System iNetwork

July 1, 2009 10:23 AM

Bartell Trains, Hopes to Shave Eyebrows

I try to ignore fundraising events when it comes to publishing--I tend to shy away from abusing my position as an editor by promoting miscellaneous causes and sorting out which are "worthy" of publication--but there's a youngster in our IBM i community who gives a lot back to the IBM i world (like code, educational sessions, his blog, etc) so I'm bending my own rules: Aaron Bartell of Mow Your Lawn fame might shave his eyebrows.

Bartell is running the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago marathon, and he's trying to do some good for the world at the same time. On his blog, he writes:

"I am running to feed kids that are literally starving to death. I have four of my own kids with the 5th on the way. If I really stop and think about the reality of my kids dieing for lack of food it shakes the very foundation of my heart - I have to do something. That's where World Vision comes in…

World Vision works to tackle the root causes of poverty by working with children, families, and their communities to provide things like clean water, health care, nutritious food, education, and economic opportunities."

You can support Bartell's efforts through Team World Vision by making a one-time tax-deductible donation--there's a link from the post on Bartell's blog about it.

To make the whole process more entertaining and eventful, Bartell is going to incrementally shave a portion of his body when different fund raising levels are met, with a goal of $10,000.

At a $1,000, he's going to shave his legs. At $2,000, he's going to shave his armpits, and at $4,000 he'll hot wax the hair on the middle of his chest. At $7,000, off with the eyebrows, and at $10,000, his 4-year-old gets to take a shaver to his head.

Instead of doing this in the privacy of his own home, he's going to broadcast the events on YouTube. (Right, you know what I'm thinking, too, but here's an important point: if you donate, it doesn't mean you have to watch him shave his pits.)

OK, so back to the good cause . . . as you bite into your sandwich for lunch today in your air-conditioned office, take two seconds to imagine children scrambling around looking for food.

Here's that link again: http://mowyourlawn.com/blog/?p=169

Posted by cmaxcer on July 1, 2009 at 10:23 AM | Comments (11)

June 17, 2009 9:40 AM

Top Concerns Released by COMMON Europe

The results of COMMON Europe's global annual Top Concerns survey are in: The survey showed that "Satisfy internal customers" and "Treat data security and confidentiality as a business risk" are the topmost concerns for worldwide Power System/System i or other IBM systems’ users. They are followed by "Improve IT security and continuity", "Receive consistent high quality service and support from vendors", "Keep the skills current for the existing staff", and "Make me grow as a more competent individual". Surprisingly, COMMON Europe notes, "Correctly measure the value of IT to business" and "Assure better datawarehousing" are 14 and 16 in a list of 16.

The survey gathered responses from 547 participants from Europe, Americas, and Australasia, including customers, IBM, and IBM Business Partners, and ISVs. Last year's survey had 379 participants.

Participants also expressed their concerns that were not listed in the survey, COMMON Europe reports. "Better marketing of the System i, System i survival" and "Modernize applications" were the most frequently cited unlisted concerns.

COMMON customer responses to current issues were:

1. IT running budgets in 2009: 39% decreased, 9% increased, 8% stable and 44% do not know
2. New projects investment 2009: 40% decreased, 12% increased, 11% stable and 36% do not know
3. Migrate in 2009 to IBM i 6.1: 9.0% already done, 4.2% ordered, 28.2% planned, 45.1% not yet, 7.6% not user and 5.9% no information
4. Migrate in 2009 to Power Systems: 23.9% already done, 1.7% ordered, 13.0% planned; 40.8% not yet; 14.1% not user and 6.5% no information
5. Migrate in 2009 to Blades with IBM i 6.1: 2.3% already done, 1.1% ordered, 4.5% planned, 56.6% not yet, 28.2% not user and 7.3% no information

Academically Speaking

COMMON Europe also held its first Top Academic Concerns Survey for IBM Academic Initiative participants. There have been 48 replies consisting of students and professors so far (special voting for Polish students is still continuing because of their temporary unavailability during the opening session). This special set of concerns was chosen by the students and staff of the Austrian and Polish Academic Initiative institutions, COMMON Europe reports.

The preliminary analysis shows that "Free academic System i certification (for students)" and "Recycle used systems for students (instead of destroying them)" are the topmost academic concerns for the participating students. They are followed by "Discounted IBM professional certifications for students", "Free or discounted attendance to conferences for students", and "Easier access to demo and training IBM Power Systems".

Posted by cmaxcer on June 17, 2009 at 9:40 AM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2009 10:51 AM

IBM i First: Japan's IBM BPs and Vendors Rise Up

There's been some interesting action brewing over in Japan--a group of 71 IBM Business Partners and ISVs have joined forces to promote and actively provide valuable solutions for IBM i, which the group says is "the miracle in computer history". The darker backstory, though, is that because IBM is now focusing on marketing software and services, the promotion of IBM's hardware-based solutions gets mostly ignored. And what gets ignored all too often? IBM i.

To combat the problem, the partner community in Japan banded together to launch the IBM i Manifest initiative for the Japan market. In an email note, Gordon Davies, vice president of Asia-Pacific for LANSA, alerted me to the effort. The initiative has three basic goals:

• to revitalize the IBM i market in Japan and increase the customer installed base
• to assure IBM i customer organizations, resellers and ISVs selling IBM i solutions that IBM i will not only survive, but more importantly, continue to prosper
• to inform the wider IT community of the unique value proposition of IBM i

My Midrange Meddle blogger Martin Fincham, who is the general manager of LANSA's EMEA operations, wrote a post about the Japanese partner community's efforts.

The group has created a joint declaration, the "IBM i Manifest", and to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak, they reportedly published a full page ad in the Nikkei newspaper, which would have cost somewhere around $100,000 in U.S. dollars.

"Those of us outside Japan should follow the iManifest initiative’s progress with interest, and see what lessons can be learned for our own markets," Fincham notes.

For the primary site--which is mostly in Japanese--check out www.iforum.ne.jp/.

Here's a snip from the site:

And here's the resulting text after Google's translate engine went to work:

Posted by cmaxcer on June 10, 2009 at 10:51 AM | Comments (34)

June 8, 2009 10:34 AM

Gartner Echoes IDC's Numbers on Server Sales Slide

While Gartner and IDC never quite come up with the exact same numbers describing the worldwide server revenue and shipments for each quarter, they're usually pretty darn close. Gartner's latest findings echo IDC's: Gartner says worldwide server revenue declined 24 percent in the first quarter of 2009 while shipments dropped 24.2 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2008. These were the most significant declines the server industry has experienced on a year-on-year basis, Gartner says.

"The significant decline that occurred in the fourth quarter of last year has extended into the beginning of this year," notes Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner. "While this was not unexpected, the severity of the decline was greater than predicted on a worldwide level."

He adds, "The ongoing weakness of the global economy affected all server segments. x86-based servers fell 23.9 percent in units and 27.1 percent in revenues. UNIX servers also were impacted in quarterly results with drops of 31.3 percent in units and 20.4 percent in vendor revenues."

Everybody Takes a Hit

Of the top five global vendors, IBM, HP, Dell, Sun and Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens all had double-digit revenue declines for the first quarter of 2009, Gartner says. IBM continued to lead the worldwide server market based on revenue ($3 billion in server revenue with market share of 30.7 percent, up 1.4 percent year-on-year). While IBM retained the No. 1 position, it sustained a 20.4 percent revenue decline, with all of its server brands posting year-on-year decreases, Gartner notes.

In terms of shipments, HP led the pack despite a 22.3 percent decline, and all of the top vendors posted double-digit declines, as well.

The least impacted server segment was x86 blade severs, Gartner says, which fell 20.6 percent in units and 19.5 percent in vendor revenue for the first quarter. All blade server shipments declined 19.1 percent, and revenue decreased 13.8 percent.

Overall, Gartner expects similar lackluster server sales and shipments in the second quarter of 2009, and the research firm doesn't expect any significant turnarounds until 2010.

Posted by cmaxcer on June 8, 2009 at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)

June 1, 2009 10:05 AM

Servers Take a 25 Percent Dive, Blades Increase Share

According to the latest numbers from the math-lovin' whizzes at IDC, worldwide server market revenue has taken a 25 percent dive in the first quarter of 2009. As companies buy fewer servers or hold off altogether, the market size dipped to $9.9 billion, which is the lowest quarterly server revenue recorded since IDC began tracking the server market on a quarterly basis 12 years ago. Ouch.

Server unit shipments faired about the same: movement of hardware units dropped 26.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009, as measured against the first quarter of 2008. The year-over-year decline from the fourth quarter of 2008 was 12 percent, so the dive steepened.

Volume (a.k.a. low-end, primarily x86) systems experienced the sharpest decline, with year-over-year revenue slipping 30.5 percent, IDC reports, and while midrange enterprise demand weakened, too, with a year-over-year decline of 13.6 percent, it wasn't as bad as the high-end enterprise segment, which saw revenue dip 19.5 percent. This is only the second time since 2002 that all three server segments have experienced a year-over-year revenue decline in the same quarter.

"Market conditions worsened in all geographic regions during the first quarter as customers of all types pulled back on both new strategic IT projects and ongoing infrastructure refresh initiatives," notes Matt Eastwood, group vice president of Enterprise Platforms at IDC. "Most enterprise organizations are deferring new IT procurements and instead focusing on extending server lifecycles and improving existing asset utilization. IDC believes that while these strategies are effective in the near term, server demand will begin to improve in the second half of the year as customers begin to rebuild their IT capabilities in advance of a meaningful economic recovery in 2010."

IBM in Statistical Tie with HP

HP and IBM jointly held the number 1 position in the worldwide server market in the first quarter, each with 29.3 percent share (IBM gain 1.7 points of share while HP lost 0.7 points). IDC says this bit of growth was driven by a solid performance with IBM's System z and System p server businesses (no doubt, with a bit of unreported IBM i-focused sales tossed into the "converged System p" Power Systems bucket).

Sun and Dell also tied for the number 3 market position: Dell's server revenue declined 31.2 percent year over year to snag 11 percent of the market, while Sun's server revenue declined 25.5 percent year over year, ending with 10.3 percent of the revenue market. Fujitsu/Fujitsu-Siemens trails with 6.7 percent market share.

Non-x86 Servers Gaining, Most Notably Unix-Based

IDC says the market for non-x86 servers, which it defines as servers based on RISC, EPIC, and CISC processors, declined 19.4 percent year over year to $4.8 billion in 1Q09. This is the fifth consecutive quarter that non-x86 servers have out performed x86 servers in the market.

"x86-based volume servers, historically an area of growth for the industry, posted another quarter of significant weakness during the first quarter of 2009," notes Dan Harrington, research analyst in IDC's enterprise server group. "However, while it may be easier for IT departments to suspend purchases of commodity boxes as opposed to more mission critical RISC- or CISC-based servers, IDC expects x86 systems to rebound faster than the overall market in the coming quarters."

IDC doesn't break out IBM i, unfortunately, but interestingly, Unix revenues for the quarter were $3.3 billion, which represents 33.1 percent of server spending. IBM, Sun, and HP pretty closely divide the Unix market into near thirds.

"IDC believes that lengthening server lifecycles in the datacenter, especially for scalable midrange and high-end servers, affected Unix server sales, in terms of declining revenue and unit shipments in the first quarter," says Jean S. Bozman, research vice president, Enterprise Platforms group. "However, their strong contribution as a percent of first quarter worldwide server spend reflects the presence of midrange and high-end systems carrying higher average sales prices (ASVs), and the bifurcation of the market into low-cost and high-end systems, based on specific workloads, such as large corporate databases, transaction processing and business intelligence (BI)."

IBM's System z servers brought in $889 million for the quarter, accounting for 9.0 percent of all server revenue in 1Q09, which is the highest first quarter revenue share for IBM's System z in five years.

Microsoft Windows server revenue was $3.7 billion in 1Q09 (a 28.9 percent year-over-year decline, which still comprises 37.3 percent of all server revenue in the quarter). Linux server revenue comprised 13.8 percent of server revenue in 1Q09, declining 24.8 percent year-over-year to $1.4 billion, its lowest revenue level in five years, IDC reports.

Blades Suffering Less

The blade server market segment decelerated sharply in 1Q09, declining 14.4 percent in revenue, accounting for $1.1 billion in the first quarter.

"Even though the blade market experienced negative growth, the segment still increased its share of revenue of the overall server market," says Jed Scaramella, senior research analyst in IDC's Datacenter and Enterprise Server group. "Customers are seeking IT solutions that reduce expenses and improve efficiencies. The integrated nature of the blade platforms is adept to deliver a dynamic IT infrastructure."

Posted by cmaxcer on June 1, 2009 at 10:05 AM | Comments (3)

May 27, 2009 10:42 AM

IBM Tackles SMBs with Smart Cubes, Smart Market, and a Bit of i

IBM has officially launched its Smart Market effort in the United States. In addition to the pilot in India, U.S. small business customers can now buy the appliance-like IBM Smart Cubes that run IBM i or Linux--but the operating system is the last thing IBM is promoting with its new Smart Market efforts.

In fact, it takes a bit of digging to even find the specs on IBM's Smart Market site, and for good reason: Smart Market is designed to take the technology issues out the business equation. IBM's goal is to vastly reduce the complexity of selecting, installing, and managing a small business suite of applications. Customers still get the hardware, of course, along with whatever tax benefits they can eek out of buying a box, along with some peace of mind that not everything is yet up in the clouds. But IBM, it turns out, is the one-stop solution provider that does all the preinstallation and configuration work, plus provides optional support levels, including backup and recovery services.

All-in-One

Customers start by exploring the available solutions on IBM's Smart Market site by Industry, Product Category, Business Department, or even by Number of Employees. If you really dig into the marketplace, you can narrow your solution choices by "integrated platform". This brings up two options: IBM Smart Business Software Pack for SUSE (that would be Linux, of course), and IBM Smart Business Software Pack for i.

There are two dozen software solutions available for the IBM i-based Smart Cube so far, including several solutions from RJS Software Systems, like Document Management for Healthcare or for Manufacturing, a VoIP solution from Nortel, and backup/recovery offerings from Vision Solutions. All Smart Cubes also come with built-in security and back-office functionality such as email, calendaring and backup and recovery, which are then combined with the business applications customers find on IBM's Smart Market site.

Obviously IBM plans to grow the number of offerings.

As for the hardware, the IBM i version comes in a single Power Core with 4 GB of memory, 2 cores with 8 GB memory, or 4 cores and 16 GB of memory. As you might guess, these aren't running the fastest POWER6 processors available, and IBM seems to be doing its best to keep it simple: it's darn hard to track down the actual components of each Smart Cube; presumably the folks IBM is targeting could not only care less, they might be overwhelmed by too much information.

Everything Is Smart

Of course, what's an all-in-one solution without a help desk? Except, IBM's services start at the Smart Desk, which is a Web-enabled dashboard. Clients can use Smart Desk as a single-point- of-contact for Smart Business maintenance, IBM says, which lets them choose to update applications automatically or subscribe to an on-demand service. Plus, they can elect to have IBM contact
them if something is wrong with their system.

They can also use the dashboard to add cloud-based services like managed security and hosted back-up and recovery.

Along with it, you get Smart Support, which is a single point of entry for all support of solutions, IBM says. Clients can use an
integrated wizard to try to auto-fix a problem or look at user forums and support wikis to fix the problem themselves. If additional support is needed, IBM has its IBM Smart Business Support team, which is there to assist with common usage issues, handle hardware and software defects, accept product or support improvement ideas, and act as a problem management focal point until the problem is resolved.

All in all, this is a particularly interesting initiative. The use of IBM i makes sense in this situation--if IBM is going to support small clients, why wouldn't they want to be running a low-maintenance system? Of course, they would. As for Linux, you've got a proven solution with little cost associated with it. Also a no-brainer.

IBM launched this program last week, leading with a Smart Cube running Intuit's QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions financial management software pre-integrated (though it only runs on Linux). IBM's installation sheet is also astoundingly simple and to the point--it basically guides a customer through plugging in and connecting the system to the Web, followed by running a simple wizard. It seems as if it's designed to be as simple as opening up a consumer desktop system, minus any manuals or included CDs.

Definitely something to keep an eye on.

Posted by cmaxcer on May 27, 2009 at 10:42 AM | Comments (3)

May 20, 2009 9:27 AM

Take That, LUG!

So how do you think the Large User Group (LUG) rose to power, prominence, and uh, more power? By banding together and speaking with one strong voice so that IBM could hear what the LUG members needed. Right now, the LUG is made up of some of the largest IBM i customers, and they regularly meet with their members and IBM to discuss what innovations are coming, and more importantly, what they really need IBM to deliver. And IBM appreciates the LUG. What company wouldn't want a LUG? Dedicated customers telling you what they need and what they're willing to pay for. Gotta love that.

The problem is, the midrange and smaller customers sometimes get left out of the equation. COMMON and COMMON Europe step in to help, of course, but their ability to shout above the noise depends on members and IBM customers willing to help clarify the message.

Speak Up!

Our friends overseas with COMMON Europe dropped me a note this week noting that participation in the worldwide Top Concerns 2009 Survey has been underwhelming so far. If IBM customers don't participate in the survey, a lack of participation will undermine the survey's ability to influence IBM. Plus, COMMON Europe is looking at trends over the previous three years of survey data, and they need participants in order to make the data usable.

Five Minutes!

The fourth annual survey only takes five minutes to complete, and it relates to your needs in IT security, Application Development, Infrastructure consolidation, and migration issues. And for those interested in IBM's Academic Initiative, there's an option specially targeted Top Academic Concerns Survey.

Of course, what's a survey without a little electronic incentive? Survey respondents have an opportunity to win an iPod in each of the surveys.

The closing date is May 31 for the surveys, but click on over there now--did I mention this is a global survey? COMMON Europe plans to release preliminary results June 9 during the closing session of the COMMON Europe annual meeting in Krakow, Poland, along with more detailed results to follow.

"The more we are the stronger we will be. Your participation is highly appreciated," notes Ranga (Shrirang U.) Deshpande, Top Concerns project leader for COMMON Europe.

Get on it!

Posted by cmaxcer on May 20, 2009 at 9:27 AM | Comments (12)

May 18, 2009 11:10 AM

What? WebSphere Loves Windows, POWER6 Not So Much? Really?

Have you stumbled across the Microsoft ad campaign, "Who knew?", which is focused on WebSphere loving Windows vs. WebSphere hugging AIX? It's an in-your-face price/performance comparison of WebSphere running on IBM solutions vs. on an HP solution, then it tosses in a here's-what-the-application-would-do-when-it's-written-using-the-Microsoft-.NET-Framework-instead slap.

Microsoft created a special website, WebSphereLovesWindows.com, that launches with a series of assertions in a Silverlight-based presentation:

Furthermore, the .pdf of the study, which Microsoft calls "the ground-breaking benchmark study", prices out an IBM Power 570 with WebSphere 7 and AIX 5.3 at $260,000 vs. an HP BladeSystem C7000 with WebSphere 7 and Windows Server 2008 at $87,000, while the HP BladeSystem C7000 with .NET and Windows Server 2008 rolls in at $50,000.

After the stimulating presentation, Microsoft loaded the special site with case studies, videos, analyst reports, technical guidance, and, of course the aforementioned study.

Overall, I'm impressed--not with the funky comparison of running the single app on a 570 vs. an HP BladeCenter and the silly comparisons between the two. No, I'm impressed that Microsoft put on the gloves and decided to enter the ring. Sure, the company might be reduced to hitting below the belt and biting an ear here and there, but hey, they are stepping into the ring. It's like Microsoft is shouting, "Hey, it's not just about POWER6 destroying Sun and HP in the Unix space . . . we're here, too!"

IBM Swats the Pesky Fly

The funny thing here is, should IBM launch a salvo at Microsoft over this? Who knows. In the meantime, Elisabeth Stahl, IBM's chief technical strategist of Performance Marketing for the IBM Systems and Technology Group, made a blog post in response to the ads and the study:

. . . the number of cores, the middleware and network configurations, the scale, and even the trading applications used are not the same. The HP configuration had twice the number of cores and four times the amount of memory. It's like saying a granny smith is better than a clementine.

The entire presumption of the Microsoft study was absurd in that it created a nonsensical environment comparing a blade system to an enterprise class server. An enterprise server is designed for server consolidation, heavy transaction performance, superior availability, scalability and virtualization. This "benchmark" did not make mention of or leverage any of these functions. Note also that a higher performing replacement to the Power 570 model used in the study has been available for many months.

Oh, and by the way, these are "Microsoft-conducted tests." That's kind of like leaving my dog with a box of milkbones and telling him not to eat any.

Stahl doesn't bother to go into more detail, but I do have to leave you with two doses of irony:

Dose #1: The Fine Print

If you read the fine print in the study, the Microsoft document is especially beautiful:

"Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, this document should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented."

Just in case this statement isn't clear, it appears to say that because Microsoft has to respond to changing market conditions . . . Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented.

Am I only one laughing here?

Dose #2: Will Someone Please Slam IBM i on POWER6?

The last bit of irony here is, will someone go after IBM i running on POWER6? Because, after all, doesn't a big nasty marketing campaign at least signal a bit of serious validation?

Posted by cmaxcer on May 18, 2009 at 11:10 AM | Comments (7)

May 13, 2009 8:02 AM

COMMON Europe Wants Your Top Concerns

COMMON Europe is looking for your top issues with your business and IBM in its annual Top Concerns survey. The multilingual survey is for global participation. COMMON Europe shares the top concerns results with its members, and most importantly, with IBM.

The 2008 survey showed that "IT security", "Satisfy internal customers", "Fast application development, and Keep the skills current" were the global Top Concerns. Full results from last year's survey are available at the COMMON Europe web site at www.comeur.org.

The Top Concerns survey boasts participation from Europe, Americas, Australasia, and Japan. You can participate through the web or vote on the top concerns during the opening session of the annual COMMON Europe Congress (CEC) on June 7 in Krakow, Poland.

The survey includes concerns about security, server consolidation, application architectures, personal development, as well as open space for writing a golden concern. It also includes questions on current economic and migration issues. The preliminary results will be disclosed during the closing session of CEC on June 9.

New Academic Survey

A first for this year, COMMON Europe is launching a web and "on the spot" Top Academic Concerns Survey. It is based on a special set of concerns chosen by the students and staff of the Austrian and Polish Academic Initiative institutions. This year’s COMMON Europe annual Congress (CEC) will also be a Power Academy--it is jointly held with the AGH University of Science and Technology of Krakow, Poland. Here too, the student attendees will rate "their" concerns.

For more information on Top Concerns please contact Ranga (Shrirang U.) Deshpande at ranga.deshpande@bordet.be.

Posted by cmaxcer on May 13, 2009 at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2009 10:48 AM

COMMON Catch Up News: New Certifications, New President, Updated Board

As always, COMMON's annual conference spawns a whole mess of news, and it takes us weeks to catch up. But hey, I'm not complaining; I'm just saying. The latest in my catch up bag is COMMON's new certification program, the organization's updated board of directors, and a bit of darkness looming on the horizon.

First up, COMMON is launching a new certification program that's designed to position COMMON as a "Hub for IT Talent".

COMMON's certification program consists of two levels, both of which--like all good certifications--have handy acronyms:

• COMMON Business Computing Associate (CBCA)
• COMMON Certified Business Computing Professional (CCBCP)

These certifications complement existing technical certification programs from IBM and others by ensuring individuals receiving the credential carry deep knowledge of all the computing aspects within a business, COMMON says.

Both levels require applicants to pass exams developed by COMMON.

The CBCA certification is designed for recent graduates or other entry level professionals.

"Professionals or students who have passed our qualifying exam will, in our opinion, have the skills necessary for success in their first IT jobs," notes Bill Hansen, COMMON's strategic education team manager. "We want to deliver IT professionals to the workplace that have proven their competence and can provide an immediate benefit to their employers."

COMMON plans to introduce the qualifying exam to become a CBCA at COMMON's 2010 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando.

The CCBCP certification is designed to help businesses find and develop the best IT talent, COMMON says. It is geared towards advanced IT professionals who have significant work experience in a business IT environment. The certification will require candidates to pass three exams that are scheduled to debut at the 2011 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

New President, New Board

In Reno, the COMMON Board also voted in a new president, who is none other than Wayne Madden, who is a group publisher at Penton Media, which publishes System iNEWS magazine. Wayne was previously a COMMON board member. In terms of full disclosure, you might think that Wayne's involvement with System iNEWS might give me an open door peek into COMMON's internal activities . . . sorry. The guy is surprisingly mum and is careful to work through COMMON's established PR channels for official news.

In addition to a new president, Bruce "Hoss" Collins, Pete Massiello, and Trevor Perry were also voted to the COMMON Board.

Meanwhile, Trouble in Paradise?

COMMON, it turns out, is not bounding lightly through 2009--as reported in Reno, COMMON is projecting that it'll burn through about half of its $1.6 million cash reserve. That, of course, puts it on thin ice in the winter of 2010, as it preps for the 2010 conference in Orlando in May.

Consequently, COMMON has already implemented some cost-cutting plans, which it announced at the Meeting of Members session in Reno. Some of the cost-cutting areas include the possibility of reducing the conference's length by one day, reducing the number of booked session rooms, eliminating some social events, cutting out hard liquor unless a sponsor or the members pick up the tab, and cutting back on volunteer speaker benefits for travel-related costs.

Obviously, all of this means that as COMMON heads into its 50th anniversary year, it seems to be facing its most difficult challenge ever.

Posted by cmaxcer on May 11, 2009 at 10:48 AM | Comments (1)