Shades of the mainframe era, no?
According to Antonio Neri, CEO of HPE,
“This is unique. None of the cloud providers—public cloud or other competitors—are offering what we call Silicon on Demand. What that means is with a single click I can turn cores on and off. If I need more cores, I turn it on. If I need less cores, I turn it off…..”
Read more at AbsolutelyJohn
While HPE did not release something specific about storage at Discover 2021, they had released both Alletra and their Unified DataOps product dubbed Data Services Cloud Console earlier in May.
According to HPE’s Calvin Zito, these products are the fruits of a new vision for storage.
Read more at AbsolutelyJohn
Azure Stack HCI is Microsoft’s Azure cloud delivered in on-premises hyperconverged software-defined hardware, software, networking, and APIs delivered in Microsoft-certified Windows Server boxes from Microsoft partners.
Just ahead of Discover 2021, HPE announced the availability of both Azure Stack HCI and Microsoft SQL Server for HPE GreenLake.
Read on at AbsolutelyJohn
HPE Project Aurora.
HPE is that company that does their thing so well, one tends to take them for granted because all aspects of your engagement with them seem to be humming along splendidly.
HPE Project Aurora is HPE’s zero-trust security scheme that utilizes cloud nativity to deliver security from the edge to the cloud.
According to HPE’s Keith White, General Manager for HPE GreenLake, Project Aurora would be tasked to deliver an impactful results in helping secure computing environments by constantly verifying all assets in that same environment, from all hardware, all software, and all connected devices all the way to all workloads.
Read more at AbsolutelyJohn
In a virtual staff meeting yesterday, Logikworx CEO John Obeto II finally told us what we had known for a while: Logikworx will now accept projects in the midmarket.
I asked him a few questions:
Webserf: After a couple of decades focused on SMBs, why the midmarket?
John Obeto: We didn’t come here willingly.
We had turned down such deals in the past because we were a) hampered and/or restricted by the MSP package we had in use, and b) I didn’t think we had staff that were both adequately trained or experienced in managing larger clients.
That has changed.
Webserf: How come?
John Obeto: We kept on getting qualified leads that wanted us to do the job despite the fact that we shied away from them because of their size.
Finally, I decided to take the plunge. We hired consultants with experience in managing larger companies, and trained them in “The Logikworx Way”.
We also contracted consultants that architected the actual processes, all the while shadowing them with others that vetted them, and their solutions.
I then managed the accounts personally, reducing that to co-managing, and finally handed off to the account managers ninety days ago.
I will still maintain account oversight for the foreseeable future.
Webserf: Does this mean Logikworx is leaving SMBs and moving up to the midmarket?
John Obeto: Definitely not!
I don’t think there would ever be an abandonment of the SMB as long as Logikworx exists. This is a step further ahead.
You weren’t here then, but we started out with the really small mom-and-pops when our VAR practice started taking off from the applications programming business. While we don’t target that segment anymore, we have stayed firmly in SMBs even as we have grown.
Webserf: I remember one of our meetings when you had talked about getting back to smaller firms. Is that still an option?
John Obeto: At this time, no. When Microsoft Intune was announced, I had thought that we could look into smaller companies with that solution in conjunction with BPOS, now Office 365.
However, the convoluted billing for Intune totally turned me off, as we would have had to insert Microsoft into the billing process, with the potentiality of no longer ‘owning’ that client. I couldn’t allow that.
Moreover, in the models I looked at, I didn’t see how we could reach desired profitability without sacrificing services and vice versa.
Webserf: Profits, as usual?
John Obeto: Profits, Norman. Profits.
For me, the constants are our levels of service and support. Knowing that, we have to find a desirable sweet spot that melds those two constants with our need to be profitable.
I just don’t see it at this time.
Webserf: Are we going to actively seek projects in the midmarket?
John Obeto: With the forthcoming Windows Server 2012, Hyper-V 3.0, and the VMware bids we have out, I don’t see why not. Moreover, Rod* thinks that moving to the midmarket might help our prospects in West Africa. I hope so.
Thank you, John.
There you have it: Logikworx is now in the lower midmarket.
*Rod Kowalsky is Executive Vice President of Logikworx.
John Obeto II, CEO of Logikworx and our fearless leader, has been selected as a judge for Constellation Research’s 2012 SuperNova Awards.
Congratulations, John.
John has a post on the award here.
A NetworkWorld debate on what a tablet really is had Logikworx CEO John Obeto as a participant.
Surprisingly, John declares it a personal computer, and tells why.
According to him,
PC. Personal Computer. As in a personal computing device. A tablet is both a computing device, and in most cases, is personal.
[…]
They are all PCs, they just come in different form factors.
So, yes, folks, a tablet or slate form factor computing device is a PC, which stands for personal computer, since the devices tend to be both personal and are computing devices. No matter what Steve Jobs says it is!
The entire article is here.
In deciding to move forward with our new managed services platform, Logikworx has selected the HP Proliant ML350, currently in G6 guise, as the management server to be deployed at all client locations and branch offices.
According to Rod Kowalsky, VP of Operations, it was an surprisingly easy choice from a three-competitor field. “For this bakeoff, we looked at the Dell PowerEdge, which had served us admirably in the past, and two models from the Proliant ML range, the ML110, and the ML350. When we ran our tests based on the criteria that mattered to us.
Webserf: Can you reveal the criteria, or it is secret?
RK: Most of them are the basics: performance, reliability, expandability, headroom, suitability to the proposed tasks, and a couple of other points.
Webserf: I see that the WORXservers were not in contention. Is there a reason why?
John Obeto: 5 years ago, I made a decision that we wouldn’t be in the white-box business any more. Building and supporting them just wasn’t economically feasible any longer. Since we were using Proliants and pleased with them, we decided to use them. That is still the case.
Webserf: The ML350 then fits the bill?
RK: Yes. We ordered G6 versions of the ML servers and worked them. While the ML110 would have been a good replacement, the ML350 allows us to do more.
John Obeto: We are moving from the 3rd-party management platform we have been using to a custom management suite/platform that we jointly developed with a software partner. This suite will allow us to be more nimble in managing both clients and servers at customer locations, and testing new features or functionality we might want to roll out.
The ML350 allows very utilization rates. Remember, these servers have to be in place for a minimum of five years, before the glimmer of a thought of replacing them occurs.
Webserf: In other words, this is a big deal?
John Obeto: Indeed, it is. Going with a specific platform across all our customer companies, with the only variation being CPU models, brings a homogeneity that makes management of our customers’ infrastructure a lot easier.
You also have to realize that this is part of a service delivery restructuring we have ongoing. As a result, this decision, without giving away any secrets – you can stop glaring at me, Rod! – is for a minimum of a few thousand servers over a three year period, as current servers are replaced. These are the management servers we use for our on-premise MSP operations at all client locations, including their branch offices. These are not the systems used in our customer’s computing infrastructure, though there is a 100% likelihood that they would be Proliants.
The replacements costs are built into the contracts our clients have/will have in force with us, in case you are wondering.
Webserf: As with Logikworx policy, the old systems will be deprecated, flushed, flashed, and then repurposed for needy school kids in Nigeria.
Rod Kowalsky is vice-president of Operations for Logikworx, and has been with Logikworx for 10 years.
John Obeto is CEO & Chief Technology Officer of Logikworx.
Our fearless leader, John Obeto, is featured as a Road Warrior is the inaugural issue of the ePrintCenter magazine.
The article can be found here.
John Obeto has been voted to the Board of Directors of Connect, the global community of 55,000+ IT professionals focused on HP products and technologies.
I spoke to him today via telephone
Webserf: Congratulations
John Obeto: Thank you, Norm.
Webserf: How do you see this directorship?
JO: It is a new sensation. This organization (Connect) is larger than anything else I have ever been involved with in a managerial role.
Webserf: Why?
JO: All of the businesses I am involved with in a directorial relationship prior to Connect were either my families companies, or siblings or friends’ companies. This is the first independent company, and also the largest. As a result, this is a new experience which I think is also a teachable one. And I’m in a learning mode.
Webserf: Why so?
JO: So many things are happening now. Furthermore, HP is sorta transitioning from a pure play hardware OEM to a hybrid hardware/software OEM. This is a good time to be here.
Webserf: Well, congratulations again.
JO: Thank you.
Lenovo is allowing twenty websites to each gift a brand spankin’ new Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z all-in-one computer system. (You know, the one w/ the mungo huge (23”) touch-enabled screen.)
Logikworx subsidiary AbsolutelyWindows has been selected as one of the sites to give away one of these systems to a lucky reader.
More information is here.
Today, Logikworx announced to employees and clients that it has migrated all servers, internal, management servers, and clients’ servers to Windows Server R2.
I sat down with Rod Kowalsky, General Manager of Logikworx to discuss this milestone.
Webserf: Hello Rod. Congratulations on the completion of your server migrations.
Rod Kowalsky: Hello Norm. Thank you.
Webserf: How difficult was this migration?
RK: It was much easier than the migrations from Server 2003 & Server 2003 R2 to Server 2008. Apart from a few new clients that were on older servers, we basically breezed through the upgrades. The reason it took so long was that we wanted to make sure nothing broke in the regression testing, as opposed to nothing critical breaking when we migrated people from pre-Windows Server 2008.
Webserf: Are you pleased at the time it took to get everything through?
RK: I am. We actually concluded the physical migrations seven weeks ago. However, John (Obeto, CEO of Logikworx) doesn’t consider a migration concluded until we have a minimum of four weeks without any incident at all, even if it is not our error. For example, one of the problems we ran into had to do with a bad UPS at a customer site. While that was not our fault, it was during the four-week shakedown period, and it caused the clock to be restarted. All in all though, we are satisfied.
Webserf: If I may ask, how are the Windows 7 migrations coming along?
RK: Technically, it is completed. In fact, we completed it two days before the start of Microsoft PDC 2010. However, it is also subject to our 4-week shakedown period as well. If there isn’t any incident, the 6th of December will mark the end of the 4-week shakedown period, and we shall announce it as well.
Webserf: so I will be talking to you again in a few weeks?
RK: Webserf, you talk to me every day!
Webserf: I know. I was referring to you appearing again on Logikworx News.
In a departure, Logikworx is setting up a VMware Pilot program to identify if VMware can supersede, coexist, or fail compared to Microsoft Hyper-V within the Logikworx environment.
To be headed by Rod Kowalsky, Logikworx general and operations manager, this project will run concurrently with the Hyper-V program also started here.
“I was against this pilot,” said Rod yesterday, “since I believe it takes resources away from our Hyper-V endeavors. However, I was overruled by John.” The good thing here, he added, is that heading both virtualization teams should provide him with the insight to see if his fears about leaving the Microsoft web are unfounded.
To John Obeto, CEO and Chief Technology Officer of Logikworx, virtualization is a huge undertaking, of a bet-the-farm type magnitude. As a result, he believes it would be tantamount to a dereliction of his fiduciary duties to both his customers and Logikworx if he does not adequately test and review the virtualization options available.
“At a point in time, there might even be the need for desktop virtualization projects, utilizing Microsoft, Citrix, VMware, and possibly other vendors or technologies we have not identified as of today. We have to keep an open mind as to where our competitive advantage would come from.” says John.
In this post on AbsolutelyWindows, John Obeto details how his decision was made, and especially thanks David M Davis and Train Signal, Inc. for their assistance in reaching this decision. He is also very impressed with the VMware professionals community.
DAGMA/Remix has been purchased by JEO2 Investments (Group O), and will become the strategic partner for Logikworx Africa. Though both companies are owned by Group O, there are no immediate plans to merge the staff and operations of DAGMA/Remix into Logikworx.
With more than ten years experience in educational IT provisioning, DAGMA/Remix brings a wealth of expertise in dealing with Ministries of Education across several African countries
This alliance will allow Logikworx to expand our footprint from a Nigerian and West African focus into Central Africa.
John Obeto has been invited to participate in the inaugural HP Networking Tech Day to be held at HP's Roseville, California campus.
"HP's portfolio in networking has been a sleeper hit," said John Obeto, CEO of Logikworx, "and it is about time that some light is shone on this portfolio. I see the HP value proposition in networking and network security coming to fore sooner rather than later, especially as the HP Converged Infrastructure Architecture vision is realized. I am humbled to be selected as one of the attendees."
This Tech day will include HP Networking A, E,V, & S Series product teardowns and deep dives, next generation connectivity with HP Virtual Connect & FCoE, and Intelligent Management Center (IMC) demos. A competitive landscape overview and a networking lab tour are also part of the agenda.
This Tech Day will be produced by Ivy Worldwide.
John Obeto will be one of the delegates at the Gestalt IT Tech Field Day Seattle 2010.
What is the Gestalt IT Tech Field Day?
The Tech Field Day is an IT infrastructure event organized by Gestalt IT. It brings together independent-minded folks like you for two days of analysis and discussion around some of the most interesting technology products available. Our previous Tech Field Days, held in the Bay area of California and Boston in 2009 and 2010, proved that the concept was extremely attractive and successful both for attendees and sponsors.
Tech Field Day is paid for by the presenting vendors. Although initiated by volunteers, we rely on a professional staff to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Tech Field Day is invitation-only with limited slots for both delegates and sponsors. Our focus is on the quality of the event, not the maximization of attendance or revenue.
The ideal Tech Field Day delegate is independent, technical, motivated, respected, open-minded, and thoughtful. The organizers and presenters expect you to ask pointed and probing questions and to keep the end user in mind. Our only expectation is that you will share your reaction to the presentations with your audience, just as you do every day.
Delegates attending Tech Field Day will have all of their event related expenses covered by the organizers. This includes airfare, hotel room, meals, entertainment, and local transportation. Most previous Tech Field Day delegates have, at their own expense, chosen to extend the trip over the weekend, and some brought their partners and families for these extra days. Note that although adult guests are welcome to attend evening events, the daily session schedule will be packed, leaving no time for additional activities. We suggest adding a few days before or after the event to leave time to explore Seattle.
Please follow John in real time on Twitter.
Moments earlier today, the board of HP CONNECT, the independent global community of 50,000 plus HP-focused IT professionals, created a Windows Special Interest Group to address the burgeoning and increasingly important rôle Windows, and indeed Microsoft technologies, are playing in the enterprise.
Logikworx CEO, John Obeto, has been appointed chair of this SIG, and has humbly accepted the position.
It is hoped that this SIG will help foster better understanding and help bring greater clarity to the Windows family: Windows client, embedded, servers, virtualization, and cloud offerings.