Strike Two! Cloud Computing loses more customer data

Last month I highlighted an incident where users lost their data which had been hosted by a Microsoft subsidiary. Now a similar problem has hit Palm OS devices and once more the hosting provider is 'working' with users to assist in recovering their data.

The way I read it, the data is gone forever but the loss to each individual user is far below the entry cost for a lawsuit so the maximum downside for Palm etc. is a PR hit for a couple of weeks then back to business as usual. One day a hosting provider will lose a lawyer's data and then it'll be pass the popcorn while we watch the customers fighting the PR flacks with lawsuits at dawn.

If anyone wants to tell me that the Palm and Danger scenarios weren't technically Cloud Computing then perhaps you can preface your remarks by telling me the difference from a customer's point of view... "I gave you my data and now it's gone. Everything else is irrelevant."
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Things I'd like to see - Suicide by fish knife

You've probably heard of Puffer Fish - that Japanese delicacy which can kill you if it's not prepared properly. Now an enterprising company has actually bred a non-toxic version of the fish which sounds an eminently sensible thing to do since the fish chefs "...are traditionally bound to commit ritual suicide with their own fish knife should one of their customers expire after eating one of their meals..."

However there is apparently only a small commercial interest in the safer version of the fish:

It's a very tasty fish, but that's not the only reason people choose to go to a fugu restaurant," said Shinichi Ueshima, the chef at the Dote fugu restaurant in Yokohama.

"It's obviously more than a little exciting to go to a restaurant knowing that it might be the last meal that you ever eat," he said. "Where is the enjoyment in eating something that has no risk in it?"

Now I know why people deploy Microsoft software...
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Will Domino R8.51 run on Windows Server 2008 R2?

A customer wants to run Domino R8.51 on Windows Server 2008 R2 but that version of Windows Server isn't listed as a supported OS. I'm sure the answer is that it runs OK, but can someone point out an IBM document that approves of that configuration?

A customer wants to know...
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There's just one catch ...

I normally stay away from Infoworld. Their technique of splitting a short article across multiple pages to force you into viewing 3-4 times as many ads as other web sites is a pain in the butt and I am also mildly disgusted when IT publications use pop-up ads. Sure they get some money for it but it puts them in the same classification as websites for Acai berry weight-loss treatments. So these days when I choose to read an article in Infoworld I just select the print button and read through the straight text without the ads. But I digress ...

I was reading Infoworld's review of Microsoft's new web-based application suite which they will be throwing into the ring against Google Docs and IBM Symphony, and this line caught my eye:

But there must be a catch, right? Sure, and it's a doozy: Microsoft's applications don't really work. During the Technical Preview, documents imported into the online versions of Word and PowerPoint are read-only.

I think that line sums up the entire Microsoft marketing strategy since they moved away from their core Windows and Office strategy: "Sure we have products that we position against Notes / Java / Mozilla / Internet Search / Google Docs / any other new market, but they don't really work (unless you let Microsoft provide the definition of 'Work')",

Microsoft software: Just say No.

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Loti of Australia v. The Rest of the World ...

... and unfortunately the Australian Loti lost. The event was the first annual Lotus Cricket Challenge held at the Bradman Oval in Bowral and the teams were reinforced by selected Lotus Business Partners and customers all set for a day of fine sport with perhaps a half glass of Chardonnay over lunch.

There could not have been a finer locale or conditions for the day. Bowral oval was the home oval for Sir Donald Bradman, the all-time champion batsman whose sporting records are STILL unbeaten some 60 years after he retired from the game. The Don's career average of 99.94 is fifty percent higher than the next highest scorer (R.G. Pollock on 60.97) with the rest of the world's past and present batsmen all trailing off into lower figures.

For yesterday's match the scores didn't matter. Australia lost on the day but we all had a wonderful day with only the gentlest of sledging ( e.g. "Your Mother uses Outlook!") to ruffle the batsmen's concentration

There were some minor injuries with the RoTW Captain (Tim Royle) flicking a ball off his bat and onto his chin, but he merely retired hurt to wash off the blood and see a doctor then returned to bowl out the Australian tail in the afternoon. Well played sir!

A good day had by all. My thanks go to Lotus for organising the day and inviting me along.
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EDIT: Two days later and I'm still sore. I might need a few days of training before next year's match.
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How to roast an IBM executive (with tomato sauce)

It's always fun when IBM send over a suit from the USA to host a meeting of local Business Partners and to offer him up at a ritual sacrifice of tomato pelting and slow roasting. The event was called 'Business Partner & Lotus Roundtable with Mike Garbett' and Mike (Director of WorldWide Sales for Lotus Collaboration) took most of the input on board with good grace. Unfortunately I had to leave before the red wine was exhausted but I'm sure my fellow BPs finished off my share of the Merlot.

The amazing thing about these events is that the local Partners tell the same thing to EVERY visiting executive from the USA and yet our comments are always met with an open-mouthed 'gosh... no-one ever told me that' response by the newest blue-suited arrival. I sometimes think that IBM tells its execs that Australia is like a little town somewhere in Texas so as long as you talk slowly and smile a lot you'll get on just fine. The reality is that with a population of over 22 million we would fit in as the next largest state of the USA after Texas with about 3 million more people than the state of New York.

More critical than our size if the fact that we have a different corporate infrastructure than the USA. Most of our larger employers have their HQ overseas and therefore we have a limited ability to influence strategic purchasing decisions. We also see the lions share of Australian licencing revenue being creamed off by overseas Business Partners who have cozied up to the Head Office buyers in Main Street USA, but that's life.

However what IBM could do is to make their own products more available to the Australian market. I'll quote from my own blog post about the reality of SMB in Australia with comparable USA figures in square brackets:

* Large firms: ......200+ staff .......5,876 .... (0.3%) .... [0.28%]
* Mediumsized firms: 20-199 staff ....78,304 .... (3.9%) .... [0.79%]
* Small firms: ......5-19 staff .....228,313 ... (11.3%) .... [4.75%]
* Micro-enterprises: 0-4 staff ....1,699,277 ... (84.5%) ... [94.18%]

So if most of the opportunity in Australia is in the sub-200 user space then why is there a lower limit of 200 users for Lotus Live? IBM is just taking its own products off the radar for all but 6,000 businesses in Australia. Mike got that message loud and clear yesterday and I'm repeating it here for the IBM execs that haven't yet been roasted at an Australian Business Partner Barbeque.

I saw Mike taking copious notes at the meeting but only time will tell whether the next exec to visit Australia has bothered to read those notes.
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Should you pay less for multi-skilled consultants?

While clicking away at the multiple choices in my R8.5 Application Development update exam this morning I came across a piece of Javascript that I didn't comprehend. It was one of those questions that gives you a scenario and asks you which piece of code would Randy have used to accomplish the desired outcome and I can't go into more detail without violating the conditions of the test.

Anyway, I probably failed that particular question (but comfortably passed the test anyway) and it left me with an interesting question about the need for self-education with software development ie. How do you put a limit on the education effort that you need in order to be a professional application developer with Domino R8.5? Obviously if I try to learn ALL of Javascript (ha!) then I'm probably spending too much time Learning and not enough time Earning, but at least I can justify the self-education effort with Javascript on the grounds that it enhances my Domino programming abilities.

So (tongue in cheek and waiting for the barbed responses) how do individual Domino Developers who have decided to learn Sharepoint and .NET (or Google Apps or any direct competitor to Domino) justify selling themselves at their same old consulting rates for Domino work, since their Domino skills must inevitably have suffered from the decrease in their staying-current-with-Domino time? Should customers demand to pay less per hour for multi-skilled consultants on the grounds that those consultants obviously can't be fully skilled in any technology - Jacks of all Trades and Masters of None? That's not a slur on the technical ability or character of anyone, but there is obviously a limit on how much technology any of us can learn. Or perhaps more accurately, they might have been Masters in the older versions of Domino but are no longer at the Bleeding Edge of the Yellowverse.

I'm interested in knowing how other people decide how to put an upper limit on what they learn with Domino and (if they are moving to the Dark Side) at which point do decide to stop the serious self-education effort with new Domino technology such as XPages, Themes or Lotusscript classes.

Anonymous posts are acceptable (and expected).

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Quality Journalism? Who needs it?

So Rupert Murdoch is upset because he believes Google is stealing his 'quality journalism' and therefore his ad revenue. Well frankly I've never been impressed with 'quality journalism' the way he (or any other newspaper publisher) defines it. I want to know about the things that interest me , not about the things that Rupert's editors want to load up into the headlines. Sherlock Holmes summed it up best when he dismissed Watson's discussion of the Copernican system with the words:

"What the deuce is it to me? You say that we go around the sun. If we went around the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work."

Amen brother! Talk to me about Domino v. Exchange or Gilbert & Sullivan or the American Civil War or World in Flames or dealing with a crying two-month-old baby and I'm all ears, but I really don't care if the Hawks beat the Demons on Saturday or who won the car races at Bathurst or that a bank was robbed somewhere and I'm probably not even interested if we change Prime Ministers because of some political scandal.

Murdoch's other problem is that no news organization carries a sufficiently high reputation that they can demand money for something that is available for free elsewhere. Mind you, I could be wrong on that point. Millions of people buy bottled water every day when they have a tap at home in their kitchen.

I pay my monthly access charges to my ISP to receive the news and I don't care who is stuffing the the pipeline with the factoids at the other end as long as they are accurate. I haven't parted with money to buy a newspaper for (probably) the last ten years and I can't remember the last time I turned on the television to watch the evening news. Quality journalism is in the eye of the beholder and Rupert Murdoch's publications just aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

Now where was that Wikipedia article on Jeffrey Dahmer ?
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Free Technical Training for Notes/Domino R8.5x in Sydney

Over the past few months the talented Holli Konig and her All-Dancing Business Partners have been running R8.5 'Proof of Technology' seminars across the USA. These seminars are targeted at IT Managers, Application Developers, System Administrators and Architects evaluating IBM Lotus Notes/Domino.

Now this two day seminar is coming to Sydney with hands-on sessions for System Administration ( Domino Attachment and Object Service plus ID Vault and Shared Login) and for Application Development (Composite Applications and Xpages). The dates for this two day course are next Thursday 19th and Friday 20th November and the venue is the IBM Innovation Centre at 601 Pacific Highway St. Leonards.

This is NOT a marketing event. IBM are providing the facilities for the seminar but the course will be presented by technically skilled and certified IBM/Lotus Business Partners.

The seminar treads a middle ground between management and technical issues eg There are hands-on exercises in building an X-Page but there is also discussion on why an X-Page is a better web construct than a legacy 'webified' Notes application from a business process perspective.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own questions and to partake in a vigorous and free-flowing discussion about the technical 'how-do-you-do-this' nuts and bolts of working with Notes/Domino R8.5. On Friday morning there will be a 30 minute opportunity to quiz Mike Garbett (Director of Worldwide Sales - Collaboration, Lotus Software) about directions for the Lotus Product suite.

Did I mention that the seminar is free? Attendance is restricted to 24 people (one PC per attendee) and there is a limit of two attendees per organisation. If you are interested in attending the event then contact me on 0435 094 694 or by email on gdodge at bcd dot net dot au.
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The hidden cost of Cloud Computing

There are real advantages in Cloud Computing but this is not one of them:

TBST claimed its normal monthly communications bill was about $320 but it was billed for almost $3000 during a period when the network was needlessly backing up several gigabytes of data daily to synchronise the iDisk data using Apple's MobileMe. This is a subscription service for so-called "cloud computing" where users pay to store data on what is referred to in PowerPoint-speak as the "internet cloud".

If you're going to advise your customers to put their data into the cloud then I suggest you help them calculate the new bandwidth costs before they do the migration. If you don't, then you might find out that their budget allocation for software consulting for the next few quarters gets diverted to paying the phone bill.
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Should old Notes databases just be left to die?

I've always been impressed by the backward compatibility of Notes. Late in 2008 I re-met an old client who was still running a Notes database I had built in Notes R1 (yes, R1) some 20 years ago. His Domino server had moved up to R7 by then but the app was still chugging along storing client records and printing sales summaries. It sounded like a story for the IBM marketing machine except for the fact that he was in the process of replacing the system with a purpose-built CRM product.

Then there's the customer who wants me to paste a quick-and-dirty XPage front end onto a database he had downloaded from Open NTF. In the end I advised against that approach since it would take a couple of weeks to reverse-engineer and rebuild the undocumented lotusscript agents buried within the existing Forms.

We can also consider one Business Partner's six figure commercial software development project that was originally designed with R7 Lotusscript and is now being retrofitted with XPages to make it more appealing to new customers. I know there are some good people working on that project but maybe they can't see the forest for the trees - new clothes do not make a new man in the world of software.

So how far can you stretch the rubber-band? Sure you can take an existing DB, upgrade the ODS and whack in some XPages over the weekend but is that a good thing? Aren't we just creating the 21st Century equivalent of 1980's COBOL spaghetti code?

Maybe Microsoft does have some benefits with their 'rip and replace' approach to technology. Applications developed with their tools may be over-budget and over-schedule but at least the code is fresh.
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