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My computer screen died and it is in for repair. I could switch over to another computer to write or I could take a break. Had a meeting with me, myself, and I and we all agreed taking a break is a good idea.
I’ll hopefully be back blogging on Monday June 30, 2014. My computer should be returned by June 28, 2014 and I may have to re image the system.
Thanks for following this blog.
-Dave Ohara
After spending the last few months intensely discussing a range of technologies in the data center industry something was bothering me. I understood what their technology did, but as I kept asking about performance and other operating issues I wasn’t getting answers I wanted. The simple think I want to know is “how well does this technology work.” If someone uses it what are the issues they will run into. By solving one set of problems, what new problems do they pick up?
Telling me what customers you have as references tells me you have done a good job selling your service, but that doesn’t mean it works well. Sometimes the people who make the purchasing decisions are far removed from the operating issues. Being able to have conversations with operations staff is one of the ways to get to the truth. Even if you have a nice looking report I’ll still be suspicious.
Hearing from someone who uses a technology in operations is one of the most credible sources. As an option push the vendor to answer, “how well does this work?” And when they tell you how it works. Repeat, I know how it works. I want to know how well it works, operates.
A good friend just joined an organization and said he would be at a data center conference that I don’t go to anymore. He said he would try to get me a pass to attend. We chatted yesterday and he said everything looked OK, until he got to an individual in the organization and said I was not on the list as media/analyst who can attend their conference. “Yes, I am blacklisted for a conference.” My friend apologized, I told him no it is OK. Thanks for trying. I know I have probably wrote things that aren’t popular with the conference people who I don’t know and don’t talk to.
I could name the specific conference, but most of you know which one, and at some point I am sure I’ll get on the blacklist for another conference. If you aren’t willing to write what you think, and upset someone are you just a slave to the will of the conference people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech
The Declaration provides for freedom of expression in Article 11, which states that:
"The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law."[5]
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, states that:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."[6]
One of my friends was nice enough to send this comment when I said I was blacklisted from a data center conference.
WOW!!!Congratulations - you know you've made it when you are getting blacklisted from blogging about industry conferences :-)
Disruptive Innovation is assumed to be a game changer.
A disruptive innovation is an innovation that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network (over a few years or decades), displacing an earlier technology. The term is used in business and technology literature to describe innovations that improve a product or service in ways that the market does not expect, typically first by designing for a different set of consumers in a new market and later by lowering prices in the existing market.
This is contrast to Sustaining Innovation where
In contrast to disruptive innovation, a sustaining innovation does not create new markets or value networks but rather only evolves existing ones with bettervalue, allowing the firms within to compete against each other's sustaining improvements.
You could put Sustaining Innovation on one end of the scale and put Disruptive Innovation on the other end and your new service fits somewhere on the line. But, where does it fit? Here is one way to judge where you fit. When you discuss your service do you find some people squirm?
Why is squirm an indicator? Because if you are disrupting things, then some people are going to be uncomfortable with the change. Seems to be innovative, you are going to make more people squirm. Sound crazy? I am thinking how to make more people squirm which means the technology we are developing is more disruptive and creating new markets.
AWS does a great job of promoting how lean it is and continuously drops the price of AWS. Yet, there are companies who find it is lower cost to move out of AWS and run their own cloud. How can that be?
Here is a thought experiment. There are currently over 1,000 job openings in AWS. Amazon overall has over 100,000 employees. Let’s just say that the AWS team is 5,000 employees and they are have 20% job openings. Do you need 5,000 employees to run the AWS services you are using no. Many of those people are developing new services and new customers. So part of your payments are the costs to fund the growth of AWS.
We're hiring!
Since early 2006, Amazon Web Services has provided companies of all sizes with an infrastructure platform in the cloud.
We're looking for talented new members of the AWS team in the following locations:
When you are small this cost is not significant amount and the value of what you get from not having to have infrastructure people is worth it. As you grow and start paying $10k a month, $40K a month, then maybe $75K a month, what % of your payments are now going to fund AWS’s growth?
Take a look again at the 1,000 people AWS is trying to hire. Are those people and features you need? There are 622 job openings just in Seattle.
I think part of the reason why companies choose to move out is the features they need are clear and they just need a handful to run their services.
