Calipari since so many of his players come to play for a single year and then make the jump to the NBA. Read more
Cloud Value Must Extend Past Cost Savings
Yesterday I took some time out of my Enterprise Connect schedule and headed to New York to participate in a cloud event held by Navisite, a leading provider of cloud services. The theme of the event was “Cloud: Beyond ROI,” which I thought was a good topic of conversation for anyone considering the cloud. Read more
IT Operations Needs to Evolve to Support Cloud
To say cloud computing is a big trend today is an understatement. There’s not a company I talk to, small or large, that doesn’t have cloud on the mind. While much of the focus on cloud has been on lowering the cost of computing, some organizations I have interviewed recently have been focusing on understanding what cloud enables that traditional computing does not. Read more
Acme Packet Rolls Out Microsoft Lync Middleware
Enterprise Connect 2012 kicked off in Orlando on Monday the 26th. One of the first press releases I saw cross the wire was Acme Packet’s announcement of its session management solution for Microsoft Lync. The solution from Acme enables full interoperability between Lync and legacy IP PBXs through session management. The solution allows organizations that deploy Lync to simplify the management tasks associated with running a multi-vendor solution.
Some of the features in this product release are: Read more
Cisco Acquires NDS, Beefs up its Video Portfolio
On Thursday March 15th, Cisco announced its intent to acquire privately held, U.K.-based NDS for $5 billion in cash - the company’s largest acquisition since it paid $3.4 billion for Tandberg back in early 2010.
Experience Management is Key to Being a 'BYOD' Hero
Being in my mid 40s automatically makes me a fan of 80s music. There was a Bonnie Tyler song that had lyrics that went “Where have all the good men gone and where are all the Gods? Where’s the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?” Read more
Cisco Rolls out its Next Generation Fabric Computing
Cisco as a server vendor! Ha! Read more
An 'Extreme' Solution to Bring-Your-Own-Device Problems
Consumerization and BYOD are all the rage today. It’s tough to discuss anything with an IT leader without this topic rearing its ugly head. Read more
AMD’s Gain will be Intel’s Pain
AMD’s $334 million purchase of microserver vendor SeaMicro threatens to disrupt the status quo in the server market. Look for AMD to be aggressive with microservers as it tries to upset Intel’s near-monopolistic apple cart. Read more
- About Network Intelligence
Zeus Kerravala is the founder and principal analyst with ZK Research. Kerravala provides a mix of tactical advice to help his clients in the current business climate and long term strategic advice. Kerravala provides research and advice to the following constituents: End user IT and network managers, vendors of IT hardware, software and services and the financial community looking to invest in the companies that he covers.
Kerravala does research through a mix of end user and channel interviews, surveys of IT buyers, investor interviews as well as briefings from the IT vendor community. This gives Kerravala a 360 degree view of the technologies he covers from buyers of technology, investors, resellers and manufacturers.
Kerravala uses the traditional on line and email distribution channel for the research but heavily augments opinion and insight through social media including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Blogs. Kerravala is also heavily quoted in business press and the technology press and is a regular speaker at events such as Interop and Enterprise Connect.
Kerravala remains associated with Yankee Group through the company's affiliate program.
Prior to ZK Research, Zeus Kerravala spent 10 years as an analyst at Yankee Group. He joined Yankee Group in March of 2001 as a Director and left Yankee Group as a Senior Vice President and Distinguished Research Fellow, the firms most senior research analyst. Before Yankee Group, Kerravala had a number of technical roles including a senior technical position at Greenwich Technology Partners (GTP) where he worked with Johna Til Johnson, the founder of Nemertes Research. Prior to GTP, Kerravala had numerous internal IT positions including VP of IT and Deputy CIO of Ferris, Baker Watts and Senior Project Manager at Alex. Brown and Sons, Incorporated.
Kerravala holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.
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