IBM kicked off its Pulse 2008 show in Orlando this morning with a lengthy keynote session (nearly 3 hours) that detailed at a high level Big Blue’s plans to provide more green software via Tivoli and other brands, enable increased automation through its management software and essentially “industrialize operations.” Software exec Steve Mills and Tivoli head Al Zollar both detailed the reasons why IT needs to be industrialized across operations and business (more on that later).
Following a long reenactment by IBM staff of a customer scenario using the vendor’s software, the real excitment — and not in a good way — kicked off. The drama came when renowned athlete and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong (the real reason attendees endured the long opening remarks) was delivering a keynote address. Amidst Armstrong’s talk of blinding headaches, blurring vision, coughing up blood, and doctors finding 10 to 12 cancerous lesions on his lungs and two on his brain, the crowd starting calling out for a doctor for a man having a seizure. Word quickly spread through the crowd that a young man was unconscious and not breathing. Emergency medical technicians were brought in and following a slight delay the man was carried out on a stretcher. IBM execs report the man is doing fine now, and Armstrong continued his talk, pointing out how the incident reinforced his message that health is important above all else.
On a lighter note, last week I mentioned in this blog that celebrity Liz Smith would be in attendance at IBM Pulse. While IBM’s Liz Smith is undoubtably a celebrity among her peers, friends and family, I was naively referring to the famed New York Post columnist Liz Smith. Now you might be thinking, “Come on, Dubie! Why would Liz Smith be at an IBM show?” Well, to that I say: Why was William Shatner at an IT service management show years ago? Why did Cal Ripken Jr. turn up at a similar show last year? And why was legendary cyclist Lance Armstrong billed with Liz Smith for this morning’s opening remarks? It is definitely a mistake on my part, but not as far-fetched as it may seem!
