EMA Blog: Business Intelligence and IT Management

I just got off the phone with a reporter from a major industry trade magazine (no names please!) who is preparing an article on enterprise mobile device adoption. Wanting to help ensure accuracy in the reporting, I provided him with statistical details from our recent research into the use of mobile devices in the enterprise and stepped him through the findings. He was fascinated by the results and asked lots of follow-up questions. In the end, however, he admitted he would likely not be able to use any of the information in his article (say what?!). Apparently, his editor had specifically tasked him with writing an article showcasing how tablets are rapidly replacing PCs in the workplace, even though this is completely contradictory to reality.

IT marketing hype has generated quite a few ridiculous and sometimes outright bizarre phrases to describe trends in technology adoption, but few on the list of the absurd top the insistence that we live in a “post-PC” era.  The concept of “post-PC” derives from the (correct) fact that mobile device adoption has broadly accelerated, but makes the incorrect assumption that this is causing a substantial decrease in PC use.  Nothing could be further from the truth – especially in relation to the business use of desktop and laptop PCs.

Nothing drives an IT industry analyst more nuts then when a term is repeatedly misused for marketing purposes. DCIM certainly falls into this category. In the recently release EMA Radar Report on Data Center Infrastructure Management, we looked at hundreds of products claiming to be DCIM solutions, but identified only ten (that’s right … 10!) that could reasonably lay claim to that distinction.

I know what you’re thinking – you just read the title and thought, “Microsoft as a serious player in the mobile space … suuuuure!”  Bear with me, though – this really does make sense.

For the past two decades or so, several leading IT management vendors have tried to convince us that organizations should invest in a single unified management platform for supporting all of IT management needs.  Setting aside for the moment the fact that such an animal does not and cannot possibly exist (no vendor has the capital to develop every possible IT management product– I don’t care who they are), the value proposition of a single vendor uber-solution is flawed.  Sure, it sounds great to have one centralized console for accessing all automated support functions, and being able to deal with one vendor and one product set may seem like it will simplify management processes, but in reality this is not likely to be the case.   Primary deterrents to all-in-one solutions include:

Desktop PCs and laptops are the backbone of business profitability.  Yes, yes … I know … last week I raved about the rising mobile device revolution – but that transition is still a few years off.  Today the PC desktop remains king in enabling enterprise workforce productivity, and, in fact, organizational success and ongoing profitability is tied at the hip to desktop and laptop performance in most modern enterprises.  Unfortunately, management of these endpoints persists in being a nightmare to perform.  Consider your own home PC environment – how much time do you spend on installations, patch updates, and performance improvements, not to mention repairs from system crashes, malware intrusion, and software incompatibilities.  Now extend these challenges to hundreds or thousands or even millions of endpoints, and you get some sense of the daunting task facing IT managers.

Put this picture in your mind’s eye – It’s a beautiful sunny weekday and you’re sitting by a pool catching the sun’s rays and a cool breeze.  Strategically placed within arm’s reach beside you is some kind of fruity drink with a tiny bamboo umbrella in it.  You are working (yep, I said working!).  You punch in the last financial figures into your iPad and check your calendar to see it’s time for the board meeting, which you dial into using your smartphone.  Alright, truth-to-tell, you’re more apt to be using your mobile device while waiting on a line at the bank than sitting by a tropical pool, but the basic point is the same – mobile devices mean freedom for employees.

Welcome to The Systems Café!  Those who seek refuge herein will have the dubious honor of experiencing my stunningly opinionated ramblings on systems management topics, issues, news, rumors and general agita.  Don’t be intimidated by the topic – I’ll do most of the talking.  So, grab yourself a double-shot mocha latte and a blueberry scone and meet me at my favorite table for our discussion.  It’s the one over there under the lamp shaped like Rear Admiral Grace Hopper’s hat.  Go on, I’ll wait…