8 things you didn't know about me!

I have been tagged by Jesse Wilkins - this is my second time to be tagged - hence I shan't tag anyone else at the close of this one, and shall attempt to avoid repetition of the tags...(enough tags in one sentence?)

So here goes:-

1: I am a collector of vintage photography - and would also collect contemporary photography if it were more affordable. My collection hinges around two key things - the work of Angus Mcbean and a broader collection of the portraitists of the Hollywood era - Clarence Bull, Eugene Richee, Ernest Bachrach, Hurrell etc

2: I am a qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist (DCH LCCH) - and began training as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist in London - one day I hope to return to this study.

3: I have read every book in the Bible (all 66) back to front - literally in my case as I started with the New Testament :-) It took me 2 years....

4: My favorite place in all the world is/are the Western Islands of Scotland (Mull, Iona and Gigha)

5: I once sang lead vocals in a post punk band called the Blue Movies, I currently sing as a bass in our Church choir

6: I saw some success as an artist/photographer in the late 80's - my work was shown across the UK - and I became C list famous in Russia and The Netherlands ( I have the posters to prove it! )

7: I am crazy about Rugby League (Leeds Rhinos) and will be traveling to Jacksonville, Florida in a couple of weekends to watch their World Club Championship warm up match against the South Sydney Rabitoes (Russell Crowe is the owner)

8: I love cooking and am (like Jesse) a pretty serious foodie - I can cook pretty good Indian and Italian - my all time favorite food dish is Mutter Paneer -with warm puri's


With this - my rants on the CMS Watch blog and my entries on Facebook I am in danger of having no more secrets - the mystery will have evaporated.....

Blog Pause

There is just so much going on at the moment - finishing report updates - travel - speaking - new reports and research.....etc etc

I just thought it worth a post to say that this blog (obviously) is becoming less and less regular.

I do blog on the cmswatch blog regularly, so please check that out - but personal blogs just don't seem to be forthcoming at the moment - my apologies....

Boom time again in Silicon Valley?

Just back from a week in San Jose, where I was running a conference track at KM World, and a workshop for Enterprise Search West. It was a good week personally and for CMS Watch - with a lot of work done, some great new contacts and conversations - but I left with most was the strong impression that things are reaching simmering point again in the Valley.
It was noticeable, and commented on by others that though not near dot.com boom levels, the energy and enthusiasm levels in the Valley were higher than they have been in a very long time. That traffic is getting back to boom level congestion and that local businesses are thriving.

Lunch at the Googleplex was also something I have returned with (not the lunch itself) but rather a thousand conflicting thoughts regarding Google and where it is going. Long term readers of this blog will know that I have at best mixed views on Google. And this visit hosted by a friend of a friend left me with more lingering doubts than I could have imagined. I was deeply uncomfortable there, not sure what it was - but there was something cultish, and elitist that left me wondering what it was all about - I am sure I am not brilliant enough for the likes of Google, but even if I were, I doubt this is a place I would want to work.....

Anyhow enough musings - I am trying to finish off the delayed ECM Suites Report V2 - and prep for a return trip to California in the morning to attend Oracle OpenWorld...

Meridio & Northern Ireland Software

Yesterday I wrote a piece on CMS Watch regarding the acquisition of Meridio by Autonomy. This brought back a bunch of memories from the time that I consulted to Meridio (then Kainos) for Ovum. Traveling out to Belfast was always something to remember - the staggering (and unexpected) beauty of the countryside, the deeply oppressive feeling in the city, the sight of Loyalist and Republican wall murals yards from each other....things are getting better there, and if you live there then of course you see more depth and community than any visitor can imagine. However to the visitor it is a stark place to spend time in - a city that truly carries the weight of its violent past.

Kainos, as they were known then were a funded subsidiary of Fujitsu out of Queens University in Belfast, and when I first consulted they were looking for a strategic direction prior to spinning the EDM (Electronic Document Management) capabilities out to what would become Meridio. At the time they were looking to become a Documentum & FileNet rival competing in the Imaging area, my advice to them was to go more for a niche that they could own - Records Management and Compliancy. Though they took that advice and built on it considerably, I take no credit for their success, other than pointing them in a particular direction, they worked hard and built up a solid business with a global reputation, good people whom I have always liked and respected.
Yet like so many before them they hooked their wagon to Microsoft. This was never a move I feel comfortable with, except in the short term. Microsoft is the best of partners to vendors, until they are not. Then you are out in the cold - Microsoft has a well established and well earned reputation for stringing small vendors along with the carrot of a lucrative acquisition - the acquisition of course seldom ever occurs, and once Microsoft knows all they need to build their own solution you are dropped like a hot potato.
So to see Meridio acquired was bitter sweet news - good to see them find a long term home and make some money in the process ($40 Million US), but I can't help but wonder if they couldn't have gotten to a stage where they themselves were the acquirer.
Finally I will never forget looking out at the Swan and Hunter Shipyard from my Suite at the Belfast Hilton ( I had been upgraded after a previous huge row with the hotel!) - a magnificent contemporary suite that symbolized all the future hopes of Belfast, with a view of an infamous industrial workplace that had been the scene of way too many disturbing news reports on TV whilst I was growing up.
It's good to see something positive coming out of such a traumatized place, Northern Ireland has lost out to a large degree on the growth in Eire - hopefully successes like Meridio will become and inspiration for others to follow.

Documation - London 2007

Last week I was in London to host a couple of panels at the Documation event at Olympia that is hosted alongside Storage Expo.
As the phrase goes it was a 'Curates Egg' - good in parts. The open source panel that pitted Alfresco against Nuxeo was really good - we had a full house and a really good debate. John Newton of Alfresco did a great job as always, but this was my first chance to see Nuxeo in action and I thought they did really well - between the two I think everybody left the room with the impression that open source for ECM was a very viable option.
Much smaller turnout for my other panel that featured The National Archives (UK Gov) and The Scottish Government - yet a really good set of presentations and discussion also.
Where I left the event a little low was in the overall feel of the Documation event - no criticism due of the organizers Reed - just that this felt like every other ECM related event I had been to in the last couple of years - a bit dated.
What a contrast that just through the archway in the much larger exhibition hall was Storage Expo - vibrant, buzzing, busy and happening...all in all it left me with much to ponder.
Doing my expenses today also left me with much to ponder - ouchy! When you convert UK or Euro to Dollar - no matter how many times you have done it, it is a painful experience.....

Deep down in the ECM Suites Report now for the next couple of weeks then KM World, Enterprise Search West and OracleWorld.....

Oracle to acquire BEA?

I just saw that Oracle has made an unsolicited bid to acquire BEA - it's a smart move, though far from unexpected. At Ovum I was the RD (Research Director) covering Oracle and remember when in open court Oracle's acquisition targets were revealed - top of the list BEA..

What makes this interesting is that SAP moved to acquire Business Objects just a few days back for almost exactly the same amount of money $6.7 Billion. SAP has no history of managing large acquisitions and market observers were deeply critical of the move, questioning SAP's ability to manage such a deal.

By moving for BEA, Oracle place SAP in a tough situation - do they counter bid - or watch Oracle move in to a clear lead ahead of them? If they counter bid they will be in a bidding war with Oracle who's pockets are deep, and its ability to absorb acquired assets legendary. If they get into a bidding war, what if Oracle simply walks away when the price get's too high (as they always do) and leave SAP to deal with two highly complex and very expensive acquisitions, that they may stuggle to manage?

If Oracle wins, they become the leading Middleware provider ahead of IBM and Microsoft and leave SAP in it's wake. If others come into the fray and bid against Oracle it could look like a desperate attempt to block Oracle.

Oracle vs SAP is fun and made for spectators....This latest move by Mr Ellison made me smile the second I saw it - they must be cursing him (again) in Germany. It's not the fact that Oracle is moving to acquire BEA it's the precision timing that brings about the smile.