Over the last few months during our education courses and conferences, one topic kept coming up – the conservative nature of Storage Architects and Administrators (no – I am not talking Limbaugh or politics). Storage, in comparison to other technologies, seems to move slower than a snail on a cold California day. There seems to
Author Archives: Camberley Bates
The slow adoption of new storage technology- WHY? — blog by Camberley Bates
Proofs, validations and statistics, blog by Camberley Bates
Last week we had the privilege of training a group of sales people. In part of the training the students assumed the role of the end user during vendor presentations. The purpose was to gain a deeper understanding of the customer’s issues. When we debriefed we asked: “What did you experience when you took on
Storage Complexity & Other Questions, blog by Camberley Bates
In the last few weeks we hosted two classes on Advanced Storage concepts, one in Colorado the other in the Netherlands. While not statistically valid, here are some of the comments including issues on storage complexity that were raised. Some a bit intriguing, as they were not expected. Concerns with RAID and large capacity drives
Part 2 on Strategies, Surveys and Requirements , a blog by Camberley Bates
Previously I discussed the value of surveys and their role (or dysfunction) in making decisions. If surveys can lead a Product Manager astray, how to best to gather information to decide on requirements and futures? In comes contextual interviewing - Contextual interviewing is best done with a large group of interviews where you can choose
Communicating or Telling?, blog post by Camberley Bates
The last few weeks I experienced two great examples of Communicating or Telling. One, was Ash, the CEO of Actifio. Peter Levine of A16Z said we needed to see what they were doing, so John Webster and I trooped over to their office to get a look. Instead of the ubiquitous 15 slide presentation we
When Leadership Fails, blog by Camberley Bates
This last week I talked to my father, “the Captain,” about the cruise ship Costa Concordia grounding in Italy. Several people had asked me his opinion, knowing he was a former US Navy officer and cruise ship captain. (USS-Edson, USS Traverse County and American Hawaiian Cruise / SS Constitution). In his opinion, the captain should
Valuing Data, Pictures and Memories
Dad had a heart attack this weekend. It was his third. I thought I knew how to deal with it. I didn’t. I was brought back to his pictures, those of us on the his ship, the USS Constitution. The ubiquitous picture of him with all the passengers, in the same smile, time after time. Him dressed
Decision Making and Surveys – 4 things to consider
I was recently reminded about the risks of taking guidance based on surveys. Claims such as growth, adoption and intent can all be highly varied based on survey structure and administration. My husband, Tim Bates is an expert Product Manager, works with the national organization PDMA that trains and publishes on best practices. We discussed
Predictions for 2012, Perspective from EGI and our End Users — Article by Evaluator Group Staff
As we turn another year, it typically time for expectations and reflections. Here are the trends (given the input from IT end users) we expect to see next year. ITaaS (aka private cloud) will be undertaken by more IT organizations driven initially by the need for VM management. Provisioning, monitoring, management, and reclamation requirements for
IT Decisions: Bleeding, Leading and Managing, blog by Camberley Bates
At Evaluator Group, part of our business is devoted to advising end users. When engaging in their storage review process, we make an effort to incorporate the management style and leadership structure of the organization and how decisions are made. Without this insight it is very hard to guide an organization through the myriad of
