Thinking West

Greetings from lovely White Plains, New York.

I’ve been up here a few days, having flown up to New York City on Monday for a series of meetings.

No sooner had I accompanied my colleague down to baggage claim at JFK than I saw the first reports emerging about the bombings in Boston.

Not long after we heard about the ricin letters.

And then this morning I woke up to the news about the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.

It made me sick to my stomach, and my heart goes out to the folks in West.

I drove through there just last weekend on my to Lake Whitney just west of West to play some golf with my father.

Many of the people who live there are of Czech descent, and are known for both their hospitality to travelers and for their scrumptious kolaches.

So I wanted to pass along this “Things You Need to Know About West” list, for I and my colleagues are feeling a little homesick at the moment being up here in the Northeast while all this is going on back on our doorstep in central Texas.

Thankfully, I’ll be heading back home later this afternoon, which means I’ll likely be in a JFK queue instead of reporting on IBM earnings, as I’m normally wont to do on earnings day.

I’ll be sure to do an earnings post when I get back to Texas.

Something Special In The Air

There’s really nothing like the joys and vagaries of business travel.

Yes, I’m back in Las Vegas, this time for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association Summit, but it was quite the chore getting here.

Never mind that my lowest offer air fair required that I leave at 7:20 AM on a Sunday… That I could deal with.

But as our airplane in Austin was taxiing towards the runway for takeoff, it became quite evident a disgruntled traveler was not a happy camper, and poised to potentially cause quite a bit of trouble during the flight.  He was being very rude to the flight attendants, and was allegedly pontificating about terrorism to his fellow passengers (he was seated a number of rows ahead of me, so I couldn’t quite make out the details).

Thankfully, the American Airline’s staff was on top of the situation, and they weren’t about to take off with this guy and his pontifications, who was refusing to follow simple and reasonable directives from the flight staff (like not getting out of his seat to go to the restroom on an active taxi-way).

So, AA promptly taxied the plane back down the active runway, where the gentleman causing the ruckus was met by some of Austin’s finest security officials and very politely escorted off the plane.

Then, the Captain came on to explain the situation: “Ladies and gentlemen, at American Airlines we strive to be attentive to ALL our customer’s needs, and the customer who was just escorted off the plane had some very special needs we felt important that he get tended to.  We’ll now be on our way to Los Angeles.”

I laughed out loud, as did a number of other passengers — in one quick moment, the captain reassured his very antsy set of passengers, explained the situation in just as much detail as was really needed, reassured us that the troublemaker’s baggage had been removed from the plane, and indicated we would be on our way shortly.

We could now take off with a clear conscience and no concerns.

So I want to say a big thank you to JoAnn, Queen, the Captain, the dead-heading AA pilot, and the rest of the crew of Flight 457 this past Saturday on the flight from Austin to Los Angeles (and on to Vegas).

Your professionalism and calm amidst that minor storm demonstrated to your passengers that you can only “Be yourself. Nonstop” when the planes are moving, and safely, and you made sure they did both on Saturday, and I just wanted to thank you for that.

Live @ IBM InterConnect 2012: A Q&A With IBM’s Steve Wilkins On The Asian-Pacific Economic Juggernaut

Steve Wilkins is the vice president for IBM Software Marketing in its Global Growth Markets organization, where he is responsible for all marketing of the IBM Websphere, Tivoli, Information Management, Rational and Lotus brands, generating leads via advertising, the Web, events and direct marketing in Asia — Korea, China, India, ASEAN and Australia — and with colleagues in other growth markets in central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.

IBM’s vice president for IBM Software Marketing in our Global Growth Markets organization, Steve Wilkins, has a unique perspective on the Asia-Pacific region, and was also instrumental in helping make the IBM InterConnect event a reality here in Singapore.

The last time I saw Steve, we were sharing a cab in Seoul, South Korea, comparing notes about our respective BlackBerry Bolds and various mobile travel applications we had been trying to help us maintain our sanity while on the road.

That was only a short two years ago, and the fact that neither of us continues to carry the Bold says more about just how fast the market is moving, in Asia and beyond, than can I! (We both carry iPhones these days, along with my newfound Nokia 1280 “global” phone acquired here in Singapore this week.)

I sat down with Steve here in Singapore to get the lowdown on the Asia-Pacific market. Steve offered insights ranging from the slowdown and structural shifts we’re witnessing in China (shifts that are creating massive new economic opportunity for individuals and businesses alike) to the ability of Asia-Pacific telecommunications providers to keep pace with the massive growth in mobile computing in the region!

Thanks again to Steve for taking the time to share his wisdoms and insights about this incredibly exciting area of the globe, one that offers massive opportunity but which also requires close attention be paid to the idiosyncratic needs and customs of the various countries that the region constitutes.

You can see our interview here.

Singapore Redux

I mentioned in an earlier post I would share a little information about Singapore.  Much of this, I crowdsourced liberally from the Wikipedia entry on Singapore, along with some of my own observations thrown in for good measure.

First, the city-state is formally referred to as the “Republic of Singapore.” If you’ve ever flown here from the U.S., you know that it’s one of the longer plane rides one can take.

I left Austin around 8 am last Friday morning, catching connecting flights in Atlanta and then Tokyo’s Narita, with both flights lasting around close to 24 hours flight time, and arriving here early Sunday morning (around 1:30 AM).

Singapore is an island country consisting of 63 islands, and separated from Malaysia by the Straigts of Johor to the north and from Indonesia’s Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south.

The British founded modern Singapore when it obtained sovereignty over the island in 1824, and was later occupied by the Japanese in World War II. It later declared independence, uniting with other British territories to form Malaysia in 1963, then separated from Malaysia two years later.

It is known as one of the “Four Asian Tigers,” and is the world’s fourth leading financial center, with its ports being among one of the five busiest in the world.

Its economy depends heavily on exports and refining imported goods, and has the third highest per capita income in the world with slightly over 5 million citizens.

Its population is very diverse, and has four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil, and is one of the five founding members of the Association of South East Asian Nations.

It’s manufacturing base includes electronics, petroleum refining, chemicals, mechanical engineering, and biomedical sciences. It also produces about 10% of the world’s foundry wafer output, making it an integral part of the globe’s semiconductor industry supply chain.

It also has majored heavily in tourism (including so-called “medical tourism”), and to attract more tourists it legalized gambling in 2005 (The IBM InterConnect conference is being held at Royal Sentosa Resorts, which has one of those casinos).

This is my second visit to Singapore (my first being in early 2010), and my impressions on both visits have been quite favorable. For a Westerner who doesn’t know Chinese, Malay or Tamil, it’s quite easy for an English speaker to find their way around.

The city-state itself reminds me of Dallas or Houston, what with its shiny, chrome and beige skyscrapers and ports surrounding parts of the island.

But it’s also very futuristic and forward-thinking, having invested early on in commercialization of the Internet and hosting a robust mobile computing infrastructure. Singapore is one of the most ubiquitous Internet penetrated of nations in the world, with over 77 percent of its citizens having online access.

And the “Intelligent Nation 15” ten-year blueprint I mentioned earlier has refined that digital capability, and in fact, the country has emerged as a vital foundry for Internet-based companies.

By way of example, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin relocated here in 2009, announcing plans to invest in “companies with strong interests in the Asian markets.”

Singapore’s National Research Foundation selected eight new incubators for its Technology Incubation Scheme earlier this year, and through that program, the NRF will co-fund up to 85 percent of total investment in each company (up to U.S. $400K).

And talk about a mobile-friendly country. I only needed walk through either Singapore’s Chinatown or “Little India” yesterday afternoon to find mobile phones from around the globe available to me (and settled on an old-school Nokia 1280 to serve as my new GSM “world phone”).

I paid $20 to a local mobile retailer catering to the Indian market, and within minutes (along with the purchase of an $18 SIM card) was up and running.

For the casual visitor, though the city itself can seem expensive compared to other industrialized countries, deals abound, including for food (the cuisine here runs the gamut, from Chinese to Malay to Japanese to India to American, etc.), and that most national of Singaporean pasttimes, shopping.

If you’re a night owl, you’ll certainly find plenty to do here, what between the casinos, the food, and yes, even the nightlife.

As for me, the rest of this week I’ll mostly be stuck in front of the camera or my laptop covering IBM InterConnect here on Sentosa Island, but I hope and expect to sneak in a few noodles or pieces of dim sum along the way.

IBM InterConnect begins first thing tomorrow, so don’t forget to tune in to our Livestream channel and to Twitter hashtag #ibminterconnect so you can keep up with all the emerging announcements and news from IBM in this important and digitally vital part of the world!

Connecting @ IBM InterConnect Singapore

Greetings from Sentosa Resort Island in Singapore.

The Republic of Singapore, a southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, is 85 miles north of the equator, and is playing host to the IBM InterConnect event this week, which Turbo will be covering here in his blog and as part of IBM’s InterConnect Livestream video coverage.

What’s past is present, except when you’re traveling on business in Asia, when what’s present is prologue. In the case of Singapore, that’s likely to be the case in more ways than one.

Yes, earthlings of the West, I now come to you from the future, some 13 hours ahead of you here in this antiseptic, futuristic city-state, where broadband is plentiful and where the world’s global diaspora lands along with the beams of light helping Singapore to lead us all into the information future.

You’ve heard of the man with the plan? Well, Singapore is a country with the plan.

“Intelligent Nation 2015,” a 10-year masterplan by the government here to help Singapore realize the potential of “infocomm,” is a blueprint for navigating the city-state’s transition “into a global city, universally recognised as an enviable synthesis of technology, infrastructure, enterprise and manpower.”

If Singapore’s future is in information communications, then it is only appropriate that IBM clients, business partners, employees and others in the IBM ecosystem began landing here over the weekend to attend the IBM InterConnect event.

As we positioned the event on the Web site, “In this era of interconnected industries, businesses and consumers, a new kind of leadership is required to turn opportunity into business outcomes. Smarter businesses are capitalizing on information as a bountiful resource and using technology as the catalyst for unleashing innovation.”

Now, for a moment, just close your eyes, and imagine the word cloud that is emerging in front of you: Interconnected. Opportunity. Smarter. Resource. Technology. Innovation. Outcomes.

Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, October 9th, we will begin exploring that word cloud in some depth — “we” being IBM clients, business partners, execs, subject matter experts and others.

First, we’ll look at the 10 hot topics that address key business imperatives in this uncertain climate, helping organizations to unleash innovation while pacing the velocity of change.

Second, we’ll share best practices that have been learned directly from successful IBM clients and partners.

Third, as is always the case at our favorite IBM events, we’ll foster a milieu for collaboration: With business decision-making peers and other like minded folks.

And we’ll enable you to meet many of these decision-makers and industry experts, face to face.

As for me, I’ll be covering some of these sessions, in particular the keynotes, here in the Turbo blog.

I’ll also be interviewing those numeourous thought leaders and partners and clients and IBM executives for our LiveStream video coverage.

So, keep your eye out here, and be sure to follow the #ibminterconnect hashtag on Twitter to get all the latest.

In future posts, I’ll convey a little more about the city-state that is Singapore.

Back In Bangalore

I’m back in Bangalore.

It’s been a little over a year since my first visit, and this time, I knew what I was getting into in terms of the travel.

I calculated that from Austin to India, as the crow flies, it’s a little over 8,000 miles…or was that kilometers??

The Sri Shiva temple in Bangalore is currently under renovation during my visit, but that certainly hasn't stopped hoardes of faithful Hindus paying a visit to Lord Shiva.

In either case, it’s a longgg way on an airplane traveling 500+ MPH. But I found myself eager with anticipation.

Not only in terms of meeting a new team we had put together, but in also seeing the friends I had already met here, and also visiting the vibrant (and now 3rd largest city in India, in terms of population) metropolis that is Bangalore.

The traffic is crazier than ever…there’s still plenty of dust in the streets, not to mention sacred (literally) cows…but I also sense an incredible energy and vibrancy here that has long ago worn off other major cities in the world.

And then there’s the food, which I wish I could just pack into my suitcase and bring back to America.

There’s also the serious business that is cricket (tonight it was the Mumbai Indians against Trinidad & Tobago, playing in the first round of the CLT20…UPDATE: Mumbai won, but just barely…The Trinidadian cricketers didn’t look too happy at breakfast this morning…They were staying at the same hotel as us.), a game I won’t pretend (yet) to fully comprehend but an excitement around which is palpable.

And then, of course, there are the people of India, and the Bangaloreans in particular, whose grace and courtesy and humbleness are unmatched around the globe.

I discovered from a taxi driver on the ride in from the airport here that 3M citizens in 2003 has grown to 9+M in 2011, and though the growth here may have overmatched the infrastructure, it is the chaos and verve and tenacity of its citizenry which suggests a nation that continues on the rise even despite the global gloom and doom headlined in newspapers and websites around the world.

Though my visit this year will be a week shorter, I have a distinct feeling that my learning and understanding will belie my time on the ground, and I’m very much looking forward to the four full days I have left in this week.

As for the content of the meetings and discussions going on here, I cannot relate those due to competitive reasons…the old CIA, “If I told you I’d have to kill ya.”

But rest assured it’s with great anticipation and expectations that we move through the rest of this week.

Beyond that, I’ll have to save the sordid stories for my as-of-yet unpublished memoirs…but know that the memories of my second sojourn to “Bengalaru” being stored in my human RAM will not be erased or forgotten anytime soon.

P.S. I’m blogging on my new portable guerilla platform, an iPod 4 with an Apple bluetooth keyboard. With some luck and some precious spare time, I’ll also hope to share some of what’s being witnessed here in some semblance of video content.

Crossroads Between East and West

I arrived in Constantinople…err, Istanbul…over the weekend.

I’d never been to Turkey before now, so it’s been quite the experience.

I had no sooner been getting readjusted from the Bangalore time zone shift than I had to head back east, so melatonin is my new best friend.

Of course, much of the focus leading up to last night was the final match of the World Cup. I’ll concede that I was rooting for Spain (I caught the Spanish soccer fever two years ago when I was in Madrid and Spain was on its way to winning the Euro National championship), but it was a good performance by both The Netherlands and the Spanish sides.

I’ve seen some comments from friends and others that it wasn’t a very exciting game, but I thought, like a good and strategic chess match, it was well worth the staying up late for and the eventual Spanish goal.

Congrats to both teams, and to host country South Africa, for a very exciting 2010 World Cup. I wish I had been able to see more of the games, but it was definitely interesting to see during my travels the level of excitement and enthusiasm from so many across the globe.

I remember watching people watching games in the Houston airport, at a hotel bar in Bangalore, at another hotel bar in Istanbul, a Tex-Mex restaurant back in Austin…this World Cup really did seem to bring the world closer together, even if only for a short time. And I think even a few Americans got into watching the matches this go round, despite America’s early departure.

As to Istanbul, there’s not much I can say in a blog post that a picture or two can’t say for me. I’m very excited to be here to meet with our Central and Eastern European Web marketing team, and I’m also excited to be fortunate enough to check off another city on my world travel checklist.

For those of you who haven’t been here before, based on what I’ve seen thus far, the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque are must sees here in Istanbul, as well as the Basilica Cistern (the Medusa heads in which are an eery and real world reminder of the power of mythology!).

In my short day of sightseeing yesterday, we were also able to take in a couple of nice ferry rides across the Bosphorus, eventually ending up wandering around the renowned spice market.

For now, my meetings are about to begin again, so I’ll hope to write more later. But in the meantime, here’s a couple of pics I took along the way with my new Minox “digital spy camera (DSC).”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey.

 

Istanbul, Turkey.

It’s the replacement for my Nikon Coolpix, the one I think I mentioned I somehow left by accident in the south of India, and what it lacks in pixels it more than makes up for in portability.

Witness Tom Cruise in the new movie "Knight and Day" and you’ll see the very same camera — although no, that’s not where I got the inspiration to acquire it.

THAT would come from the duty free cart on the Lufthansa flight back from Frankfurt to Houston!

More From Bangalore

I’ve had a few days now in Bangalore, and I promised some more first impressions.

My friend Michael commented in the previous post enough about all the work stuff, what about the important stuff like beer and food?

Well, I can assure you, Michael, that India represents well on both fronts.  I’ve had cuisine from both north and south India – both are delicious, though quite different. 

The south Indian cuisine focuses more on rice as a staple (which makes sense…it’s in the south!), and emerges largely from the four states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka (where Bangalore is situated), Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.  I’ve especially enjoyed the dosa.

From the north, you get the more spicy, meat-oriented dishes (your curries, kebabs, etc.). 

I pretty much like it all, and prefer to wash it all down with a nice, big Kingfisher beer, particularly at the end of a long day of training and workshops, which is predominantly what I’m here for.

As to the traffic, I’m getting better at playing Bangalore Frogger. 

The last few days we’ve gone out to lunch just across the street from the IBM Commerce@Mantri location and we’ve had to run a gauntlet of tuk-tuks, taxis, trucks, vans, motorcycles, scooters, and people to get across the street.

Once upon a time, I was a New York City bike messenger, and I think crossing the street in Bangalore may, in fact, be even more dangerous than that.  It comes down to timing the crossing just perfectly.  So far, so good.

As for work, this is my first time meeting our team in Bangalore face-to-face.  Our team here is whip smart and highly motivated.  I’m looking forward to learning more from them over the next 10 days and to also learning more about their country and diverse culture.

In the meantime, enjoy this first person video of traffic in Bangalore (this was light traffic, as it was taken on a Sunday!)

 

Turbo Goes For A Sunday Drive in Bangalore

Side Saddle Sari

Good morning from Bangalore.  Or Bengaluru, as it was officially renamed in 2005.

Better known as the “Silicon Valley” of India, it’s hard to believe I’ve not found myself visiting here before. 

I’ll share more impressions as I soak up the ambience of Karnataka state, but my initial impressions is “Wow” and “Holy traffic jam, Batman!”

I’ve traveled around the globe with IBM, but I have to say, nothing can quite prepare one for that first cab ride through Bangalore traffic on a Monday morning. 

Most amusing to me were the odd signs that suggest folks stay in their lanes.  To which, I asked myself, what lanes?

Bangalore traffic is like one big neverending Frogger game, although I’d take Frogger any day of the week – it has lanes! 

The vehicles are as great in their diversity as the languages and cultures are of the India sub-continent.  I especially like the little ‘”Tut tuts” (that’s what our cab driver called them), which remind me of the little vehicles meter maids in the U.S. used to drive. 

Only with much louder exhausts.

Another day in Bangalore traffic…please yield to the cows.

 

Then there’s all the guys riding their scooters and motorcycles, many with their ladies riding side saddle in their colorful saris. 

Talk about balance.  Which is a good thing, because it seems most of the helmets are worn by the men!

I’ll share some other impressions about my India experience as the next two weeks wears on, but in the meantime I thought I’d set the stage for my extended visit here by providing some background about IBM in India.

India in general, and Bangalore in particular, has become a critically important hub for information technology around the globe. 

So, a little history: IBM has been present in India since it’s re-entry into the country in 1992, and since that time has expanded its operations considerably.

We now have regional headquarters in Bangalore and offices in 14 cities, including regional offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.

In 2005, IBM announced the acquisition of Network Solutions Ltd., a leading infrastructure services company in India.  This strategic investment has helped IBM augment its networking and managed services portfolio of offerings in India and broaden it’s reach across the country.

Some other key investments that IBM has made in India that are worthy of note:

IBM Innovation Center for Business Partners: (One among 10 facilities worldwide) Independent Software Vendors are encouraged to port their solutions on IBM platforms at this Center and develop Web based applications for Indian customers.

Linux Solution Center, Bangalore: (One among 7 facilities worldwide) The center supports Business Partners and Independent Service vendors across the ASEAN / South Asia region.

IBM Linux Competency Center, Bangalore: (One among only 4 facilities in Asia) This center develops standards and embedded software for open source, undertaking high-end research in the area for IBM Worldwide.

Software Innovation Center, Gurgaon: This state-of-the-art center combines IBM’s global experience and technology expertise to deliver smarter IT solutions for Indian organizations and also the government through the e-Governance Centre.

India Software Lab at Bangalore and Pune: The Software Lab in India develops, enhances and supports key IBM Software products & technologies in collaboration with other IBM labs world wide.  The Center for Advanced Studies at Bangalore was established at the India Software Labs to allow universities access to IBM’s leading-edge product development and the supporting infrastructure, while IBM has the opportunity to work with academic leaders and researchers on research projects.

High Performance On Demand Lab in India, Bangalore – This specialized software and services lab in India to drive automation and virtualization into the increasingly complex IT infrastructures supporting the emerging economy of India. This is the first of its kind lab for IBM in India, bringing specific high-value skills to help clients in India and the surrounding region to enhance and optimise their IT resources to support the growth of their businesses.

Engineering & Technology Services Center, Bangalore: This center provides technology design services for advanced chips, cards and systems to companies in India and across Asia.

India Research Laboratory, Delhi: (One among 8 facilities worldwide) IBM’s India Research Laboratory (IRL) focuses on areas critical to expanding the country’s technological infrastructure. It also has significant initiatives in Services and Sciences, Information Management, User Interaction Technologies, e-Commerce, Life Sciences, Distributed Computing and Software Engineering.

Currently, IRL researchers are working on several projects like bioinformatics, text mining, speech recognition for Indian languages, natural language processing, grid computing, and autonomic computing, among others.

Services Innovation and Research Center, Bangalore: will be an extended arm of IBM’s India Research Lab (IRL), headquartered in New Delhi. The Services Innovation and Research Center (SIRC) was launched as an initiative that will work in close collaboration with IBM’s Global Services group to develop innovative technologies and solutions that improve operational and delivery capabilities.

Global Delivery Centers at Bangalore, Pune, Gurgaon and Kolkata. These centers deliver "best-of-breed" technology solutions to IBM customers worldwide covering middleware, enterprise and web technologies, data warehousing across functional and industry areas.

Global Business Solution Center in Bangalore — IBM further expanded its global consulting delivery capabilities with the establishment of this first-of-a-kind center, which will allow IBM’s more than 60,000 consultants to collaborate and deploy reusable tools and assets in 55 key business areas.

Business Transformation Outsourcing Centers at Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. These centers handles business transformation outsourcing needs of IBM customers worldwide. Some key areas of competence of this center are Customer Contact Centers, Receivables Management, Telemarketing, Transaction Processing and Finance and Accounting.

That’s it for now from the IBM Mantri location here in Bangalore. 

More soon as my jetlag recedes…

Up and Down

It’s great to be back on American soil, but hard to leave the Asia Pacific region, as always.  So much going on there, and so little time to take it all in.

Over the weekend, I had an opportunity to see a little more of Sydney before heading back east, including the Sydney Taronga Zoo (best zoo I’ve ever experienced!) and an Australian Rules Football match between the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions at the Sydney Cricket Stadium.

As a clueless American, I wasn’t sure what was going on on the field when the game first started, but by halftime I’d figured out the scoring, which is always a good sign, and the Swans took the Lions 107-87, with former Lions player Daniel Bradshaw booting six goals on the win.

That dude could kick some Australian football.

As for the ride home, it was a lot shorter coming this way…20 hours, no problemo! 

And I arrived just in time to catch the initial flow of news emerging from IBM’s Impact event in Las Vegas this week, where I’m told there are already over 6,000 IBM customer, partners, and other vested constituents on the ground ready for action.

This morning’s Impact keynote will be streamed live here, and you’ll be able to follow all the key announcements here.

You can also see a continuing stream of information from Impact at the new Impact social media aggregator.

If you’re following along on Twitter, the conference hashtag is #ibmimpact