Deja vu all over again, people.
On Friday, May 13 Sun and Microsoft sat together to talk to the world about the next phase of our collaboration.
So as you might recall (and as we reported extensively in this blog), On April 2 of last year, Sun and Microsoft announced a broad technology collaboration agreement which ended all litigation, resulted in patent sharing and all kinds of good stuff.
(Urban legend has it that The Big Boss and Mr. Balmer held hands and sang Koom-Ba-Ya, but I tend not to believe this.)
Editor's note: Just a little humor there, people. Let's not go shooting off the email: "Mary said..." OK? We're safe because this blog doesn't boast these two giants of corporate America as readers. So we're safe as long as you don't go blabbing.
We digress.
As a result of last year's collaboration the following things have happened (no particular order):
- I passed a note across the aisle to Scoble, a big time blogger at Microsoft. We were both mentioned in a Fortune magazine piece on blogging and I figured I should introduce myself. He hit the reply button, triggering all kinds of email inbox excitement over here. (full story.)
- The two companies are collaborating on customer driven priorities especially work on security, digital rights management and Web Services.
- I have personally, with my own ears, heard The Big Boss say that Sun CTO Greg Papadopoulos (with whom I share a heritage and a passion for blogging) spends more time with Bill Gates than he does with him. (Which some alert readers might consider a proof point to #2; there's an interesting Q&A on the whole topic here. )
- Sun and Microsoft are working to improve interoperability between Java and .Net through web services standards development and support. (more proof points for alert readers.)
- I have personally spent time with -- and participate in regular
dialogue with -- some of the hottest of hot-shots in the ranks of
Techno Celeb Extraordinaries who earn their living from Microsoft. I'm
throughouly impressed by their talents and passion. I love working with
them. I respect and admire them. I get along with them great.
<pause button>
Tap-tap-tap.
Is this thing on?
So the story here, people, is that today the Big Boss
and Mr. Balmer gave an update of what's going on. They talked about
the fact that everything we're doing together is revolving around
customer requirements and the customers are setting the priorities for
our technical collaborations. Tap-tap-tap.
Is this thing on?
I need your attention here, people. We are partners. We work
together -- at every level of our organizations. It's not just Greg and
Bill; The Big Boss and Mr. Balmer... it's all over the organizations. I
have regular communications with people at Microsoft. I even count two
Microsoft employees as close personal friends. (One of them just bought
a really neat house on the lake which I intend to go see next time I'm
up there; and he's going to come over for dinner next time he comes out
here.)
</pause button>
Beyond that, some of our key partners (and Microsoft's) including system integrators such as Accenture, EDS and NEC are delivering Sun/Microsoft interoperability products that simply didn't even exist a year ago. (That one's for free for all those alert readers out there.)
that's the story.
And speaking of free...
Time for Friday Free Stuff!! (as if that all-you-can-eat buffet weren't enough for you ;-)
While supplies last, I'm going to give every single person who posts what their favorite thing about the McNealy/Balmer webcast this...
.. genuine leather case containing all kinds of USB/Gadgets/Thing-a-ma-bobs.
That's right. Every single person who posts (while supplies last).
You gotta watch the webcast to play. And you gotta give me enough detail to make be believe that you really did watch it. No repeats. So if somebody posts a comment containing a detail to prove they really watched it, you can't repeat that one.
Get it?
Enter* to win* by posting a comment to this blog entry.
Kiss, kiss!
mary
*This is not a contest. I'm just having a little fun giving away stuff that I personally own to people who play along with me.
I listened to the press conference in real time. May I now please claim my prize?
A couple of favorite points:
1. A cost of $50 to $150 per password reset was mentioned. This is consistent with comments I have heard from prospective customers who believe that password reset alone will justify purchase of Sun Identity Manager.
2. The Accenture representative mentioned that customers were highly concerned about both SOX compliance and Identity Theft.
Coincidentally, I had chosen this day to launch my new blog, focused on Identity Management. It was great to listen to the press conference and provide a bit of commentary. Please take a look: Discovering Identity
Thanks,
Mark Dixon
Practice Lead, South Central Area
Identity Management Practice
Posted by Mark Dixon on May 13, 2005 at 02:25 PM PDT #
Posted by ThinGuy on May 13, 2005 at 02:53 PM PDT #
Posted by Bradley Carpenter on May 13, 2005 at 03:06 PM PDT #
Posted by Vojtek on May 13, 2005 at 03:53 PM PDT #
Posted by Anand Jain on May 13, 2005 at 04:15 PM PDT #
Posted by Superpat on May 13, 2005 at 04:38 PM PDT #
These gentlemen clearly put a lot of time and effort into their presentation and it showed. Rather than having to overlook an intrusive case of nerves or wait through technical glitches, the viewers were able to focus cleanly on how this will benefit them. Not only does this speak well of their preparation but also to the importance of the content of the demo.
Very cool tech developments and a very well done presentation.
Posted by Dave K. on May 13, 2005 at 05:17 PM PDT #
Posted by Suresh S on May 14, 2005 at 03:33 AM PDT #
Posted by h meer on May 14, 2005 at 06:37 AM PDT #
Posted by Anthony Spina on May 14, 2005 at 08:17 AM PDT #
I'd like to reverse this a little, actually. Talk about what my least favorite thing of the NetCast was about. That would be that it appears to only be available in RealMedia format. When so many video codecs are available, especially codecs that are available on a much more accepted basis, it doesn't make sense to me that I have to download and install a product that I do not want to watch something that I do want.
Many codecs exist that are even lighter in bandwidth "weight" and are understood by a wider audience. With Windows shipping most of the world with Media Player installed, Apple shipping Quicktime with every Mac, Linux with Mplayer and VLC for which Solaris ports of Mplayer and VLC exist, etc. All are very good and using any codec but Real's closed video codec.
I apologize for the rant. Real just drives me to bitter emotions from past usage.
Posted by E Booher on May 14, 2005 at 10:27 AM PDT #
The newfound tight connection between Java and .NET server products is extremely exciting, as it provides users the benefit of interoperability between the two super-giant competitors in the enterprise market. Cooperation like this is simply nonexistent in most other industries. I'm glad Sun and Microsoft have a common, selfless goal in mind: to improve technical aspects of businesses globally.
Ballmer mentioned the companies' development of a single sign-on system which gives IT managers the ability to create users for each platform, reducing the amount of effort required in system maintenance. As someone who's tried to maintain Samba users between Linux and Windows systems, I know how painful that can be.
Additionally, Sun and Microsoft reportedly announced their protocol specifications to allow applications and the two OS's to speak the same “language” without middle-ware. Again, this is a generous step for both companies in the right direction for bringing ease of use to the end users.
As someone who's not too particularly fond of Microsoft, it's refreshing to see Steve Ballmer discuss his concerns for the end-user and how he actually wants to open Microsoft's standards to allow a competitor, namely Solaris, into its operations and function mutually. A big plus for Microsoft, here.
The live demonstration of the Microsoft employee and Sun employee was impressive, despite the British guy's poorly practiced speaking. Sun and Microsoft have developed a clever, seemingly secure method of exchanging user information through their new Federation system. Ballmer wasn't lying when he said the companies have made progress, was he? Nice job, guys.
As the CTO of Accenture told McNealy, he greatly anticipates the new administrative tools the companies are developing. This is certainly a good thing for IT departments across the country-- less time and money spent on maintenance and more focus on company improvement.
Probably just about everyone in the technology world has seen a video or two of Steve Ballmer making a speech or perhaps one of his retro product commercial spoofs, but we seldom see Scott McNealy in action. My first impressions of him are very positive.
Once again, thanks Mary for blogging this exciting and informative webcast. I'll be sure to pass it along to my friends.
Posted by Jay Phillips on May 14, 2005 at 01:30 PM PDT #
Posted by 69.41.161.38 on May 14, 2005 at 05:59 PM PDT #
Posted by Superpatterns on May 14, 2005 at 10:05 PM PDT #
Posted by Donald Chen on May 15, 2005 at 09:42 PM PDT #
Posted by mrben on May 16, 2005 at 02:37 AM PDT #
Posted by James on May 16, 2005 at 03:12 AM PDT #
Posted by Alex on May 16, 2005 at 04:17 AM PDT #
Posted by Kevin Figiel on May 16, 2005 at 07:47 AM PDT #
Posted by mary on May 16, 2005 at 10:18 AM PDT #