(Almost) Live From IBM Pulse 2012: Todd and Scott’s Livestream Kickoff

Greetings from the social media room on the solutions expo floor of IBM Pulse 2012.

It’s been a wild and crazy day, which you know already if you follow my blog.

We’ve already witnessed several keynote sessions, and Scott and I have been busy interviewing some of our key execs and thought leaders from IBM Software.

Those would include IBM Mobile guru Bob Sutor, who explained he’s historically been more iOS than Android (but he’s leaving the mobile OS door wide open) and who walked us through the “mobile lifecycle,” and IBM Developer Relations VP Mike Riegel, who regaled us with his insights into the IBM SmartCamp and Global Entrepreneur initiatives.

Keep an eye out on the Livestream for those interviews as they make their way into the Pulse 2012 video rotation.

Meanwhile, I wanted to include a link to the video Scott and I did for our kickoff last evening here on the Pulse 2012 Solutions Expo floor, where we set up the big picture for the week’s tidings — and even had some fun doing so.

@ Pulse 2010: Getting Things Going

I have too many friends I work with in Canada to gloat about the U.S. team’s win over Canada in men’s hockey last evening at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

So, that’s all I’ll say on the subject.

Hee hee hee.

One of the great things about attending IBM’s major customer events like Pulse is the opportunity to visit face to face with customers and also to see some familiar and friendly faces from across IBM.

We’re a distributed global organization these days at IBM (my team and I joke with one another that we only see each other on other continents…more truth to that than I care to admit) so face-to-face time is a precious commodity in an organization fluent in using Lotus Sametime and Notes to conduct so much of its business.

I ran into one such IBM old friend last night in the hallways of the MGM, Harriet Pearson.

Harriet is IBM’s Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President, Security Counsel, and someone with whom I collaborated with many moons ago to help formulate IBM’s Internet privacy policy.

Harriet has continually been a guiding beacon and thought leader for IBM and the industry around privacy concerns, including the challenging subject of privacy in the social media — view this recent and thoughtful interview as part of SuperNova on the subject of balancing the need for sharing with online privacy.

Harriet will be partnering with IBM System and Technology Group general manager Helene Armitage in Tuesday’s general session here at Pulse to explore how integrated service management can meet the needs of a smarter planet, with a particular eye on the practical concerns of managing growth, reducing costs and ensuring security.

Harriet and Helene will provide valuable insight into how to manage these concerns, and will be joined by a variety of IBM clients who are deploying integrated service management solutions using Tivoli software.

Of course, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.

This morning, just after breakfast, expect to see Tivoli Software general manager Al Zollar officially get things kicked into full gear before handing off the podium to the other Al, former U.S. vice president, Al Gore.

I’m looking forward to it all, and plan to provide some real-time updates via Twitter, as are so many of my colleagues, customers, and the press/analyst community…follow the hashtag #ibmpulse to monitor the real-time stream from this morning’s general sessions starting around 11 AM EST.

Smarter Software, Better Business

I went for a walkabout along the Las Vegas Strip late this morning, partially to walk off some of the jetlag and partially to do a quick photo safari.

I’ll work to share some of the pics later, but for now I wanted to share some thoughts about how software is changing the way we live on our smarter planet, which I think will provide you with a broad backdrop for the kickoff of IBM Pulse 2010 and the news that will soon begin to emanate from here in Vegas.

Be forewarned, this is a lengthier post than usual, so settle in.

On a smarter planet, people consume only what they need, when they need it — my excursion to McDonald’s this AM for breakfast aside.

By way of example, IBM is working with a leading international energy provider to launch an automated energy management system to help over 11K households to better control their energy usage.

With such a system, users will be able to establish consumption protocols to minimize electricity use in peak periods and to take full advantage of renewable energy resources when available.

On a smarter planet, people also know the best way to get from point A to point B (Note: My hopscotch trip across Europe last week was not such a journey!).

The Singapore Land Transportation Authority is building just such a capability with improvements on one of the most modern, affordable and heavily used public transport networks in the world. It includes an integrated payment option that can be used for the bus or the train, plus parking and vehicle congestion charges.

But the improvements don’t end at the bus stop — the system will also be studying commuter usage data to help design and maximize schedules and routes that will further reduce congestion.

On a smarter planet, people use smarter software to see hidden patterns.

Like at a major health insurance company, which is creating a first-of-its-kind healthcare data aggregation system that will provide information on how people receive treatment for everything from a sore foot to an ailing heart.  Such a system will yield insights that empower companies to develop employee healthcare plans that provide the highest-quality care at the best value.

(I just hope they include jetlag in their menu of studied conditions!)

In each of these examples is a business, government, or industry that has used software in new ways.

Today, more than ever, organizations use software to enable every facet of their business, but with new models and ways of working also come new challenges.

As a result, a new set of needs has emerged.  How to turn information into insights.  To increase agility.  To connect and collaborate.  To enable business service and product innovation.  To drive enterprise operations effectiveness and efficiency.  And to manage risk, security, and compliance.

Addressing these needs requires smarter software.

Smarter software which knows and acts.   Which connects and adapts.  Which monitors, controls, and optimizes.  And which even protects and helps mitigate risk.

We at IBM believe our software can make the world better, one client at a time.  Though a lot of other companies claim to do the same thing, their software doesn’t work like IBM software.

We know what it takes to solve our clients’ biggest challenges, and we’ve spent the last 50 years delivering software that is fueled by expertise, is built for change, and is ready for work.

IBM Software is fueled by expertise, and by knowledge as to how to apply software for real results.

We know industries, the world of business, and how work actually gets done.

We also know systems, both natural and man-made, and we have the proof points to back it up:

40 innovation centers worldwide, focused on solutions for dozens of industries.  26,000 developers.  80 R&D labs. 30K partners worldwide.  And the world’s largest math department.

IBM software is built for change, because it’s open, easily integrated, and flexible.  It’s built with a systems point of view.

Old, new, ours, theirs…we don’t care, so long as we have the opportunity to make it all work together, and to make it work for your busines.

But we also have forward-looking labs and researchers whose sole purpose is to help our clients be prepared for the future.  In the last several years, we’ve made over 100 acquisitions, established 300 SOA patents, and contributed to over 150 open source projects, more than any other company.

We’ve also invested over $1B in Linux and open source technologies, and continue to invest several hundred dollars annually.

That’s putting our money where the penguin’s mouth is.

And IBM software is ready for work.

It’s software that’s robust, industrial-strength, proven, and ready to scale. And we at IBM work to provide ongoing service that helps ensure our clients’ success, because we want to see our software solve their greatest challenges and create new value.

To do so, we have 60 laboratories around the globe that practice agile development and work hand in hand with clients, business partners, and academia, and 17K sales and 5K support staff to help along the way.

Let us help you build a smarter company and a smarter planet by helping you see your hidden patterns, recognize your problems before it’s too late, find your best way from point A to B.

Together, we can build better software to in turn build a smarter planet.

This week at IBM Pulse 2010 in Las Vegas, you’ll hear more about how.

IBM Pulse 2010: The Wide Shot

I’ve overcome my jetlag enough to produce this quick introductory video for IBM Pulse 2010 here in Vegas, complete with a few housekeeping details.

Due to the aforementioned jetlag, I was up well before most of the poker players had gone home for the night (not that I would know anything about such a thing), and early this AM IBM Pulse 2010 was already coming to life.

I’ve now got my badge, I kind of know my way around, and I am looking forward to running into some of you over the next few days.

In the meantime, enjoy your Sunday and for those of you still on your way to Vegas, safe travels (the weather is nice out, with a cool temp of around 48 degrees Fahrenheit and an expected high today of 61!)

Turbo Fa Milano

I arrived safely in Milan last evening, only to discover that Milan Fashion Week 2010 doesn’t begin for another 6 days!

My new line of cowboy-themed tie-die shirts, blue jeans, and cowboy hats seems to have been kept out of this year’s Milano lineup — I can’t be sure what, exactly, happened.

Did I inadvertently tick off Anna Wintour??

Perhaps it had something to do with my having worn a tie that didn’t match the color of my eyes.  It won’t have been the first time I committed a major fashion faux-pas while traveling abroad.

Though I’ll miss out on all the new Milano clothing lines, The Fashionisto blog will make sure you don’t miss a thing, no matter how short your high heels.

While I work to get my Texas fashion sense (such as it is) resituated, I had mentioned in a previous post the opportunities presented to organizations which focus on building out smarter business infrastructures.

This in anticipation of the IBM Pulse 2010 event next week in Las Vegas, which leads to some compelling questions you might want to ask yourself:

What would mean to your organization if you could always access critical business data at the exact moment you need it?

What if you could improve service and reduce costs by delivering IT services when your customers requested them?

Who knows, you might find yourself arriving in Milan for fashion week!

Especially in this challenging economic climate, companies around the globe have to manage and mitigate risk, even as they support their core business goals.

They have to address no small number of regulatory, organizational, and industry-oriented compliance drivers, and that alone can be a key inhibitor.

By way of example, 33% of consumers notified of a security breach will terminate their relationship with the company they perceive as responsible.

Doh!  Hold on, where’d all my customers go?!

71% of CIOs in a 2009 IBM Global CIO survey identified risk management and compliance as an important part of their visionary plans for enhanced competitiveness.

Can you spell Basel II?

And nearly 50% of all sensors used for critical measurements across production, facilities and transportation equipment are now smart sensors, generating up to 4 million signals daily — creating more information than ever before.

So many sensors, so little time!  Calgon, take me away!

Fear not.

Though it can’t help you with your fashion sense, IBM’s dynamic infrastructure strategy can help you deliver a shared, integrated and highly available infrastructure that can address these challenges today, but also capitalize on the opportunities of tomorrow.

It can help across a number of key areas:

• To enable visibility, control and automation across all business and IT assets through integrated service management
• To optimize the IT infrastructure through virtualization and energy efficiency initiatives to achieve more with less.
• To address the complexity of managing data growth through information infrastructure initiatives.

You can learn more about these opportunities in IBM Tivoli’s integrated service management podcasts and webcasts.

I would also suggest you visit our Smarter Cities Web experience, an excellent interactive overview of how IBM is helping drive adoption of smart and dynamic  infrastructures to facilitate everything from smarter traffic systems to smarter and more efficient energy grids. (Speaking of which, click hear to visit the IBM Energy Management blog!)

Me, I’ve got to manage my own energy and get back to this meeting in Milano…keep your fingers crossed for the Italian adoption of the Turbo Cowboy fashion line!

Tough Start in Vancouver

Greetings from the Austin airport.

Whoa, I had a sense of serious deja vu there for the moment.  I can’t imagine why!

Moi?  At an airport?  What up with that??

I’m off on a 12-day journey, first for some meetings in Stuttgart, Madrid, and Milan, and then from there straight back to Viva Las Vegas for this year’s IBM Pulse 2010, where I’ll be joining some of my Tivoli and greater IBM colleagues to help cover the event via this blog and the Twittersphere.

Since I’ll be out on the road, I’ll unfortunately miss out on much of the Winter Olympics coverage from beautiful Vancouver.

If you’ve never visited the area, you really should put it on your list.  It’s breathtakingly beautiful.

And in spite of yesterday’s admittedly horrific start to the games with the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, I thought the opening ceremony last night in Vancouver was stunning.

It was uniquely Canadian, celebrating that country’s great diversity and majesty, and it struck an elegant and delicate balance between being respectful of the circumstances while having the “show” go on.  The floor light show was something I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever seen before and it was magical.

IBM having once been a longtime sponsor of the Olympic games, I think I can safely speak for many of my colleagues when I extend our condolences and good wishes to the Olympics family and the country of Georgia and its brave athletes, who laid aside their grief and put their game faces on to honor the memory of Mr. Kumaritashvili.

That can’t have been easy for anyone, and I think they did it, respectfully and with appropriate acknowledgement to the tragedy.  Obviously, nobody wanted the games to start with such a sad beginning.

As I get ready to leave the U.S.A., know that I’ll very much look forward to following the action from overseas next week and I wish our own athletes the best of luck in their various competitions — especially our own “Flying Tomato,” Shawn White.

Dude, I can’t wait to see you taking some majestic air!