Are you ‘Chrome’d-out?

By George M. Tomko

This is about the 20 millionth blog post or article that has been written with some reaction to last week’s *new* Google Chrome OS announcement. For the most part, it was a surprise announcement – mostly because it was not leaked to the press.

I have posted about Google in a mostly positive light (“Google: No brag, just fact”; “What’s the Thing with Bing?”) but I do not own any Google stock or have any financial interest whatsoever, directly or indirectly. And, my point-of-view is going to be widely different than most of what is out there. Since I am not wedded to any particular technology, all I have to ask is, why would or should I care (as a CIO, consultant, consumer, etc.)?

I have read some great posts (PC Mag’s Michael Miller; CIO.com’s Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols) that have really thought out and carefully presented the author’s arguments in the following major categories: 1) Microsoft killer; 2) Linux killer; 3) gives Google the keys to the world; 4) is it really ‘open’;  5) is this really ‘new’? All good questions and perspectives, but the answers don’t really mean much.

So, to the fundamental question: why would I (or you) care? I guess I would care if it changed my (or your) life in some way or another, positively or negatively. So, if I am a CIO, I might be concerned about this throwing a monkey-wrench into my carefully thought out strategic technology plan.

Is the Tide turning against Cloud Computing?

By George M. Tomko:

As the hype continues regarding “Cloud Computing”, there are now tales from those who have recently experienced the current offerings of these services.

Also, there are more and more seasoned, veteran practitioners of information technology (“IT”) that have been at conferences, had prosepctive suppliers call on them and, in a number of cases, carefully “dipped their toe” in the water on a self-contained project.

But, at the end of the day, does anyone really know what cloud computing really is? I am sure this video with a number of well-known names will clear it up for you:

Further evidence that the hype is doing little to clarify or capture the mind share of IT leaders, except, perhaps for curiosity, comes from Tim Anderson and his recent post “Cloud Computing Survey: More Fog Than Cloud” :

“…the survey was undermined by the fact that most of those surveyed admitted to not knowing what cloud computing is. The reason is not ignorance, but the many and various ways the term is used. The common strand is that it is something to do with the internet, but even that is undermined if we describe virtual on-premise servers as a “private cloud”.

Google: “..no brag, just fact”

The closest that I ever came, as a CIO, to entrusting my large company’s e-mail and office apps to a third-party vendor, it was Google that I considered. Unfortunately, a merger got in the way of making good on that idea. But, looking back, the most incredible thing is that I was willing to get serious about doing something that drastic almost 4 years ago!

In this age, 4 years is like a thousand eternities. Since then, Google has only gotten better — way better.

They have an impressive record of producing not only the user-facing eye-candy, cool widgets and very useful, quality applications, but they are world class in mundane-but-important functions like data centers, networks, accounting, project management and support.

And now comes Google Wave. Hyped — Yes. But as famous character actor Walter Brennan said in his signature line in the 1967 movie “The Guns of Will Sonnett”: “no brag, just fact”. Currently in its “alpha” release, it already has working functionality built-in and it is only going to get better. Consider this quote from Ben Parr from his Mashable review post:

It really seems to focus on contacts – on people – which we feel is the direction communication is taking. Email applications currently focus less on people and more on the content of the message. We think tools like Facebook and Twitter better balance the need to know the person behind a message and the message itself. Google Wave moves in that direction…… Overall assessment: It’s already got certain aspects, like navigation, absolutely right. With some great 3rd party apps and greater customization, Google Wave could actually match its hype.

So, Google Wave will be launched soon and will unify web communications in such a way that it will be the container for everything else. It is being built on open source technologies which will create huge developer interest and many add-ins and extensions.

I don’t own Google stock or am associated in any way with the company. But I have to say that I truly believed 4 years ago, and feel much stronger about it now, that they could make certain large software, hardware and services companies irrelevant in just a few more years. And, when that day comes, I would hope that the company stays true to its values. And, when they say that they are the best, all they will have to do is immediately follow with that famous line, “.. no brag, just fact.”