paul coby

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IT failure at Heathrow T5: What really happened

Anyone having the misfortune to pass recently through Heathrow's new Terminal 5 knows the huge project debuted as a case study in full-blown systems failure. Most reports have focused on stranded customers, a crazed supermodel, and Queen Elizabeth's grand opening speech, which called the terminal "a 21st Century gateway to...

Tags: Software, CIO, Baggage, British Airways Plc., Information Technology, Problem, Terminal 5, BA, Vanderlande Industries, Vanderlande, Bags, Paul Coby, Airports Authority, Strategy, Tools & Techniques, Management, Michael Krigsman

Blog posts 2008-04-07

Additional Resources

Internet abuse and Cloud Computing

A recent uproar in the right wing blogosphere about the shutdown of anti-Obama sites on blogger.com has some serious implications for those considering cloud computing. What seems to have happened there was a simple, if pernicious, denial of service attack carried out for political reasons - but there's not much...

Tags: Google Inc., Cloud Computing, Blog, Blogging, Internet, Paul Murphy

Blog posts 2008-07-05

Helpdesks and productivity

Helpdesks and productivityGood start, and then...You lost it.1980 CalledThey want their mainframes back. :DWhy don't you explain your present value...calculation. Do you even know what present value means? What time period are we talking?Huh?You imply that on a Sun Ray platform the only problems are the applications or how they...

Tags: Call centers, help desk, Sun Microsystems Inc., Sun Ray, PC

Discussion threads 2008-07-03

News to know: Searching Silverlight; IE 8; Dell; Google vs. YouTube

Notable headlines: Mary Jo Foley: Microsoft: Silverlight content searchable, too Ryan Stewart: Brian Goldfarb talks about Silverlight 2 and Deep Zoom with Michael Cot LineRider releases a Silverlight 2 version Microsoft steps up self-policing of its OSI-approved source licenses ...

Tags: Apple iPhone, Security, Google Inc., Dell Computer Corp., Microsoft Silverlight, Mobile, YouTube Inc., Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp., Linux, UNIX, Keyboards, Operating Systems, Advertising & Promotion, Open Source, Software, Hardware, Peripherals, Marketing, Larry Dignan

Blog posts 2008-07-03

Helpdesks and productivity

Getting rid of the PC reduces ambiguity in the system, thereby letting you eliminate the help desk and thus lowers your IT costs while increasing user productivity. by Paul Murphy

Tags: PC, Usage Habituation, Help Desk, Call Centers, It Operations, Paul Murphy

Blog posts 2008-07-03

Does True Knowledge see value in distance from the bubble?

The flurry of attention around yesterday's Microsoft/ Powerset news set me thinking once more about UK-based True Knowledge, which has been compared with Microsoft's latest acquisition. TechCrunch UK's Mike Butcher reported last month that nameless venture capital firms were valuing True Knowledge at about £20million ($40million), and...

Tags: Valuation, Knowledge, U.K., Microsoft Corp., TechCrunch UK, Venture Capital, Investment, Finance, Financing Startups, Paul Miller

Blog posts 2008-07-02

Costing Sun Ray vs Wintel

Costing Sun Ray vs WintelSo, you like Sun Ray, Yes? KiddingSeriously, interesting article--Sun Ray is looking better and better!There are so many good reasons to consider using Thin Client. Sun Ray just reinforces that.A few questionsWhy did you so much oversize the client. why use E7200 core duo ? why...

Tags: Servers, server, VMware Inc., Sun Ray, Costing Sun Ray, Sun Microsystems Inc., Wintel

Discussion threads 2008-07-02

News to know: Microsoft; Yahoo; Google; IT contractors

Notable headlines: Larry Dignan: Microsoft's search plan: It's about semantics and possibly for naught. Dennis Howlett: Powerset's smarts are Microsoft's gain Paul Miller: Powerset really does go to Microsoft... but for how much? Mary Jo Foley: Confirmed: Microsoft buys Powerset natural-language search...

Tags: Google Inc., Larry Dignan, Information Technology, Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft Corp., Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Team Management, 3G, Web Services, Middleware, Enterprise Software, Software, Management, Cellular Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology

Blog posts 2008-07-02

Costing Sun Ray vs Wintel

If you compare the capital cost of a Wintel server and desktop architecture using Dell gear with 22" screens to that of a redundant SPARC/Sun Ray system with 24" screens, the Sun system comes in about $200,000 cheaper for 1,000 users. by Paul Murphy

Tags: Desktop, Wintel, Dell Computer Corp., Staffing, Sun Microsystems Inc., Difference, Sun Ray, Servers, Hardware, Paul Murphy

Blog posts 2008-07-02

ThomsonReuters' OpenCalais increments to version 2.1

The Calais team over at ThomsonReuters reported the release of Calais version 2.1 earlier today, adding some new entity types, enhanced relevance ranking, integration with Yahoo! Pipes and a revised version of their Gnosis browser plugin that now includes compatibility with Internet Explorer. It's good to see...

Tags: ThomsonReuters, Web Browsers, Team Management, Internet, Management, Paul Miller

Blog posts 2008-07-01

Powerset really does go to Microsoft... but for how much?

Well, it appears that the rumours were true. Powerset and Microsoft are both announcing the deal this evening, with VentureBeat also weighing in on the story. Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not convinced. Don't get me wrong, Powerset is good, and their current Wikipedia-based demonstrator has...

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Wiki, Channel Management, Online Communications, Marketing, Paul Miller

Blog posts 2008-07-01

Distributed decision making in IT

Distributed decision making in ITMoving the SPOF rearrainging deckchairs.Lets make something clear - that the central SRSS/DumbRay server IS a SPARC. x86 just doesn't cut it for hosting so many users. SO please don't do the same thing as big blue and pull the old bait and switch - OF...

Tags: Operating systems, UNIX, information technology, server, decision-making

Discussion threads 2008-07-01

News to know: Apple patches; Adobe; XP-Vista; Yahoo

Notable headlines: Ryan Naraine: Apple plugs 25 Mac OS X security vulnerabilities. David Morgenstern: Apple releases Leopard 10.5.4 update Apple update notice. Robin Harris: Why computers fail Adobe: Adobe Advances Rich Media Search on the Web ...

Tags: Apple iPhone, Adobe Systems Inc., Google Inc., Web, Larry Dignan, Yahoo! Inc., Patch Management, Apple Inc., IBM Consulting Service, Web 2.0, 3G, Microsoft Windows, Channel Management, Open Source, Internet, Cellular Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Operating Systems, Software, Marketing

Blog posts 2008-07-01

Distributed decision making in IT

The reason you can't take the kind of personal IT management structure that works for very small businesses and make it work in large organizations is that neither the PC nor the tools to manage it scale - Unix does, and you can. by Paul Murphy

Tags: System Administrator, Information Technology, Decision-making, Strategy, Management, Paul Murphy

Blog posts 2008-07-01

Podcast: Churchill Club on Web 2.0 in the enterprise

In this installment of the Churchill Club podcast series, a panel of experts examines Web 2.0's use in the enterprise. Can companies go from Dilbert to dude? The event's speakers include: Steve Bendt, Senior Manager, Social Technology, Best Buy René Bonvanie, Senior Vice...

Tags: Web, Vice President, Podcasts, Web 2.0, Internet, Larry Dignan

Blog posts 2008-06-30

News to know: Phishing; Gates gone; Google; Hyper-V

Notable headlines: Dancho Danchev: HSBC sites vulnerable to XSS flaws, could aid phishing attacks TechRepublic: Most report their IT career has been better than they expected Mary Jo Foley: J Allard gets a new job Mystery explained: Why...

Tags: Google Inc., Information Technology, Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp., Phishing, Cyberthreats, Leadership, Strategy, Open Source, Security, Spam And Phishing, Management, Larry Dignan

Blog posts 2008-06-30

Achieving magical results in IT

If you want to obtain seemingly magical results from IT - start by putting the right people in the right places and giving them the power to act unilaterally. That works, nothing else does. by Paul Murphy

Tags: Job, Team, Information Technology, Strategy, Management, Paul Murphy

Blog posts 2008-06-30

News on flash: EcoRAM held up as less power-hungry option than DRAM for server farms

News on flash: EcoRAM held up as less power-hungry option than DRAM for server farmswhat are the possibilites for desktop use ntNTPaul

Tags: Memory, EcoRAM, server farm, DRAM, server

Discussion threads 2008-06-29

Bill Gates bids a teary farewell to Microsoft

Bill Gates said a teary goodbye on Friday to Microsoft, the software maker he built into the world's most valuable technology company. Redmond, Washington--Bill Gates said a teary goodbye on Friday to Microsoft, the software maker he built into the world's most valuable technology company based on the ambitious...

Tags: Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Tools & Techniques, Productivity, Management, Reuters, Microsoft

News items 2008-06-27

Thoughts on Bill Gates

Thoughts on Bill GatesGood lawyeringOne thing that is often forgotten is the fact that, when Gates purchased and licensed dos to IBM, the contract was the "killer app".It required IBM to pay for DOS on every machine whether they used it or not, while allowing MS to license DOS...

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Bill Gates

Discussion threads 2008-06-27