Boring history prologue I started playing with ‘computers’ back in the days when they came with 3K of memory (Vic 20 anyone?). And thank goodness I was too young to have experienced the punch card era… They quickly scaled up so that by the time I was at uni, 16MB of RAM was becoming standard. Fast forward to today and we can buy consumer notebooks with 16GB of RAM. Never in our wildest uni...
You probably already know that Steve Ballmer is coming to Sydney next month – Thursday 6 November from 3pm to be precise. If not, then check out this site. I’m fortunate enough to have a few invites to the event (yes, it is invite only at this stage). If you’d like to attend simply drop me a line and I’ll send you the registration link and the invite code to use. I’ve only got a few...
Next Wednesday 29 October 2008 we’ve got a special SQL Server 2008 night at the Sydney Business & Technology User Group (SBTUG). That means we’ve got Justin King, Omar Besiso and Geoff Orr talking about different aspects of SQL Server 2008. The focus is on covering high level benefits (ie there won’t be much in depth code). If we’re lucky we may even have a cameo from Rob Farley...
This post follows on from my previous where I explained that I was leaving Elcom, and the reasons behind that decision. This post covers my thoughts on the ideal role for me. But if you don’t have time to read it all, here’s the summary: Ideal role: Looking to contribute at a senior management level in a growing Microsoft technology focussed company, located either here or in the United...
Last week, following probably the worst IT downturn in the last 8 years I decided to leave Elcom. Crazy huh? Yeah, it may turn out to be foolish, but in this post I aim to explain why, and in the following post, what I‘m looking for as my next step. I thought I’d put this out there and see if it opens the door to any opportunities. Have I resigned? No I haven’t actually resigned as...
I thought I’d try to simplify my previous post on how to survive in tough economic times. Here’s how I see it: During the good times (eg when every second IT company is planning an IPO) you can focus on features. Features are really all about comfort and convenience, and in good times people lap them up. They are the equivalent of luxury extras on cars (eg heated seats). During the normal...
Yes, Office DevCon is on again. Here’s the details: Office DevCon is an annual community-driven conference that allows Microsoft Office developers and power users to come together in one location to hear expert speakers present on a wide range of Microsoft Office-related topics. Come along and discover how to do things you never knew you could do with the Microsoft Office suite of products...
You may recall my post ‘The Death of Gen Y’ back in May when I talked about the coming IT crash. In that post I also suggested attributes of companies that would survive during the tough times. And I think those points still stand. But let’s consider an additional area… First, let’s find an opportunity and analyse it. Take the following Gartner report for example. Last week Gartner...
Another interesting day. I caught up with Michael Kordahi and had a play on the Surface. Oh, and yes I’ve ordered one for the Elcom conference room – should be turning up any decade now :-) Keynote (Jeffrey Veen) The opening keynote by Jeff was good. Data is overwhelming, and analysing it can be an art-form. But failing to analyse is a business killer. The business of being social...
[NOTE: I wrote this post and the next over a week ago. But I wanted to hold off posting them until I’d had a little bit of time to reflect.] I had the pleasure of attending Web Directions South today – my first time. It’s interesting to compare it to TechEd from a few weeks ago in terms of how a conference turns out. Web Directions is much smaller of course, and has a nice intimate feel...