- Latest News
- Comment & Metrics
- Magazine Articles
- Jason Stamper's Blog
- Open Source Blog
- Newsletter Sign-Up
Jason Stamper's Blog: August 2007 Archives
Caveat Emptor! Sound Advice for IT Buyers
August 31, 2007
My colleague over at sister analysis firm Ovum, David Mitchell, has authored a rather useful piece of analysis into the sales tactics of the major IT vendors, and what end users should be doing to recognize and deal with them.
Of course in simple terms the vendors are trying to sell you as much IT kit as they possibly can for as much money as they can get out of you, but there are more subtle tricks and ploys worth being aware of.
"Two blues songs are among my favourites: the first is ‘Wonderful world’ by Sam Cooke, which he first performed in 1960; the second is ‘Crossroad blues’ by Robert Johnson, from the 1930s," Mitchell writes. "In the second of these, Johnson describes the pact that a musician strikes with the devil, where the musician sells his soul in return for musical greatness. The software industry has echoes of both songs. The marketing messages of vendors all promise a wonderful world, while the behaviour of some sales teams seems diabolical."
Enterprise architecture coming of age?
August 21, 2007
Enterprise architecture (EA) is no longer about producing pretty diagrams that end up in a drawer somewhere.
A recent study by Architecture & Governance Magazine, sponsored by Troux Technologies, found that enterprise architecture is now being used by organisations to fuel business growth, as opposed to simple modelling of the IT environment.
How to solve the Tour de France doping crisis
August 02, 2007
More doping scandals from the Tour; an entire sport in crisis. But what can be done? Even more drugs testing? Make controlled levels of drugs use acceptable as some have -- incredibly -- suggested?
No of course not, that would just be stupid. The argument seems to be that because doping is rife, it should be made legal. Rather than penalise people for using drugs, everyone should be allowed to use them, making it a level playing field/mountain stage. An idiotic idea when you consider the practicalities...
For one thing, once you have an "acceptable level" of drugs use that all riders are able to stay within, then sure enough some riders will step beyond the mark, and so you will still have the races thrown into disarray when riders or teams are forced to bow out.
Secondly, what do you say to young riders starting off in cycle racing? Step 1: buy bike. Step 2: shave legs, apply lycra copiously. Step 3: get fit. Step 4: get even fitter by buying drugs from drug dealer, begin course of potentially lethal drug injections. Step 5: remember that it is only for cycling that you should take drugs, not in any other circumstances, because outside of the sport drugs are bad.
So if testing is already about as stringent as it can get (without hiring a policeman to follow every tour rider so closely they are practically inside their lycra) and legalising doping is Just Plain Dumb, what can be done?
I have a simple, inexpensive and practical solution....
back to top