Steve Mills (IBM) on cloud computing, recession

Steve Mills, Senior VP of the IBM Software Group, talked about cloud computing for SMEs and the effects of the recession on the IT industry and its customers during a roundtable discussion at Information on Demand 2008. Here are my video excerpts.

The IOD 2008 opening show

IBM put on a rather impressive opening show at Information on Demand 2008 in Las Vegas (Vegas, after all). I shot some video of it -- the psychedelic performance and a nice sexy singer with a very libertarian song (my politics, sort of :) ).

I'm heading back to Riga today via Chicago and Frankfurt, a day on planes. There will be more to post -- video mainly-- from the conference when I get back.

IBM honchos speak at IOD 2008

I have put together some video highlights of  the first day of IBM's Information on Demand 2008 conference. where the emphasis is on information processing and analysis as a tool for improving business outcomes.

At IBM Information on Demand

I am at IBM Information on Demand in Las Vegas. Not much time to blog, but it looks like we will here something about industry specific solutions (not just middleware to keep the data accurate and deliver it, generically, where it is wanted. They should also touch on cloud computing and delivery platforms

I have shot some video and will post it in the next couple of days (I head back to Latvia on October 29). Great stuff with Jeff Jonas, a genius on stitching unrelated data,  also some Steve Mills (head honcho of IBM's Software Division). Hope to edit it and get it out on my Latvian blog and here.

Alcatel Lucent offers green telecoms in the Baltics

Alcatel Lucent's business development manager for Nordic & Baltics, Johan Ragmo, was in Riga recently and talked about the company's energy-saving or so-called greener telecommunications solutions. These are based on, among other technologies, smart systems that draw down their electricity consumption when idle, and devices that combine several functions previously handled by different boxes into a one-box solution.
All of this sounds fine, since if thousands of companies in a country like Latvia were to cut their energy demand (and save on costs in the bargain), it would proportionately reduce the generation of ungreen energy (Latvia has lots of hydropower supplemented by some combined cycle coal and gas fueled power stations). However, the issue of the environmental impact of manufacturing processes and materials used in telco equipment remains. Why reduce energy consumption 50 % for the user if making the gadget leaves a Godzilla-sized carbon footprint. To this Johan said, off camera, that Alcatel Lucent manufactures in accordance with good industry practices. His main message was about the energy savings for business and organizational users.

Epson opens Baltic regional office, honcho speaks

Epson, the Japanese maker of imaging and printing equipment (as well as projectors) has opened a regional office in the Baltic States, citing rapid market growth and potential in the region. I talked to Eiji Ide, CEO of Epson Europe about the reasons for setting up a regional office and the printer market in general. Toward the end of the interview, Ide reveals a secret about his necktie :).
The video has titles both in Latvian and English, as it is edited for dual use here and on my Latvian language blog.

Is there a future for fixed telecoms in Latvia?

Janiene Bayliss, an independent consultant specializing in telecommunications branding, was one of the speakers at Lattelecom's annual customer conference. I asked her to comment on the assertion that fixed networks may be a sunset industry, since most of the population of any Western European country (and Latvia) seems to primarily use mobile phones for voice and, increasingly, for data communications.
Also at the conference, Lattelecom CEO Juris Gulbis said that the company planned to start replacing its DSL internet service (max. 10 Mbps) with high speed (up to 100 Mbps) fiber to the home connections over the next three years. One reason for the upgrade was to make it possible to provide HD television broadcasts as part of Lattelecom's internet television offering. Gulbis said that at present, Latvia had the fourth fastest consumer internet services in the world, behind Japan, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Alcatel-Lucent's Baltic focus is on fixed networks

Before going to the US on September 19, I had an opportunity to interview Lars Boilesen, the head of Alcatel-Lucent Nordic & Baltics. Boilesen believes that the company's focus in the region will continue to be fixed network operators, even as Alcatel-Lucent has strong positions in the mobile market elsewhere. In Latvia, the focus on fixed networks goes back to a long-term relationship with Lattelecom.