Guarding Against Extremes

I'm reading "The Wizard and the Prophet" and see them as the extreme viewpoints of an answer; one campaigning for one side of the solution, the other one advocating the opposite; bouncing us back and forth between extremes, getting no closer to a workable answer.

Digital Disruption in Service Providers

Every industry can be digitally disrupted - even those that claim to provide the very digital transformation enterprises so desperately seek.

The true benefit of software-defined networking is not separation of control plane and data plane - that doesn't work at scale. It's not easier centralized control and the end of command line with more fancy acronyms like YANG, XML-RPC and REST APIs. The "revolutionary" idea is the separation of the network layer into physical connectivity and logical connectivity. I quote "revolutionary" as tongue-in-cheek - the OSI model always had a separate physical layer and network layer, but in the long move from circuits to fully-managed, bundled MPLS, we seem to have forgotten that.

Counterproductive Productivity

After a discussion with a co-worker today, I got to thinking about the artificial walls we're building as we outsource while technology continues to get more integrated. It seems counterproductive.

Programmability and "software-defined" are the latest buzzwords, with vendors providing Application Program Interfaces (API) for integration. But integration points expose only the bare minimum for stable operations. This cause is two-fold: to protect their internal systems as well as limit the non-standard use cases and allow the provider economy of scale. The effect can dramatically limit the options for creative, innovative interoperability.

Can a VoIP vendor offer third-party instant messaging integration; "yes". Will a provider reselling that vendor's system as a service permit third-party instant messaging integration? Maybe not, if their model doesn't include that third-party or they can't measure and thus charge per IM. And that limits what the consumer can due with the service.

I always say the technology is not the limiting factor; we can do anything with technology. Especially someone like me - tenacious, wide skill set, master of none, but I have enough tools in the toolbox to figure something out. If I can't find a hammer I can use a crowbar creatively to pound something into place.

But with a managed service where the vendor is providing the toolbox, maybe all they offer you is a hammer, and then you know, "everything starts to look like a nail."

Out with Outsourcing

Maybe you moved to outsourcing so long ago, you didn’t have time to learn the lessons of the early 2000's – and you surly couldn’t rely on your managed service provider to “innovate” on your behalf at that time (no one was using the “innovate” word back then). In the early 2000’s we had this thing called “convergence” – now we call it “unified communications” because that’s a sexier marketing term. Those of us who were doing the innovating were moving voice and video on to the data network to replace aging and dollar-sucking analog phone systems and private line ISDN video systems. (Don't look now, but it’s happening again with storage in the data center. We call it “storage convergence”, but it will probably come to be known as “unified fabric”, what with the success of “unified” in “unified communications”; “unified” is now a marketing darling.)

We also went from Nortel wide area routers, a frame relay network, a Lucent PBX and Cisco switches to an all Cisco solution for LAN, WAN and voice communications over an MPLS core. Along the way, we also bought the Microsoft story and acquired more messaging and collaboration products from them and tied it all together with some new protocols and enterprise wide quality of service to handle the real-time traffic.

This also forced an organizational shift from a tower model supporting the silos of legacy voice, LAN and WAN to cross functional teams supporting the converged infrastructure, each person specializing in routing and switching or servers and storage or IP data communications (voice and video included) all with an underlying knowledge and awareness of security and network management. We consolidated the support organization, developed talent and reduced headcount favoring fewer qualified generalists over many siloed technology specialists. We became more efficient, more automated, smaller and more agile, more strategically focused and highly competent in multiple disciplines. Where do we go from here?

Logically, to save more money, you get rid of the IT team in favor of outsourcing. I won’t turn this into a “they took our jobs” rant as I’ve always worked for a provider of consulting services (read that as “outsourcer”, “managed service provider” or however else fits best). No, instead, I’ll take objection with the way in which most organizations choose to outsource. Have you learned nothing? I guess I can’t blame you, you let the people with the all the experience go. “When experience is not retained […] infancy is perpetual.” I’ll break it down for you.

For the past decade, we’ve just gone through the exercise of “unifying” the network and breaking down the tower support model to streamline IT and processes, to integrate multi-discipline teams to support the converged network. Why does your outsourcing agreement look like your 1995 IT office: multiple vendors, each providing one or more (but not all) “towers” of LAN, WAN, IPT, data center, mobility / wireless and security?

I've seen this done in different combinations, but always a combination that involved more than one partner. Remember how hard it was to change culture in your own organization – to get the network folks to talk with the voice folks, to get the server guys to talk with the storage experts? It was a paradigm shift. Some feared (rightly so) that their jobs would be eliminated. Some didn’t believe in the vision of a unified network and melded support organization. What makes you think separate vendors outside your organization are going to cooperate on your behalf better than your own team?

I’m aware of the perils of sole sourcing, but why is it acceptable to sole source my network for LAN, WAN, data center and telephony from Cisco but not the management of that infrastructure to a single partner? In fact, I see the benefits of increased dollar spend with a single vendor providing me better leverage to command greater discounts. I see the benefit of a single support contract for all infrastructure and a smaller bill for that service as on-site spares for a single vendor’s equipment is more cost-effective for large volume items.

We can no longer draw lines between LAN and WAN, internal and external, voice / video and data networks. We didn’t support them that way in-house, why does it make sense to have them supported by multiple managed service providers? As the lines between networks and the services they provide start to blur and we move to an outsourced model, we need to think more strategically about how we partner in this environment. Want a true end-to-end service level agreement? It may be hard with a single vendor - think it will be easier with multiple partners?

When we supported our own WAN in-house, I didn't deploy Cisco WAAS for the very specific task of WAN acceleration. For that specialization, I chose Riverbed, easily the market leader in that specific discipline of wide area network acceleration. That’s a targeted decision to realize a huge benefit on a critical asset. To that end, I don’t need to foster that holistic solution by splitting my network on arbitrary lines and selecting different partners to manage each piece. Rather, I ensure my chosen outsourcing provider maintains the key strategic partners to make their services best of breed. This shifts the management burden of the partner ecosystem to the provider.

I also make sure they go beyond the standard management, lights-on, day-to-day operations teams and support desk to provide a facility for innovation. We establish an internal team and a team of technical experts from the outsourcing partner (that may change based on technology requirements for current initiatives) to incorporate next generation technology as pilot projects that have a clear path to production roll-out and absorption into the existing management contract.

Sure this isn’t a “one size fits all” approach just as trying to find a customized managed service is something of a fool’s errand. But use this as an example. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Running Makes Me Bipolar

I'm starting to train again for the upcoming year. I have S-RTB in May and I'm thinking about a 50-miler around the same time. There's of course RTB in September and the RI 6 Hour in November. Better to get in running shape now after taking December mostly off from running and strict diet what with all the Christmas cookies and beer.

I felt pretty good on my first few short runs but inevitably I had a late night run (as time would allow with the little one) and it was bitter cold (New England in January - go figure). I started thinking - "why am I doing this again?"

From past experience, this will fade and I'll start feeling really amped up about running again as I get deep into the training. I'll be a running machine that is until I have yet another 4-hour plus run on a cold Saturday morning through the woods. It will no doubt be raining (as it will be in the April timeframe) and I'll want nothing more than to just run the race I'm training for and finish this and stop running for good.

Then I'll start tapering - running less as the final weeks before the race approach. I'll have all this extra energy and I'll want to run more (weird since I just swore it off a week earlier). This is kind of like the old college pledge - "I'll never drink again!"

During the race, I'll usually feel good but as the end approaches I'll motivate myself by thinking about how good it will feel when it's over and how much time off I'm going to take.

I'll be running the next day.

Middle East - Middle America

I don't know much of the issues and situation in the Middle East, but it has been distilled in my mind from the media as a series of religious factions that cannot 'get along' due to their differences in theology/ideology. The Jews and Palestinians don't get along. The Shi'ites Arabs, Sunnis Arabs and Sunni Kurds don't get along. Some want their own states/countries based on religion. Some want their own states/countries based on ethnicity.

It all seems so confusing when looking at a country like ours - America - where we're not divided over such issues of religion and social politics. We have civil elections and establish majority consensus on leadership and direction of this great country. With the midterm elections just days away, I for one can't wait for the outcome and am excited to follow our newly elected politicians regardless of party to the promise of a better America!

</sarcasm:off !-- If you're not sure where it began, rest assured, this is where it ends>

Contingency Planning

I remember seeing the 1-20-2009 bumper stickers when people were pining over George W. Bush leaving the White House. Now, there are no shortage of creative 1-20-2013 emblems calling for the 1-term departure of Barrack Obama. However, we're fogetting something...

We have a contingency plan.

Politics Today

Democrat Talking Points:


Republican Talking Points:

Brainwash ==> COMPLETE!

In a previous post - Google: Brainwash I commented how Jen and I use Microsoft Office Live to share calendars. This has become more trouble than the simple Google Calendar Sync for Microsoft Outlook.

Microsoft's solution worked great for some time until it mysteriously stopped working. I needed to re-create our shared calendars and re-publish and re-share them. The online calendar management regarding invitations is pretty limited - make a mistake and start over.

Some time ago, I integrated GMail into Outlook with IMAP and like it better now. I never cared for the labels versus actual folders and the thread-view that web-based GMail uses. With Outlook IMAP integration, I can now look at emails in folders the way I'm used to and better manage my inbox. Also, my mails are now available online and on synced devices as opposed to when I used to POP email.

Since that was working, I tried the Google Calendar Sync using 2-way synchronisation and it's been working fine. I've since updated Jen to GMail with Outlook IMAP integration and Google Calendar Sync. Even she likes it. The online view of our shared calendars is exactly what we wanted.

I should have known not to trust Microsoft to provide a product that works in the long run and doesn't mysteriously stop working after some time (eg: Jen's computer which I recently rebuilt with XP (perhaps Microsoft's crowning achievement) after Vista slowly rotted her laptop to uselessness).

Type O Personality

I gave blood last Wednesday with the alterior motive of getting my blood type - I didn't know it. It turns out I'm O-, which according to the Red Cross is the 'universal donor'. I can give blood to anyone; however, I can only receive type O- blood. Which goes a long way to describe my life - I can help everyone, but no one can help me.

NFL Pun(t)

Sharpton seeks rejection of Limbaugh

"Sharpton sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, arguing that Limbaugh has been divisive and "anti-NFL" in some of his comments." - ESPN.com (12-OCT-2008)

Al Sharpton calling Rush Limbaugh divisive is like the pot calling the kettle black.

Pig Poetry

I am so excited,
All my wildest wishes come true,
The other night on the news,
I heard "the swine flew"!

He Made Off with the Money

So Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to running the biggest Ponzi Scheme in history. Great, that ruins it for the rest of use. There goes Social Security and banking.

Oh, wait, he was talking about a different Ponzi Scheme? Oh, sorry, carry on then.

Republican Consolation

Republican? What if Obama wins? Print your bumper sticker here!!!

Iran-ic

On behalf of my whitty, better-looking brother:

Report: CBS News' Logan talks about her baby drama

So let me get this straight. A CBS News foreign affairs correspondent for the Middle East stationed in Iraq gets knocked up by a married contractor she met while stationed in Iraq because she had a ... wait for it ... foreign affair?

If that's not the definition of irony, I don't know what is.

Istanbul-tinople

Now that we have to call Burma by the new name "Myanmar", do we also have to call Burmese Pythons "Myanmarese Pythons"?

Stupid Bowl XLII

It pains me to say that this may just make up for the 2004 NY Yankees.

Bet the House

I'm not a gambling man, but as they say, you can't win if you don't play. I didn't realize that was a truism. In fact, if you played the subprime mortgage gamble, you not only CAN win, you WILL win. If only I knew.

Bush Mortgage Plan Will Freeze Certain Subprime Interest Rates for 5 Years

So if I gambled on a low adjustable interest rate and now when the rates are due to increase, I cry, I can get my low rate extended? What a dope I was settling for the 30 year fixed. I should have taken a lower adjustable rate and when the increase came due, I'd just have the government bail me out.

Oh well, I missed out on that gamble but I'm going to take that lesson learnt, head to Vegas and bet my life savings on 21 black. If it doesn't come up, I'm sure the casino will give me my bet back ... right?

Spank You Very Much Mass.

It's obvious that Kathleen Wolf needs a spanking for being such an idiot; however, the Massachusetts state legislature needs a whack upside their collective heads for entertaining such a ridiculous proposal - [Reference Boston Herald article on proposed bill that would prohibit parents from spanking their own children.]

Now let me get this straight Massachusetts, you can legally kill an unborn child, but you can't spank a live one?

Fat Chance

I just saw a commercial about a revolutionary new breakthrough. It reported the "cure" to body fat. Skeptical, since body fat isn't a "disease" and thus, doesn't require a "cure", I listened. It reported that the main causes of body fat were stress at work, poor diet and lack of exercise. I immediately new the "cure". Or so I thought I did.

It went on to say the Obesity Research Center has worked with drug companies to develop the cure to body fat: a drug (whose name I won't mention so as to not create anymore unneeded publicity).

This is the problem with classifying obesity as a disease. It then doesn't need to be addressed with self discipline and hard work, but can be treated with drugs as a cure to the disease.

In case your "fat head" hasn't figured it out yet, the "cure" is to reduce stressful situations at work, eat a balanced diet and get some exercise.