Insights

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Practical insights on technology, sourcing, cloud, and emerging technology.

Strategic IT Contract Default – Smart Decision or Dirty Business?

Strategic IT Contract Default One of the hottest topics in the wake of the meltdown of the real estate market is the ethics of walking away from an underwater mortgage – which now accounts for 12% of all foreclosures according to Morgan Stanley. Banks and realtors tend to opine that it’s a barbarian practice, only acceptable… Read More »Strategic IT Contract Default – Smart Decision or Dirty Business?

October 18, 2010

The Internet

The Google/Verizon Walled Garden Plan: No Substantive Impact on Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality Plan By Alex Veytsel and Tony Greenberg In the hubbub over the Google and Verizon new net neutrality plan, a couple of things stand out: 1) There is no actual deal, just a proposed compromise that no one actually likes 2) Everyone seems to be confused about the new, private Internet While more viable… Read More »The Google/Verizon Walled Garden Plan: No Substantive Impact on Net Neutrality

August 10, 2010

Risk Management

Hosting Uptime Assumptions & Mistakes

Hosting Uptime Assumptions & Mistakes One of the biggest mistakes that buyers make when outsourcing for the first time is assuming that their internal performance standards (usually tuned to “net” server uptime) are what the provider is promising, whereas most of the time what they’re getting is a “gross” site uptime that excludes pre-scheduled maintenance… Read More »Hosting Uptime Assumptions & Mistakes

August 4, 2010

The Internet

Microsoft Starts to Share

Microsoft Starts to Share I always have thought of Microsoft as Open Source in many ways. I know it may sound odd on several fronts, especially for a guy like me who has been using UNIX flavored operating systems since the early 1980s. But I’ve also been using PC-Windows and Apple Macintoshes since the early… Read More »Microsoft Starts to Share

May 14, 2010

The Internet

Everyone Loves A Format War

Format War Everyone loves a format war. These things happen once every five years or ten years. The last one that happened was about ten years ago during the Real Media vs. Windows Media wars for domination of Internet video streaming. Many of us are old enough to remember the battle between Sony’s Betmax and… Read More »Everyone Loves A Format War

April 29, 2010

The Internet

Google as CDN – No Big Deal, But a Big Deal

Google as CDN Craig Labovitz, at Arbor Networks, a company that makes packet inspection gear, released a great article about how much traffic Google serves. It has a few key points that the content delivery, content, and telco companies should note: Google is deploying cache servers in ISPs Google generates upwards of 5% of all… Read More »Google as CDN – No Big Deal, But a Big Deal

March 22, 2010

Risk Management

Data Center Checklist – Force Majeure Abuse

Force Majeure (less secularly known as “Act of God”) clauses are standard contract language and should be included in your data center checklist. Having your data center wiped out by a meteor strike means you’re not getting service credits and there’s not much you can do about it (there are concessions that can soothe that pain,… Read More »Data Center Checklist – Force Majeure Abuse

March 20, 2010

Risk Management

Devious Device – SLA Measurement

SLA Measurement – Today’s devious device is a playbook page that’s intentionally left blank. Omitting meaningful measurement from IT service Level Agreements (SLAs) or leaving them to the discretion of the supplier can effectively nullify their effect along with service credits of 2%-5% of your monthly bill for a single violation up to 50% or… Read More »Devious Device – SLA Measurement

March 9, 2010

Sourcing

IT Services Suppliers Reviews – Can You Believe It?

IT Services Suppliers Reviews Like many, I look for reviews of products and services on the internet in order to help my buying decisions. And like many, I often find that there seem to be crazy rantings of people that populate otherwise stellar reviews for products and services of all types. Where do these rantings… Read More »IT Services Suppliers Reviews – Can You Believe It?

February 26, 2010