John McArthur’s New Venture Blog

One of the things we used to discuss, when I was running the storage research practice at IDC, was “When will a market disappear and just become a feature of some larger market?”  Examples are numerous.  Remember when there was a market for browser software? And, while NetApp is going strong, both Microsoft and Sun Microsystems are trying to make NAS a feature of the operating system.

One of the reasons I joined the board of StorMagic was that I saw the potential for the company to be a market disruptor.  Today, StorMagic announced SvSAN software, which, when installed on a VMware ESX server, converts the internal storage of the ESX server into an iSCSI SAN.  VMware leverages the fact that most single applications don’t need all the computing power of today’s servers.  SvSAN leverages that same fact to provide the storage management function within the ESX server, and also takes advantage of the fact that the internal storage capacity of an ESX server, perhaps the least expensive storage you will ever purchase, is more than enough capacity for a large number of VMware ESX server-hosted applications.  (more…)

Most people I work with now know that I am a relatively active user of social media and business networking tools, including Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, LinkedIn and Plaxo.  In fact, over the past six months, my blogging dropped off significantly, but my use of social media and business networking tools accelerated.

One of my clients was asking about the size of the installed base of Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex (GDPS), wondering if it was a market large enough to justify the investment needed to integrate with  their own solution.  They also wondered about the penetration rate for GDPS within the installed base of z/OS licenses.  That’s rather esoteric stuff, unless you cut your teeth on IBM mainframes, as I did. (more…)

It’s a tired truism that a rising tide raises all ships.  And a rising market rewards both the creative and the rote practitioners.  In years past, it didn’t take a financial wizard to take out an HP12C, calculate a lease-rate factor, bundle up a package of leases and sell them to GE, BankofAmerica, or Key Bank.  Selling off leases enabled the equipment or software provider to recognize a sale, while still allowing customers to spread payments over the useful life of the acquired asset. 

Times have changed, and just when everyone should have a lease offering and most thoughtful customers want one, so they can preserve cash on their balance sheet, the big guys that traditionally bought up the bulk of leases have gone packing. So where do you sell off your lease paper now?

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I’ve memorized most of the screenplay for Rob Reiner’s 1987 film, The Princess Bride.  Why? Because it’s funny?  Yes.  But more importantly, because at least once a day, there’s a line from the screenplay that fits perfectly with the situation I’m confronting.  Here’s a line I always recall when facing the seemingly insurmountable challenge:

My brains, his steel, and your strength against sixty men, and you think a little head jiggle is supposed to make me happy? I mean, if we only had a wheelbarrow, that would be something.

Today, I updated my suggested reading list to include Dave Hitz’ recent book, How to Castrate a Bull.  In the book, Dave chronicles his life and the life of NetApp, the company he co-founded.  And just like The Princess Bride, I find myself quoting from the book frequently. 

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