Chuck's Blog

Of Scalable File Systems and HPC ...

One of the more interesting new discussions in our industry is around HPC (high performance computing) environments, and the inevitable discussion of how will you get to your information?

Lots of vendors piling in.  It's getting pretty noisy.  I wrote a bit earlier on NAS evolution, but this is a more focused discussion.

What most people don't know is that EMC is pretty active in this space, and we've got more than few showcase examples of how our thinking (and our products) apply.

When Cool Technologies Collide ...

... sometimes the result is an overdose of coolness.

Saw a promo go out for an upcoming EMC LIVE event about using Application Discovery Manager in VMware environments.

If VMware is my #1 favorite cool technology, then Smarts ADM is right behind it.  And an event showing how these two things work together has got to be one of the better tech webinars from EMC.

Who's Saving Our Digital Legacy?

I'm on a theme here, looking for broader societal impacts that result from a frighteningly rapid shift to an information society.

I've talked about the new role of IT (information governance).  I've talked about privacy and identity theft issues.  I've talked about the new knowledge worker, and how we'll all use information differently.

I've even talked about how we're educating our kids.

And now, I'm going to dig into a frustrating issue around preserving our digital legacy.

A Quick Note for EMCers ...

I dislike using this blog to announce things primarily of interest to EMCers, but in this case I'll make an exception.

If you're on the EMC network, I've started an internal behind-the-firewall blog (as have many people) that you may find interesting.

More interesting, it's early days on our first social media platform being live, so you may want to poke around that a bit.

[note: if you click on either of these links from outside the EMC network, you'll be frustrated -- sorry!  We'll be venturing outside the firewall soon en masse, but not quite yet]

But if you're interested in this whole social media thing from a corporate perspective, you might find one of my other public blogs interesting.

Some people think I'm nuts in terms of the work that's required to keep a single blog going.  I guess I'm crazier than most, because I now have three primaries, and am considering maybe another one.

And, yes, I have time to do my day job(s) as well ... ;-)

It's All About The Children!

One of the more blatant marketing appeals, to be sure.

But on a serious note, I've been unable to avoid thinking about what our rapid shift to an information society is doing to how we think about educating the next generation.

And I keep finding clear discontinuity between The Way We've Always Done Things and The Way Things Are Going To Have To Be

I Take It Personally

We're becoming an information society -- much too fast to have the normal time to adapt to the wrenching societal and cultural changes that such paradigm shifts usually cause.

And the more I look, the more I see a gap between How We Used To Do Things and How We're Gonna Have To Do Things.

And this post has to do with identify theft.

Mark Lewis Does CMA

I'm sure you religiously read those corporate organizational announcement press releases that you see every so often. 

Maybe you pay attention to that stuff, maybe you don't, but those of us in the industry tend to scrutinize these rather closely to see what's going on.

I know I'm revealing my age here, but for us industry watchers, it's kind of our form of Kremlinology, when the US was trying to figure out what was going on in the Soviet Union to see who showed up at various parades, and who was getting air-brushed out of photographs.

EMC recently announced a slew of promotions and new assignments, including an important new member of our exec team (Louise O'Brien running Corporate Strategy), but there's one hidden apsect here I want to spend some time on, because -- as usual -- there's more here than meets the eye.

We're Starting To Get It

EMC is far from a perfect company. 

But one thing I really like about this place is that when we set our mind to doing something, it takes a while, but we end up nailing it sooner or later.

Today's example is that elusive quality known as "ease of use". 

And I think we're starting to get it.

Smarts Gets Smarter (Again!)

You probably know by now I'm a big fan of Smarts -- not simply because it's another EMC product -- but because it embodies game-changing thinking.

A few obscure press releases slipped out in the last few days, but there's a wealth of thinking behind it, and I'd like to take a moment and share some of it with you.

IT's New Job

It's been a travelling week, hence no posts as I find it difficult to sit still and write when on the road.

What made this trip unique was that I had three separate customer interactions around the same topic: information governance. 

Each of them got to the same place, but through a different path.

There's either a trend here, or perhaps I've succeeded in deluding myself ...

Desperate Times In Storage Land?

It's been a busy week -- everyone wakes from their summer torpor, and we're off to the races.

A lot of interesting little things happened this week, nothing major, but I think there's a theme in here somewhere.

Let's see if I can connect the dots.

Virtualizing Infrastructure

So, another press release from EMC that seem innocuous enough, but really doesn't get to the big ideas behind it.

And, unfortunately, it's going to look like I'm pandering again, because it's about EMC Avamar (which I write about all the time), and VMware (which everyone else is writing about now, in addition to me).

But, trust me, I think there's a really big idea here that you might find interesting ...

Information Governance Gets Serious ...

... or, more accurately, EMC gets serious about information management, and -- ultimately -- information governance.

Perhaps you saw this press release last week announcing the formation of EMC's Information Management consulting practice.

And, as always, there's more than meets the eye ...

Storage Scorecard

If you're a sports fan, you know how important the score is -- it's the first question anyone asks.

The storage industry is incredibly competitive.  That's good for everyone -- competition brings out the best in vendors, and customers win every time.

I wanted to take a moment and recap Gartner's recent storage industry scorecard analysis.  There's a new pecking order showing up, and -- if you're close to the storage industry -- you can see positions shifting around.

And that raises some interesting questions ...

Never Talk When You Can Nod ...

The line is a partial quote from the (in)famous Eliot Spitzer.

I am very pleased to welcome Andrew Chapman to the EMC blogosphere.  As you'll see, he's very passionate about a number of newer topics in information management: compliance, records mgmt, and so on.  And to get the full Spitzer quote (which is great!), you'll have to see Andrew's blog ...

You know, at some point, the IT industry is going to have to get together and publicly acknowledge Mr. Sptizer for all of the IT spend he's created.  Don't know if that was his motivation, but -- if you think about it -- all of us in the vendor community can't ignore his cumulative effect.

Welcome, Andrew!