Giving up on Microsoft software for work - 18 months on

By Nick Hortovanyi

Its been 18 months or so, since I started on "Giving up on Microsoft software for work". It has been an interesting adventure, one fraught with skepticism from some, but with joy from myself. The big question I faced then was, "Was it possible to work without using Microsoft software?". The answer has been a profound "Yes", from a pure do things to get work done point of view, but "No" from getting billable work.

I'm still using a nice 17" Mac Book Pro and have been very impressed with it. During the time I've had it, a new version of Mac OS X 10.6 - Snow Leopard, has been released and the system is still performing fine with the hardware. I've had next to no trouble and everything is working great. Apple have even opened retail stores here in Australia.

This photo is from my recent Sydney trip (the store was extremely busy inside):

Our servers run linux of various flavours - SuSE Linux, RedHat and Ubuntu. Some are on-premise and some are off-premise on Amazon EC2. Email, calender, documents use Google Docs and our CRM is Salesforce.com. Its our intent, that unless it is a client end user machine, that as existing hardware reaches end-of-life, new hardware will not be purchased. However, cloud infrastructure will be utilised.

What has surprised me immensely, during this time, is even though we use no Microsoft software, how dominant it is on-premise. Even with the ill fated Microsoft Vista operating system, corporates aren't moving away from Microsoft in the vast majority of environments that I'm engaged with in my local state of South Australia. Sure there are a few linux servers but they appear to be the exception to the rule. Why?

Lets look at servers quickly. Why isn't linux deployed more often? The two main reasons appear to be that existing support contracts with the outsourcer doesn't allow it (well change the contract is my normal response) and secondly that there aren't enough trained administrators (it doesn't take long to train them). But its more then what I have just mentioned, its also somewhat religious. Its like a fraternity, an old school boys club to some degree, with the managers choosing the technology based on relationships and maybe not on technical merit to get the job done in an efficient & cost effective means. A large outsourcer here in Adelaide (anybody living here will know that it is HP Enterprise Services, formerly EDS) seem to promote Microsoft at the exclusion of Linux. Is this to keep others such as IBM out? Who knows!

Choosing Microsoft as the operating system on the server, invariable also means that only Microsoft development languages and tools will be used.

Lets look on the client. The desktops are running Windows 2003/XP etc in these corporates environments. There may be a few Macs, but they will be with marcomms people, if they have these in house. Whats surprising though, is that mobile devices, will be a mixture of different vendors, including Apple's iPhone. The iPhone is appearing in the hands of many executive managers.

What I have not looked into, in great detail, is besides Microsoft Office, what are the applications that are running on these desktops? Are they installed natively, are they supplied through a Citrix server or are they web based? The later, is how the majority of applications, that I interact with, have been deployed in recent years. They work in most of the popular browsers, independent of anyone type of desktop. Invariably, they will also have a desktop version that works on Mac, Windows or Linux desktops.

So what is going on with the desktop in these corporates? (Oh, I don't use Microsoft Office either and can write documents, do spreadsheets and prepare/present presentations.)

How old are these applications that only work on Microsoft desktops? Do they still satisfy the business requirements? Has the initial investment been written off? Why aren't they being modernised and turned into web based applications? Are the users complaining that they are unproductive because of the outdated interface?

Some interesting questions. To me if they aren't being asked, or when people ask them, they are being squashed. It suggests that the organisation is stuck in support mode, looking to preserve the status quo. Those that can drive the change, to innovate, to progress forward to the next paradigm will get frustrated and leave.

This is what happens with myself, when people say the solution has to be Microsoft based and linux, or other alternatives can't be considered. To me it is yesterday's thinking.

So even though, I myself have been very successful in giving up on Microsoft software for work, from an acquiring work perspective from potential prospects in my current geography, it is not presently a positive.

"When will it change?" is the question I've been asking myself a lot lately.

Why did IBM pass up JAVA to let Oracle grab it?

By Nick Hortovanyi

I woke up this morning to the news that Oracle, which on April 20 said it will purchase Sun for $7.4 Billion USD. This news came, just after IBM withdrew its offer earlier in the month.

One of the key assets of Sun, is the Java programming language. Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, has said Java is "the single most important software asset we have ever acquired.".

I've been involved with Java since it first came onto the scene, I think some thirteen years ago now. I can remember traveling to one of the earliest Java conferences in Melbourne, Australia and receiving a version of Solaris for Intel. I then spent a couple of days getting it working on my PC (it might have been a 386 or a Cyrix box, can't remember now). But that shows the age, not just of myself, but of the Java language. It has had a long time to embed itself into Enterprise software development and has accrued some good and not so good legacy.

In Jan 2008, I wrote a blog entry "Java losing some of its mojo in enterprise development?", where I was questioning the relevance of Java moving forward. What's more, I was hoping that Java would evolve not to compete against C# and .NET but because it makes logical sense to do so. I see now that with Oracle's stewardship careful focus will be required to see how the Java Community Process unfolds and how R&D efforts will be directed. The pressing question in my mind is will Java's evolution be tied purely to support ERPs moving forward?

On the positive side, I see Oracle taking the fight to Microsoft. Which can only be a good thing, given the current complacency in a number of organisations towards just using Microsoft based environments.

However, why did IBM pass up on this opportunity?

Java after all underpins the majority of its current software portfolio. Or does it?

In my 2008 prediction blog, I wrote at the end of 2007, that we would start to see the further evolution of language neutral SOA standards, such as SCA and SDO. This starts to open the potential for other languages besides Java to evolve in prominance in the middleware space. I've written about this evolution as I've seen the quiet rise in the background of the Composite Service Architecture specificaton through the OASIS Open CSA committee. In parallel I've seen the evolution of REST (Representational state transfer) based approaches, which are more readily understood by developers, than following conformity to standards developed by others.

Firefox, Google and Apple also have a strong focus on responsive browser based applications through the dramatic improvement of Javascript performance (Javascript is not the same as Java). Considerable effort is being expended in this area. It moves a lot of development from the server, back to the client. The side affect, is a reduced reliance on server based middleware and Java.

Lets look at IBM's Project Zero. The opening splash describes the project as "Delivering the best of agile Web 2.0 with PHP scripting, REST and Dojo in an integrated runtime and tooling package: IBM WebSphere sMash". The commercially supported product is called IBM WebSpere sMash. Did you notice that there is no mention of Java in this new IBM product?

Cloud document storage as backup

By Nick Hortovanyi

I was listening to Cote's IT Management Podcast #34, through iTunes. Cote was talking about storage of documents in the cloud as a backup. It sounds like a great idea but in reality the size of the remote service is pretty small in comparison to the size of most people's current collection.

Thus for people to use it they have to work out which documents have priority over other documents.  I'm not sure about you, but for me that's a task that takes time. If its not something that I can set and forget, I'm one that is not likely to remember to add it to my expanding lists of todos.

So I'm in ageement with Cote that for it to be usefull, its got to be easy to use and do the complete job.

Which leads me onto Mobile Me. I've got now in my Finder on my Mac Book Pro an iDisk with  9.99 GB available. I've set up a little website with iWeb (which is part of iLife '09) but its using a fraction of the space.

What to do with the rest of the space? After all I have paid for the Mobile Me service with 10 GB!

I'm using an Apple Time Capsule and the built in Time Machine to back up my entire machine. Its a no brainer and the Time Capsule has more storage then my actual Mac Book Pro. It also acts as my WiFi base station. As such, this only works when I'm connected to my local network.  

One of the major benefits of cloud storage, is that if that something happens that destroys your physical equipment you have a backup of it some where else. Forgetting the fact that I don't have a monthly allowance on my current ADSL2 plan, that could back up my entire machine, I'm sure that the content that is important to me could be. If only I didn't have to remember to do it!

IBM vs IBM in SMB - the competition continues

By Nick Hortovanyi

Following twitter the other day, I noticed a tweet by Ed Brill -  "I've been tempted to think about whether failed institutions used Notes vs. Exchange, but all of them are likely IBM customers somewhere.". I sent Ed a tweet containing a link to a blog entry I'd written previously on IBM vs IBM in SMB.

James Governor, picked up on it here in a blog entry and highlighted the issue of X Series advertising and success of IBM software in SMB. Mark Cathcart, jumped in here, with James supporting the case of the underdog (being myself, Aussies are known for coming from behind and winning). Mark commented on the very competitive nature of the x86 market, and eluded if they didn't advertise Microsoft software, they'd be out of business before you could spell b-u-s-n-e-s-s i-n-t-e-l-l-i-g-e-n-c-e. Thinking aloud here, is that why IBM is allowing Lenovo to license their X Series technology in certain areas?

But again his statement conflicts with the view of IBM Lotus as expressed on the comment left by Ed Brill. Through Lotus Foundations, Lotus are intending to deploy an appliance into these SMBs. This appliance will ultimately also have access to Lotus Bluehouse.  On a side note, the Lotus Foundations/Bluehouse scenario was what I was looking at eventually achieving five years ago, through WebSphere Portal Express.  I'm glad to see that Lotus Foundations runs Linux (no Microsoft required - finally Lotus getting off of Microsoft Operating Systems), think it might use an X Series server (but there is no mention of it that I can point to), and the focus is on your business, not IT. Am a little concerned at the focus on Lotus Notes (but it does allow Outlook connection, not sure about the Mac) but at the end of day, until Lotus Bluehouse is effective, its only email. So for an SMB, why not use Google Apps & Google Mail?

Mark mentioned a product called iDataPlex, which seemed to be targeted at ISPs or larger organisations. Not sure how many SMB organisations, need a "Right-size your Internet-scale data center" type infrastructure? This highlights to me, the difference in thinking between those that sell and support the larger end of town and those that support SMBs.

Its two different worlds, that are equally important but completely separate in what the immediate business drivers are.

Now I did agree about Mark's point regarding the support and incentive to sell, however that's useless if the customers don't want to buy IBM Software in the first place. The x86 hardware market is so competitive that it has now got to the point that it is not worth while quoting, as the winning bid (every one gets the special bid) on a large transaction will have a margin of 1% (that also needs to cover the cost of warehousing and delivery) for the business partner.

The point I'm making here is that the support and incentives are irrelevant, if IBM has not primed the SMB market using business intelligence itself to help progress potential buyers through the product buying lifecycle. I don't want to engage with the customer with an IBM product, if it is the first time they have heard about it. The sales cycle is just too long and hence then unprofitable with considerable training expenses.

In my experience, SMB customer's perceive IBM as IBM, not the individual brands, be it hardware, software or services that make up the organisation. If there is confusion, or mixed messages, they will go to other vendors with clear and consistent messages and experiences. Maybe that is one of the reasons Apple is starting to do so well (this blog post has been written on my Mac Book Pro).

Giving up on Microsoft software for work - it was easy

By Nick Hortovanyi

I no longer use any Microsoft software at all to perform my daily activities. Am now completely Micrsoft free!

I've been able to be productive on both a Linux desktop as well as on a Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard desktop. Who would have thought it would be that easy? So this will be my last blog entry on "Giving up on Microsoft software for work".

The Mac Book Pro is performing very well. Even have a 3G USB modem so I can be connected from anywhere.

This week, I imported one of my Powerpoint presentations into Keynote. Tweaked it a little, with 3D transitions! Using the mouse caused me a little grief, so am now using the Apple remote. Works like a charm. Everyone has loved the presentations in Keynote, yes my content was good as well!

If you have been holding off, maybe give it a try. I think you will find that a lot of what you do, is through a browser now anyway. So go for it!