VORTEX Digest

What are Juniper's intentions in the enterprise?

05/06/05

At this week's Interop in Las Vegas, the CEO of one tech company told me the conference felt "like the Juniper-Cisco show." It was an apt description.

Vorticians weigh in on 'the next killer app'

04/22/05

Last week I brought up the concept of 'the next killer app' and asked you what that might be. Many of you weighed in with your own thoughts, which are always my pleasure to share.

Season opens with the Sox as champs!

04/14/05

This was spurred by a vendor executive who turned the tables during a recent interview, throwing me a question I basically dread, but that comes up fairly often: What's the next killer app?

Survivor: Las Vegas

04/08/05

If you're attending the NetWorld+Interop conference on Wednesday, May 4, please join me at the special keynote presentation I'm hosting called "Survivor: Las Vegas." I'd love to see you there.

Introducing the VORTEX Digest blog

03/31/05

In a short while, this VORTEX Digest weekly e-mail newsletter will become the VORTEX Digest blog. Through the blog, I'll be able to develop a real-time commentary on key issues and events, as well as share the ideas that come from this community more often.

Vorticians weigh in on Bernie Ebbers' conviction

03/24/05

Thanks to everyone who wrote in response to last week's missive about the downfall of former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers. It's clear the community is finding little solace or joy in the jury's decision.

Goodbye Bernie Ebbers

03/11/05

Bernie Ebbers, the former gym-teacher-turned-telecom-Dr. Frankenstein who breathed life into the patched-together WorldCom and, in the process, became one of the biggest personalities of the Internet frenzy, this week was convicted for the massive fraud that bankrupted the company, put thousands of employees out of work, slammed investors and helped crater the telecom industry.

Tech firms face difficult transitions

03/11/05

It's my view that many of the current strategic - meaning dominant - tech vendors face difficult transitions as they find their place on the value/value-add continuum, and some of these companies may never find a place that affords them the same stature or profitability they enjoy today. These companies, blinded by high margins on the current generation of products or overly comfortable with their existing market share, may cling too long to perceived 'strategic assets' or 'core competencies' that are fleeting in this digital age.

Fiorina had more 'guts' than HP's board, says one Vortician

03/03/05

In my last missive, I shared one reader's thoughts on what she would do if she were the new CEO of HP. Vortician Bill Baker also shared his thoughts, and they turn out to be a perfect introduction to a discussion I want to begin with you, gentle readers.

Vorticians suggest REM songs to describe telco M&As

02/18/05

With a hectic travel schedule this week, I'm going to turn over the dais to readers and get caught up with a few of the many letters I've received of late.

The firing of Fiorina: overdue or premature?

02/10/05

No long-winded exhortations about the ouster of HP CEO Carly Fiorina, clearly the big news item of the week - big enough to make the lead slot on Thursday's New York Times. (How many outgoing CEOs have earned that dubious honor?)

What REM song accurately summarizes the state of the telecom industry?

02/04/05

Last week, I raised concern about SBC's potential acquisition of AT&T, a deal on which SBC subsequently pulled the trigger. If you'll recall, I talked about declines in both the consumer and enterprise markets and the service providers' inability to move up the stack in terms of new, profitable services. In the wake of SBC's actions, the industry is shaking with talk of other maneuvers and mega-deals. Case in point: MCI is being chased around like a kennel-trapped cat with a steak tied to its back.

What would SBC get from buying AT&T?

01/28/05

Will SBC buy AT&T, for a price rumored to be near $16 billion? We'll see. There are plenty of thorny issues on which this potential marriage could get snagged. But, boy, this feels strange. I began reporting on telecom around the time of AT&T's divestiture in 1984 and if you'd predicted this particular combination back then, you'd have been laughed out of the room.

Vorticians weigh in on software patching, other topics

01/21/05

Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after. Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Cassatt's Collage knits everything together into on-demand environment

01/14/05

Coleman's heavily funded Cassatt Corp. is aiming to help companies make better use of their existing Windows/Linux computing and storage infrastructure by providing a layer of software - called Collage - that knits everything together into an on-demand environment.

Why Azul is bullish about network-attached processing systems

01/07/05

In the past couple of months, I've had the pleasure of conversing with two CEOs who are setting out to do nothing less than change the tech world. Their goal is to not only capitalize on the new developments in enterprise IT - changes that we've chronicled in this newsletter and the VORTEX conference - but to knock the current leaders, the big boys, right off their perches.

EMC solidifies its plan to dominate the new data center

12/22/04

Shortly after sending out last week's missive on the new wave of mergers and acquisitions restructuring enterprise IT, two more deals emerged that illustrate how the major companies are hustling to position themselves for the new data center environment.

Merger mania

12/17/04

Some weeks, your intrepid columnist stares at the computer screen, trying to muster strong opinions about weak news. Other weeks, he is overwhelmed by the opportunities that present themselves - a veritable smorgasbord of developments is laid, tantalizing, on the table before him. This week, the feast.

Latest scientific breakthrough from Xerox

12/09/04

Are you ready? Scientists at Xerox have developed a way to copy pages from a bound book - without damaging the spine! Yes, it's true. You'll never have to crush down that encyclopedia (geography to hypothalamus) just to copy a photo of a hippopotamus for your science report.

Plans for low-cost broadband wireless in Philly

12/03/04

Earlier this year, the city of Philadelphia announced plans to build a broadband wireless network that will be available to residents at relatively low rates. The city's CIO, Dianah Neff, says the effort was aimed at dramatically improving availability of high-speed Internet access because 60% of neighborhoods still don't have broadband service.

Four technologies to watch

11/19/04

Along with hearing from the most powerful companies in the enterprise IT market at VORTEX 2004, we also tried to weave in the voices of those who want to change the world. We picked out a cadre of companies that are potential disrupters - organizations that are trying to take advantage of the changes in the IT landscape to build the next great businesses.

FCC decides to supercede state regulation of VoIP service providers

11/11/04

I would be remiss not to note the most important news development of the week - at least in our technology world - and that's the Federal Communications Commission's decision to supercede state regulation of VoIP service providers.

The word 'platform' has been a euphemism for control

11/04/04

Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me. George Orwell, 1984

Red Sox glory

10/29/04

You may recall that I asked folks who attended VORTEX to share their thoughts on the event. Dave Swartz, a CIO from George Washington University and a member of the VORTEX Advisory Board, took me up on that offer and put pen to paper. Here are some of Dave's comments, from why he attended to which speakers and ideas left the deepest impressions.

We're back from VORTEX 2004!

10/15/04

I'm back from VORTEX 2004 where we drank from a fire hose of information and opinion from some of the smartest people in our industry. Where do I begin in trying to capture for you the ideas, insights and controversy that emerged in the 36 hours we convened to discuss the future of enterprise IT?

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