Microsoft’s commitment to virtualized systems has come along at just the right time for The Scooter Store of New Braunfels, TX. This leading supplier of power mobility devices, a Microsoft shop from the outset, was able to make its long-planned move to a virtualized, centralized environment and remain a Microsoft customer.

VP Gary Vogel told GCG that Microsoft made it “easy to evolve” to a configuration that has reduced their number of servers by 59%, saved approximately $500 per month, and provided enough headroom to add on 50% more applications in the future.

See if you can name the major software vendor from whom analysts heard the following this week: “Virtualization is our top priority.” “Virtualization needs to be ubiquitous.” “We will deliver cross-platform support that is standards-based and community extensible, with a…

A Real Sun Fan

 Jeff Whitehead, CEO of Real Time Matrix Corporation (RTM), told analysts on today’s “Customer Coffee Chat” call, “I’m obviously a real Sun fan.”

 And why not?  His Oakland-based startup – 11 employees strong – has overcome its scalability, availability, and cost challenges, and is signing up new customers by the boatload.

 RTM uses a patent-pending matching engine to provide streams of real-time information to its customers over the Web. They “unclutter the Web” and make it easy for customers to obtain the news, video, blogs, social media, and entertainment relevant to them.  RTM process 500,000 – 2 million articles a day and must be able to deal with “fast periods” of 100,000 hits at once.

Consolidation in Russia and the Commonwealth States? Da! Concerned about Green IT? Nyet.

Today’s IBM analyst call provided some good figures on what’s happening in their East Europe/ Asia territory and even better insight on how a behemoth corporation enters, and understands, an emerging economy.

Tan Lu, System z Growth Leader, explained that the need for growth, control, and security is leading to an IT renaissance in Russia and, in particular, to a renaissance of mainframe use. Siegfried Langer, System z Growth Manager, provided some compelling examples: The Central Bank of the Russian Federation consolidated 78 data centers full of homemade apps down to three, decreasing the cost per transaction by 10X. Russian Railways pared 50+ data centers down to three, which are now strategically placed along major transport lines.

The peek into the business and cultural aspects of accomplishing these projects was really thought-provoking. For example, while the “green” story makes sense to clients in Moscow According to Mr. Langer, everything is still quite political, and certain industries deemed “key” reap the lucrative rewards of that designation. and the surrounding regions, it’s not part of the business justification at this point. Their primary energy concern is making sure that they won’t be subject to brownouts in the summer. For the most part, Russian and CIS companies aren’t even breaking down power costs in their accounting. And some of them have very – VERY – favorable energy deals with the government.

I have seen, first-hand, the eruption of a volcano. I watched on television as Americans were freed from captivity and as Berliners took down their wall. I have viewed images from the outer reaches of space in awe and wonder. And today, I witnessed two grown men roll themselves around on a stage covered with one hundred live, snapping mouse traps. And that was pretty cool too.

The opening of the IBM Impact 2008 Smart SOA Conference in Las Vegas on April 7 was well-suited to its host city. First, the UNLV marching band – full uniforms, flags held high – entered the MGM arena space playing “Tusk.” (Which is, by the way, the only GCG-approved Fleetwood Mac tune.) Next up, the CIO of Harley-Davidson rode in on a – what else? – Harley. And really, no kickoff could be complete without Cirque De Soleil acrobats dangling and spinning from what appeared to be floor-to-ceiling fabric swags, accompanied by the music of a live string quartet. Damn, but those folks could climb some drapes!

IBM publicly unveiled its new System z10 Enterprise Class hardware today as the cornerstone of its New Enterprise Data Center – IBM’s new model for virtualized, business-driven, and service-oriented IT delivery. The five System z models range from 12 –…

First Runner-up: “Sun customers are those who see IT as a competitive weapon.” A concise insight into the company’s posture and executive-level thinking; Mr. Schwartz was referring to three core markets: ·         HPC: Not just TACC and other supercomputing centers,…

Sun Analyst Summit 2008: The Network is (Still) the Computer… and Software Drives the Network Industry and financial analysts received an enthusiastic welcome from CEO and President Jonathan Schwartz, who laid down the baseline message: “Network Innovation Is Our Focus….

Industry and financial analysts attending Sun’s Analyst Summit in San Francisco were invited to kick off the festivities by getting a “sneak peek” the Menlo Park Sun Solution Center set to open in March. This sixth U.S. center showcases the…

IBM made public today its newest strategy for expanding its System x product line – a new licensing agreement with Lenovo.  This agreement follows the template of the two companies’ PC arrangement: Both will manufacture and sell uni- and 2-way…