We're trying to stay calm here -- really, we are. We understand that this
isn't 1929 or even 1987 -- and maybe not even 2001, for that matter -- and
that the bright people who run our economy have the tools and the know-how to
deal with what's happening.
We know that the economy is cyclical, that all sort of factors can affect it
and that things have been much worse in the past. We're aware that 6 percent
unemployment would have only been considered possible on Fantasy Island back
in 1981 when jobless rates were closer to (or in) double digits. We get it.
But when names like Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers -- companies
that have survived worse than a credit crunch or a recession, if we're even
in a recession -- start to disappear from the roster of financial titans, we
do tend to freak out a little bit. And when the U.S. government, which (rightfully)
so loathes doing this sort of thing, steps in and nationalizes mortgage lenders
(Freddie and Fannie, of course) because it has to, we freak out a little more.
And when the stock market starts the week by dropping 500-plus points, we build
an underground bunker and start buying bottled water in bulk.
OK, maybe not. In fact, we're writing this on Monday afternoon -- and by the
time you get it on Tuesday, the market might be back up 500 points. That's how
quickly the economy moves these days. Still, it's clear that there's reason
for concern, so it obviously came as no surprise when we read last week that
companies are cutting
IT spending.
What we want to know is how the economic slowdown will affect you, the Microsoft
partner, and what you're doing about it. We asked this question, or one very
much like it, a few months ago and kind of hoped that things would be better
by now. But they're not, really, so we'll revisit the topic again: Tell us,
how bad (or good?) are things for you now, and what's your plan for riding out
the downturn? As always, send your answers to [email protected].
As always, we'll only identify you by first name (so, if you're really hurting,
don't be afraid to let us know), and we'll try to run the most interesting answers
later this week.
Posted by Lee Pender on September 16, 20080 comments
Well, presumably Mark Conley's parents actually named him...but CommVault has
hired Conley as
director of North American channel sales.
Posted by Lee Pender on September 11, 20080 comments
Oh, how the proprietary have fallen. Well, not fallen really, but certainly
changed. Microsoft is making noises about openness and collaboration again,
this time with a couple of standards-oriented initiatives.
Redmond said this week that it'll work on a Web services interface with IBM
and EMC, and it's also joining a standards group called the Object Management
Group. (OK, so we didn't know what that was, either -- but this
story told us).
Of course, there will always be healthy and probably justified skepticism about
just how open Microsoft wants to be and what its true motives are for joining
these efforts (as in, to take them over completely). But we can't fault Redmond
for at least showing signs of coming out of its proprietary shell. And if this
new spirit of glasnost actually leads to technological advancements of
some sort -- hey, all the better!
Posted by Lee Pender on September 11, 20080 comments
Well, that's what
the
headline says, although we wonder how much one has to do with the other.
And, at 0.7 percent market share, Chrome seems like much less of a threat to
IE than Firefox -- for now. But, hey, we all love to read about Google, right?
Posted by Lee Pender on September 10, 20086 comments
Given the hysteria in this part of the world over Tom Brady's knee, we barely
noticed that the London Stock Exchange crashed yesterday. Yes, that's right;
the news is shocking -- Tom Brady's out for the season.
No, wait, that's not the news we meant to talk about. What we meant to say
was: Yes, that's right; the news is shocking -- the
London freaking Stock Exchange went down. For almost an entire day. During
a rally.
It might not have the massive impact of Brady's injury, but a whole major stock
exchange going down for a day sounds like a pretty big deal here at RCPU. What's
an even bigger deal, you ask? The fact that some people are blaming
Microsoft for the crash.
Ugh. OK, so maybe it's not fair to blame Microsoft and .NET for the LSE's meltdown.
We really don't know. Right now, probably nobody does. But this is one of those
black eyes that Microsoft -- which had advertised the fact that the LSE picked
its wares over Linux for "reliability" -- just doesn't need.
Maybe this little mini-storm will pass -- or maybe Microsoft really will
end up being officially at fault somehow, in which case partners might have
to field a few questions about just how reliable Redmond's infrastructure is.
Is this a few strained ligaments or a torn ACL for Redmond? We'll see -- but
Microsoft folks have to hope that they'll make out better than Tom Brady.
Posted by Lee Pender on September 10, 20080 comments
So, this week, Microsoft held one of those non-event events in which it gathers
reporters together to release a few details about upcoming products, and reporters
go because, well, it's Microsoft.
OK, so it wasn't
a total non-event, but we do kind of wonder sometimes why Microsoft bothers
with a whole big press event when a press release and a couple of spokespeople
available to take calls would
suffice.
But that's all press stuff, and you don't care about press stuff. You care
about what Microsoft had to say earlier this week. Basically, with regard to
its virtualization plans, Redmond says that things are coming along. The Hyper-V
hypervisor is free now, as opposed to costing $28, and Redmond's working on
what it calls Live Migration -- "the ability to move a virtual machine
(VM) from one physical machine to another, with no downtime," as Virtualization
Review Editor Keith Ward so
eloquently writes.
There's a whole lineup of products either coming or on the way, and the attention
Microsoft is paying to virtualization signals that the technology will be a
cornerstone of its strategic plans going forward. And that has to be good news
given that the company won't be able to rely on the earning power of Windows
and Office forever. Besides, we could use a good rivalry in the industry these
days, and Microsoft-VMware could be a healthy battle -- an event not to be
missed.
What's your take on Microsoft's virtualization strategy? Send it to [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on September 09, 20080 comments
Love it or hate it -- and, let's face it, you probably hated it the way we
did -- Microsoft's bizarre
Bill
Gates-Jerry Seinfield-shoe shopping ad at least has the blogs burning with
opinions, even if
most
of them are negative.
We understand that the ad campaign is a series, but the next installment is
going to have to do a lot of explaining and a heck of a lot more entertaining
to hold our interest.
Posted by Lee Pender on September 09, 20081 comments
From the cloud comes a cool, refreshing
rain
of updates for Microsoft's hosted CRM service.
Posted by Lee Pender on September 09, 20080 comments