Monday March 14, 2005

JDS Preview usage up 10%

Last Thursday night we made Java Desktop preview the default Sun Ray desktop environment at Sun. We upgraded more than 600 servers world wide over night. In my mind the fact that we can upgrade more than 30,000 Sun Ray desktops in one night is pretty darn impressive.

In the interest of honesty I do have to tell you that Murphy did strike Friday morning. At our Broomfield campus we had a SunRay outage completely unrelated to making JDS Preview the default. Of course since the only thing users knew to have changed was JDS preview they assumed that we were the cause of the outage. We are doing damage control and even in Broomfield we are seeing CDE usage drop.

In my post last week before we made the change I said I would let you know how much the percentage of users still using CDE changed. Last Thursday it was 45% and when I just check a few minutes ago it had dropped to 35%. That is progress. Over the next week I think it will go even lower.

Our focus is changing now from JDS preview to the Solaris 10 rollout. We are putting the Change acceptance and roll out plans together. After quarter end we will move full speed ahead to deploy Solaris 10 across our Sun Ray environment.It is great that most of our users will already be familiar with the Gnome desktop environment

Thursday March 10, 2005

Today is the day

Today is the day we make JDS Preview the default Sun Ray desktop at Sun. Starting tomorrow users will have to explicitly choose CDE if they want to run it. It sure is nice to finally see this happening. We've been talking about it for so long.

It will be interesting to see how much our percentage of CDE users changes. How many people will continue to run CDE even if they have to make the choice every time they log in to a SunRay? Today we have 45% CDE users. I'll let you know what the number is next Monday. One thing that probably will slow down the uptake is that no one will see JDS Preview as the default until they log out and back in. Some users only log out and back in about once a month if that.

Monday March 07, 2005

Go faster! No! Go slower!

It is tough to find the balance between the need to run a business with always on availability and the need to constantly upgrading Sun's internal infrastructure to the latest and greatest software we are selling. I've been replying to employee inputs about the default change to JDS Preview that we are making later this week. A couple of emails I've received today illustrate the different points of view that exist within the Sun population.

One user lambasted us for "running a glitzed up version of some 3 year old software .... JDS Preview is nothing more than GNOME 2.0 painted to look like a more recent release." He suggested we should be rolling out the latest beta Solaris software on a monthly basis across the company.

Another user I heard from today is representative of the more than a third of the company who have chosen to stay on the tried and true, familiar CDE. She said "Why not wait until April to make people who have been using CDE and are comfortable with it try and learn something new at the end of the quarter when they are responsible for processing millions of $s in revenue? Just something else we have to account for when people are slowed down in their processing because of some new desktop environment."

This tug of war is nothing new. Anyone who has ever worked in IT is familiar with it. Actually having the discussion probably leads to a better result for Sun.

Wednesday March 02, 2005

JDS Preview to become the default

Several months ago I began talking about our plans to deploy a version of GNOME 2.0 with a JDS look and feel as a first step towards eventually deploying Solaris 10 and JDS across Sun. We call what we are deploying JDS Preview. In November we deployed JDS Preview as an option on all our SunRay servers. About 55% of our user base has voluntarily given up on CDE and started running JDS Preview.

Next week we are going to make the BIG Default change across Sun. Sun Ray users will now have to explicitly choose CDE if they want to keep running CDE. This should improve our GNOME usage significantly and make us much more prepared to move to the real JDS in the next few months. Stay tuned.

Tuesday January 18, 2005

JDS file search

One of the most common questions we get from JDS (Gnome) users is how to search for a file. One might think that you open the Nautilus file manager and do a search. But one would be wrong. None of the menus in Nautilus have a search option. It is actually quite easy once you know the answer. All you have to do is select Search for Files from the Launch menu.

I mentioned Friday that I was going to be fixing my parents computer over the weekend. I reinstalled Windows and the virus protection software, ran some upgrades, switched them to Thunderbird for email and Firefox for browsing and they are back in business.

Wednesday January 05, 2005

Beta testing JDS release 3

Before Christmas I signed up to be an internal beta tester for JDS Release 3. Yesterday I loaded the new JDS iWork client on to my laptop because I didn't have (and couldn't get) the root password for the JDS currently installed on my laptop. The install of the new iWork toolkit went very smoothly. I love it when things work! Then I proceeded to download the JDS release 3 ISO images and I burned a set of JDS release 3 install CDs. Now I'm doing the install. Stay tuned.

Wednesday December 15, 2004

I'm a Beta tester

I just signed up to be an internal Beta tester for Sun Java Desktop System. I expect it to be a real learning experience for me. I am relatively familiar with JDS but I haven't installed it before or ever done any Linux system administration kind of stuff. It should be fun. (2004-12-15 17:34:28.0) Permalink

Tuesday November 30, 2004

How to fill up your mail box

Yesterday Jonathan sent out an all Sun email urging people to move to JDS Preview and give up CDE. He ended it with a request for people to let us know what they thought of JDS Preview and if they are not running it why not. There was an alias for people to send their responses to. Unfortunately we had a typo in the alias. The alias and word before it were run together. Even with the error a lot of people figured out how to respond and my mail box has over 170 responses so far.

The responses have mainly been things like this :- “ Love it for sure, great to show others peers and convert 'em as fast as I can. Even more fun when I have clients in for a meeting. I sit 'em down and show them a slice of what we also discussing during our meeting. We've come a long way quickly, don't stop now, full throttle....then again I'm a Sun software guy...pretty easy to please - keep giving me the products to use that I'm selling, and the results are amazing!”.

We have had a very few like this one :- “So the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) is going away? We will be forced to use something else? Why? CDE is great...if it ain't broke, don't get 100 geniuses to fix it... ” Which just proves that some people don't like change :-)

We also got a lot of good feedback that will help us improve JDS and thus accelerate acceptance. For instance I didn't know that “ in Europe the logistics tool is in an extreme ugly pink on JDS. After on hour you get a massive headache.” We'll definitely have to fix that!

It is fun responding to the feedback. I think each of them deserves a response :-) (2004-11-30 14:49:43.0) Permalink

Wednesday November 24, 2004

JDS Preview status

Because I'm sure you are all dying to know, here is an update on the deployment of Java Desktop System Preview at Sun. As you probably know JDS Preview is a first step to deploying Solaris 10 and JDS 3 at Sun. JDS Preview is Gnome 2.02 with a new JDS look and feel. Two weeks ago we updated all the SunRay servers world wide to include JDS Preview and converted all existing Gnome users to the new look and feel.

We now have close to 15,000 people running JDS Preview on their SunRay desktops. From a change acceptance perspective it is interesting to find out why we still have a whole lot of people who aren't running JDS Preview even though I feel like we have done a hell of a lot of communicating, listening, engaging, selling etc. It just shows how much you have to do.

Monday I am hosting a 7am and a 5pm conference call with our Siebel user owners, many of whom may believe there are issues with Siebel and JDS. There aren't, unless you count a couple of minor things that have work arounds. I hope I can remember to make the 7am conference call on Monday after four days off!! We have also asked Jonathan to send out another email asking people to switch. There is a whole lot of other stuff going on but those are a couple.

The change team has been asking people why they are still running CDE. Many of them say they just don't like change, or they don't have time, or they'll change when they have to but not before.

The next big step in the transition is to make JDS Preview the default desktop. If we pass the compliance review on December 3 we'll change the default on December 8. After the default is changed people will get JDS Preview when they log in unless they actively choose CDE.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (2004-11-24 15:33:38.0) Permalink

Thursday November 11, 2004

Why run JDS at Sun?

In his latest blog Jonathan Schwartz says "But let's be clear. Do I expect an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs to pick up the Java Desktop System? No. No way. He's not our target demographic, not a route to make 120 million into 1.2 billion. A call center in Bangalore, a factory in Tennessee, a generation of kids that care more about ringtones than Win32 legacy? Dedicated internet terminals in shopping malls, touch screens in phone booths, the world's academic environments? There's a market calling." So you might ask why would Sun want to use Java Desktop System internally if we don't expect Goldman, Sachs to use it?

As we have rolled out Java Desktop Preview this week we have gotten lots of feedback, most of it very positive. But, a few people complain that this really isn't as good as Apple's mature and very good user interface. While Java Desktop System is a very functional fully integrated user environment, there really is room for improvement. I think that one of the keys to successful change acceptance efforts is honesty. People become cynical if you sell them one thing but deliver something less.

But I digress. My question in the title of this blog was why JDS at Sun. If it isn't the best why should we use it? I think the answer to that question is really very simple. How can we ever expect Java Desktop System to get better if we don't use it? Maybe it will get better but I believe that it will get better faster if we use it.

If we don't use it I'm sure we will still sell it to a lot of customers in the target demographic. I'm no salesman but if we use Java Desktop System I believe we will sell it to more customers and maybe even expand the market. I believe in the power of Open Source and Sun. I can imagine a time in the future when the combination of security, mobility across platforms and a continually expanding market make Java Desktop system dominant.

But I am known for being an optimist. I once (many years ago) went into a meeting thinking that maybe the company was announcing bonuses when actually they told us they were going to lay most of us off ! But even if I am way too optimistic, even if Java Desktop System only takes hold in the target demographic that Jonathan defined, I absolutely think it is critically important for Sun to run Sun with Java Desktop System.

Wednesday November 10, 2004

Java Desktop System Preview Status Report

The IT Operations team has deployed the Java Desktop System Preview on about 66% of our SunRay servers world wide. It has gone amazingly smoothly. It's real tribute I think to all the people who contributed to the change acceptance and communications teams and to the developers and support people.

Our internal support (Global Resolution Center) vendor put on extra staff to handle what could have been a big peak in call volume. So far,and I know it's early, we have seen calls from less than 1% of users who have been converted. Wow!

I have been replying to the questions that come in on our internal feedback alias and they have been almost universally positive too. There are a few things that people wish were different like the version of Gnome and the calendar client. But they understand the reasons why we've done what we've done.

Our next target is to see everyone running Gnome. I want to make CDE extinct at sun, relegate it to a distant memory like Visicalc or Wordstar :-)

Friday November 05, 2004

JDS at Sun

I really found this article about the Java Desktop System interesting. A few months ago I had a very vague idea about what exactly JDS was. It is not an Operating System. It is not Gnome. The best (not very good) analogy I could come up with was that it is a paper bag full of components for a new Sun desktop. As I helped do the change acceptance work for Java Desktop System over the past three months I have gotten a better handle on what exactly JDS is. The article above helped coalesce my thoughts.

I have found that the more I learn the more I forget what it was like not to know. The problem is that I bet I am not the only person at Sun who is still struggling with exactly what Java Desktop System is, and why it is important. For a lot of people I bet the vision is intuitively obvious and its very hard to imagine that someone might not get it! But for me I'm still working on getting there.

To quote the article above " Java Desktop System is the very best, most complete, and thoroughly integrated GNU/Linux distribution on the market." It is a fully integrated set of open source components that is targeted for the enterprise market.

Based on that definition, here is my latest stab at an understanding of JDS (using a few words from the above article) and its future.

As Java Desktop System infiltrates the enterprise desktops of the world it neutralizes the power of any single O/S platform to dominate the way Windows has dominated in the past. We know that right now Java Desktop System provides productivity, usability, stability, and operational/TCO benefits to a limited market of which Sun is not typical. But we believe that the combination of the Open source developer community and Sun's ability to support the enterprise will in the long run produce a product that appeals to a broader and broader market base. So we want to have everyone running JDS everywhere in anticipation of the stellar product we believe it will become. We can help make it even stronger.

Some feedback I received today " JDS+Solaris+Opteron make a killer software development environment. Add in Trusted Solaris features and it addresses the DOD/spook market. Or add in the integrated identity services and it becomes an excellent solution for certain vertical markets. " makes me think that my understanding is still pretty darn shallow and may in fact miss the mark but I am enjoying the dialogue and I think I will get there eventually

Thursday November 04, 2004

JDS Preview is coming Next Week!

As I mentioned in an earlier Blog we are rolling out a new Gnome look and feel across Sun. It will make Gnome look more like JDS. This is the first step to getting everyone at Sun running JDS everywhere. We call this new Gnome look and feel JDS preview. The base version for JDS Preview to be installed on is Solaris9U4(min) and Gnome 2.02.

The rollout has been delayed a couple of times because we really wan to get this right. But now we are good to go, and we will do the roll out next week. If all goes as planned we'll do a third of the SunRay servers Sunday night, and a third each of the next two nights.

The change acceptance work and communications for this has been a fantastic learning experience. We've used multiple methods of communication and repeated the message over and over again. Just some of the methods we've used include: all Sun email from Jonathan Schwartz, cartoon posters featuring the JDS Phantom, phone calls to key influencers, group presentations, ask the expert conference calls, each team member focused on individual conversations with a different key stakeholder group, and a jds-preview-comments alias with personalized responses.

But the most exciting thing about this is that it is working!! I know I shouldn't sound surprised but it always nice to see what you believe in actually work. We are doing multiple conference calls this week to answer people's questions. What is really exciting is that we are getting feedback that people like JDS Preview and are excited to see us beginning to roll out improvements to our user interface. IT so often gets beat up any time there is a change. This time it looks like it will be received as a positive improvement moving us forward. I think it is symbolic of Sun's recovery. It feels good.

Wednesday October 27, 2004

JDS Preview and change control

So, No jury duty. They didn't need me. I just made two phone calls and I am done with my civic duty for at least a year.

We had our JDS Preview Testing status review yesterday and came out with a list of action items. It turns out we need to get a couple more reviews and approvals for a change that impacts this many people so it looks like the change will not happen Monday. Maybe next Thursday or a week from Monday.. Ah well, I can't really fault following a proper change review process. Just a quick story about the need for change control.

Many, many, years ago I was managing the technical support organization at Digital Research, the micro computer pioneer, in Pacific Grove. We were supporting a product called CBasic Compiler and started getting calls from users who couldn't even get the compiler to load. We were stumped so the tech support guy called the product marketing manager. (Tom Byers who I think is now a professor at Stanford) Anyway it turned out that they had just made one small patch to the binary code on the master disk. No need to test such a small change or for that matter even mention the change to anybody. They had changed the company name to Digital Research. It was just one little change to some text.... But it wiped out an important register at the beginning of the file and rendered the compiler unusable. But it was just one little change. :-)

Wednesday October 13, 2004

JDS Change Acceptance

The Java Desktop System (JDS) Change Acceptance Team is working on two big changes.

The first change is the change to running JDS on our desktops. JDS for Solaris doesn't ship until next year but in the meantime we want everyone to become familiar with what JDS on the desktop will look like. So, we are releasing a version of Gnome that we call JDS Preview because it looks like the JDS Desktop. The conversion to JDS Preview is being tested right now. I mentioned that we were starting testing last week. We found a couple of problems in our conversion scripts but I think we are on track to release JDS Preview world wide very soon. The CAP team and the communication team are working hard to make sure people know it is coming and have opportunities to learn about it and ask questions about it. Most people I talk to are eager to start using it although I have had a couple of people ask what JDS stands for! I guess that just proves we are talking to the right people.

The second JDS related change is the change to JDS on laptops. We make available an iWork Client toolkit that includes all the software I need to use a laptop to do Sun work. The toolkit includes everything from StarOffice and Mozilla to a VPN client and Teledesk software that allows me to manage my phone calls. In the next few weeks we will be releasing the JDS iWork Client Toolkit. Finally everyone at Sun will be able to use JDS whether they are on a SunRay or a laptop. It really is great to use the same environment everywhere.

The JDSiWork Client is about ready to ship. The only issue we are still working out is how support will work. We have found out through experience that a lack of good support is a significant barrier to people's ability to work remotely and the abiltiy to be effective remotely is something people really want. It is one of the reasons that iWork is so successful. I believe we not only have to have top quality support for the JDS iWork toolkit components but we also have a service that will load people's machine with the software for them. The support has to be as great as the product itself. We want everyone to be very successful using JDS!