Do you talk highly of your coworkers from the past? Case study Mike Manos's past

I was catching up with a data center executive over dinner in Atlanta and part of the discussion was around various executives and what I thought of the people vs what he thought.  Who were the true influencers vs. who does the media think are the influencers?  The advantage those who are covered in media have is they talk the loudest get the widest coverage, but that doesn’t mean the true influencers listen to them.  

This particular executive attended one of our data center social event and got to experience what the set of people there were like.  One of the interesting observations is how some of those who the media think are the influencers don’t fit in our social events.  Why?  When you get used to presenting a lot, many times your ego grows, and people will make claims that don’t hold up with the experts.  If these people show up where there are 30 smart people who design and build a lot of data centers it can be an “emperor wears no clothes moment.”  I have an opinion of who these people are and much of what I am doing is organizing a group that gets along and they can hold up to their peers.  Why do this?  My wife asks me all the time what I am doing.  Well it’s fun and hanging out with smart people helps me be smarter and learn more.  What’s the business value?  What is the business value of learning from the best?

Sometimes it is good to point out the good people.  Mike Manos has a post on his data center brothers many of which are on the invite list for our social events.  Here is Mike’s post just cut and pasted so you can see the list.

Mike and I would regularly have chats when he was in Redmond.  Now that he is in Atlanta we are lucky to see each other a couple of times a year, and with his travel even when I am in Atlanta he is not in town.

In

Industry Impact : Brothers from Different Mothers and Beyond…

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My reading material and video watching habits these past two weeks have brought me some incredible joy and happiness. Why?  Because Najam Ahmad of Facebook is finally getting some credit for the amazing work that he has done and been doing in the world of Software Defined Networking.  In my opinion Najam is a Force Majeure in the networking world.   He is passionate.  He is focused. He just gets things done.  Najam and I worked very closely at Microsoft as we built out and managed the company’s global infrastructure. So closely in fact that we were frequently referred to as brothers from different mothers.   Wherever Najam was-I was not far behind, and vice versa. We laughed. We cried.  We fought.  We had alot of fun while delivered some pretty serious stuff.  To find out that he is behind the incredible Open Compute Project advances in Networking is not surprising at all.   Always a forward thinking guy he has never been satisfied with the status quo.    
 
If you have missed any of that coverage you I strongly encourage you to have a read at the links below.   
 


 
 

This got me to thinking about the legacy of the Microsoft program on the Cloud and Infrastructure Industry at large.   Data Center Knowledge had an article covering the impact of some of the Yahoo Alumni a few years ago. Many of those folks are friends of mine and deserve great credit.  In fact, Tom Furlong now works side by side with Najam at Facebook.    The purpose of my thoughts are not to take away from their achievements and impacts on the industry but rather to really highlight the impact of some of the amazing people and alumni from the Microsoft program.  Its a long overdue acknowledgement of the legacy of that program and how it has been a real driving force in large scale infrastructure.   The list of folks below is by no means comprehensive and doesnt talk about the talented people Microsoft maintains in their deep stable that continue to drive the innovative boundaries of our industry.  

 
Christian Belady of Microsoft – Here we go, first person mentioned and I already blow my own rule.   I know Christian is still there at Microsoft but its hard not to mention him as he is the public face of the program today.  He was an innovative thinker before he joined the program at Microsoft and was a driving thought leader and thought provoker while I was there.  While his industry level engagements have been greatly sidelined as he steers the program into the future – he continues to be someone willing to throw everything we know and accept today into the wind to explore new directions.
 
Najam Ahmad of Facbook - You thought  I was done talking about this incredible guy?  Not in the least, few people have solved network infrastructure problems at scale like Najam has.   With his recent work on the OCP front finally coming to the fore, he continues to drive the capabilities of what is possible forward.  I remember long meetings with Network vendors where Najam tried to influence capabilities and features with the box manufacturers within the paradigm of the time, and his work at Facebook is likely to end him up in a position where he is both loved and revilved by the Industry at large.  If that doesn’t say your an industry heavy weight…nothing does.
 
James Hamilton of Amazon - There is no question that James continues to drive deep thinking in our industry. I remain an avid reader of his blog and follower of his talks.    Back in my Microsoft days we would sit  and argue philosophical issues around the approach to our growth, towards compute, towards just about everything.   Those conversations either changed or strengthed my positions as the program evolved.   His work in the industry while at Microsoft and beyond has continued to shape thinking around data centers, power, compute, networking and more.
 
Dan Costello of Google - Dan Costello now works at Google, but his impacts on the Generation 3 and Generation 4 data center approaches and the modular DC industry direction overall  will be felt for a very long time to come whether Google goes that route or not.   Incredibly well balanced in his approach between technology and business his ideas and talks continue to shape infrastructre at scale.  I will spare people the story of how I hired him away from his previous employer but if you ever catch me at a conference, its a pretty funny story. Not to mention the fact that he is the second best break dancer in the Data Center Industry.
 
Nic Bustamonte of Google – Nic is another guy who has had some serious impact on the industry as it relates to innovating the running and operating of large scale facilities.   His focus on the various aspects of the operating environments of large scale data centers, monioring, and internal technology has shifted the industry and really set the infancy for DCIM in motion.   Yes, BMS systems have been around forever, and DCIM is the next interation and blending of that data, but his early work here has continued to influence thinking around the industry.
 
Arne Josefsberg of ServiceNow - Today Arne is the CTO of Service Now, and focusing on infrastructure and management for enterprises to the big players alike and if their overall success is any measure, he continues to impact the industry through results.  He is *THE* guy who had the foresight of building an organiation to adapt to this growing change of building and operating at scale.   He the is the architect of building an amazing team that would eventually change the industry.
 
Joel Stone of Savvis/CenturyLink – Previously the guy who ran global operations for Microsoft, he has continued to drive excellence in Operations at Global Switch and now at Savvis.   An early adopter and implmenter of blending facilities and IT organizations he mastered issues a decade ago that most companies are still struggling with today.
 
Sean Farney of Ubiquity – Truly the first Data center professional who ever had to productize and operationalize data center containers at scale.   Sean has recently taken on the challenge of diversifying data center site selection and placement at Ubquity repurposing old neighorbood retail spaces (Sears, etc) in the industry.   Given the general challenges of finding places with a confluence of large scale power and network, this approach may prove to be quite interesting as markets continue to drive demand.   
 
Chris Brown of Opscode – One of the chief automation architects at my time at Microsoft, he has moved on to become the CTO of Opscode.  Everyone on the planet who is adopting and embracing a DevOps has heard of, and is probably using, Chef.  In fact if you are doing any kind of automation at large scale you are likely using his code.
 
None of these people would be comfortable with the attention but I do feel credit should be given to these amazing individuals who are changing our industry every day.    I am so very proud to have worked the trenches with these people. Life is always better when you are surrounded by those who challenge and support you and in my opinion these folks have taken it to the next level.
 
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Being hyper competitive probably leads to being Insular, Intel admits it is Insular

There are many who pride themselves on being competitive.  So competitive they are regularly saying in their mind and to others how much better they are than the rest.  This superior attitude then leads you to think others are dumb.  They don’t get it.  Your way is better than others.

This could be described by Type A vs. Type B behaviors.

I have many times told the story one of the things I realized being surrounded by many Type A people in major corporations is that one way to look at people who are Type A is they are much more insecure than Type B, and happen to be really good at a few things.  So good at these few things that they these things become a top priority in their work and lives, they then tell others how good they are at these things.  Some may be impressed.  Many times though as time goes on, 5, 10, 15, 20 years, it looks kind of silly.

An example is Intel’s new CEO admitting the company had become Insular.  The world does not revolve around x86 processors.  In the Intel view, they are dominant of the x86 processor and they beat everyone else.  Meanwhile, many others have moved on to smartphones and tablets where the x86 processor is irrelevant. 

“We’d become insular,” Krzanich said. “We’d become focused on what was our best product versus where the market wanted to move.”

...

“I was personally embarrassed that we seemed to have lost our way,” said Bryan, who lives in Oregon and works from Intel's Jones Farm campus in Hillsboro. He acknowledged that Intel had flat-out missed the consumer appeal of the iPad and other tablets, which now run primarily on designs from rival ARM Holdings.

That “put us in a hole,” Bryant said. “We’re paying a price for that right now.”

I can imagine there were dozens if not hundreds of people since the launch of the iPhone and iPad at Intel who were trying to tell others to wake up and embrace the mobile market.  “We are we have the Intel Atom.”  No that is a dumbed down x86.  The market wants a powerful mobile chip.  “We have the Intel Atom v2, then version 3.”  Meanwhile Qualcomm ships a Snapdragon 800.

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One way to view Intel is to think of them is not as a processor company, but as the dominant x86 processor semiconductor manufacturing company.  No one builds x86 processors better than Intel.  Who cares?  Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, Marvell, and many others are running many times faster than Intel building ARM processors to create the mobile experience.  Intel has become Insular to the mobile change.

We all have many more ARM processors in our lives than x86.

This problem is not unique to Intel.  I can name many more dominant companies that show the Insular, Type A I am better than you weak Type B people behavior.  Type A people because they are so competitive they will do anything to get to the top which means the Insular views grow faster.  

One thing I learned is waiting for change is more frustrating than just moving on.  Some who are Insular will show a steady decline, than no different than that hype competitive person is point the blame on other things, and not on themselves that they focused on something that most of us don’t care about.

in·su·lar
ˈins(y)ələr/
adjective
adjective: insular
  1. 1.
    ignorant of or uninterested in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside one's own experience.
    "a stubbornly insular farming people"
    antonyms: broad-minded, tolerant

Having fun at 7x24 Exchange, Getting some of the Thought Leaders to Socialize more

Normally going to a conference is not considered fun.  It may be educational, but rarely fun.  Many of my data center friends, the thought leaders who speak at events or have built and run some of the biggest data centers, like to get together when they can.  It can be a challenge trying to organize when we can get together for an evening and break away from the conference activities.  Hanging in the bar just doesn’t work for discussing something worthwhile.

Many of us are planning on going to 7x24 Exchange, Nov 17-20, 2013 in San Antonio.

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This time we’ll spend an extra day in Texas and head to Austin for beer, BBQ, listen to a band, and socialize at a leisure pace.  I’ve found I get many more insights exchanging ideas this way and many others do too which is why we get together.  Building a social event around another data center event has been working, and this is the first time we’ll spend an additional day in the area. 

Thanks to Kevin,Sonda, Kristen to help pull this off.  There is no way this social could be organized without their help.

And a big thanks to those attending our Austin Social. 

At this time, we are full and are not adding more people to the event.  I am not going to say where we are staying in Austin, where we are going to dinner, or what venue we are going for the band.  Thanks to Kevin who is a native Austin, he has taken care of us.

What I will l say is thanks to another well connected individual, those who golf are going to Fazio Foothills.

The Fazio Foothills course, established in 1986, ranks at the top of all experts’ lists. Golfweek Magazine rates the Foothills #4 among America’s 50 Best Resort Courses. The course is also named the Best Resort Course in Texas and has the distinction of consistently having several holes listed among the State’s Best or Most Beautiful Holes (holes #12, 4, 9, 16, 10, 18) recognized by the Dallas Morning News.

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And here is a little secret is a common interest.  You hang out with people who help you get better.  I was referring to the data center conversations, not the golf game. :-) 

9 year old faced with replacing his iPhone 4s or switch to Android Samsung Galaxy Note, he picks the Note - Why?

Less than a week ago my 9 year old son had his iPhone 4S stolen from the bus he rides.  My son spends 45-60 minutes on the bus going to a school that addresses kids with dyslexia.  He has made great progress over the past 2 1/2 years, and we got him a feature phone for the long bus ride.  The family has upgraded to iPhone 5/5S, so we had a 4S we could hand down.  He has been pumped to use the 4S.  Last year we let him have a 3GS.  But he had his phone stolen from the bus and I wrote this post on the 5 steps you can take to protect your iPhone from being stolen.

My son felt bad his phone was lost/stolen, and he was afraid he would be punished.  We have talked about what he can learn from the experience.  All kids go through that painful first experience of having a valuable item lost or stolen.  Two days after the event, he is asking if he can have the other 4S that I was going use for development work.  I told him to wait.  

I decided to charge up my Samsung Galaxy Note 1, wipe it clean, reset it to factory defaults and see if he wanted to play with it.  He wanted to get the move “Remember the Titans,” as he has been getting more into football playing on a well coached flag football team.  He couldn’t figure out how to spell Remember the Titans, so I brought up the mobile browser, hit the microphone button and told him to say “remember the titans.”  Google recognized it, listed the search results.  Next I showed him the pen feature and how he could write with the stylus.  Then the camera app.  He played for hours and was ready to use the Galaxy Note.

There are those of you who may argue that the iPhone 4S can do all this same stuff, minus the stylus.  

Here are a few of the reasons why I am supportive of him using the Galaxy Note with Android on it.

1.  Using multiple devices is like language skills.  It is good to learn another mobile OS. Over twenty years ago I would tell people who knew I worked at Apple and then at Microsoft what computers should their kids should use at home.  They were frustrated their kids had Macs at school and Windows at home.  I told them that kids don’t care most of the time.  It is good to learn different OSs.  Yet with mobile it is quite rare for people to know how to use iOS and Android.  I have an iPhone 5 and a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 which I carry most of the time.

2.  Google’s integration into Android is different than iOS and it creates a different experience which includes more voice features.

3  Samsung’s use of the stylus in the Note series supports hand writing which is good for those who don’t think everything should be from a keyboard.  My son is 9 and he is regularly practicing his hand writing.

4.  My son will learn there are the same and different applications for Android vs. iOS.  It’s not the end of the world switching, yet for some it could be quite traumatic, but not nearly as traumatic as having your phone stolen by kids who you thought would never do such a thing.

5.  The Galaxy Note is bigger and different so it is not a target the way an iPhone 4/5 is.

6.  I am getting an extra battery, so he can swap out the batteries.  Ever notice how many iPhone users are plugged into the wall at conferences?  no spare battery.

7.  He has 48GB of memory, so plenty of room.  16GB internal with 32 GB microSD.

Kids can easily change their minds.  My daughter at first wanted a Windows phone 1 year ago, then within a week said she wanted an iPhone.  I still have a 4S and a nice friend has offered us a Windows Phone.  For now, my son will be on the path to learn Android.  and, he will hopefully comfortably swap between mobile OSs for the rest of his life.

Even though his phone was stolen, he is moving on learning.  Which is part of the challenge of dyslexia.  You hit obstacles.  Adjust.  Try something different.  Keep on going.

Developing a Winning Strategy, surviving the unknown

The Economist has a book review of Strategy: A History.

Why a strategy is not a plan

Strategies too often fail because more is expected of them than they can deliver

Nov 2nd 2013 |From the print edition

Strategy: A History. By Lawrence Freedman. Oxford University Press USA; 751 pages; $34.95. Buy from Amazon.com

The book is 751 pages, and I doubt I could discipline myself to read it.  Although, what is worthwhile is this nugget.

Over time, the word “strategy” has been drained of meaning by ubiquity and overuse. Sir Lawrence Freedman’s aim in his magisterial new book, “Strategy: A History”, is to find a workable definition of what strategy is and to show how it has evolved and been applied in war, politics and business. Above all, he argues, it is about employing whatever resources are available to achieve the best outcome in situations that are both dynamic and contested: “It is about getting more out of a situation than the starting balance of power would suggest. It is the art of creating power.”

A good lesson is in the closing of the review.

The sobering lesson after 630 pages of wide-ranging erudition and densely packed argument is that although it is usually better to have some kind of strategy than not, unless you are prepared to adapt it as circumstances change it is unlikely to do you much good.

I feel good about the strategy for services I am working on as we have spent over 3 years building on an organizational structure which has proven robust to adapt to changes.  What I guess I wound add is you need to think about how your group/company is organized with its staff as to whether they support an adaptable strategy.