Monopolies are Bad

This morning we announced (to the media and soon to our internal employee's) our lawsuit against Intel focusing on their anti-competitive behavior, coercision and market monopolization.

I have battled a monopoly in a previous life, and I promise it is nowhere near the fun the movie "Antitrust" played it out to be.

In this case Intel has gone out of their way to create a market where their technology can dominate. Their buildout of this market has used coercision, restricting information, "paperwork failures" and direct intimidation.

In our software group, I look at the simple example of the Intel compiler (sold as an "independendant development tool"). The intel compiler actually "breaks" code written for AMD or in other cases it degrades the performance noticably. This has forced software vendors into using alternate compilers for various platforms, thus increasing Intel's dominance in not only the processor market but also the supporting solutions.

When I first heard about this decision and the evidence involved, I was shocked and outraged. As I read the press releases now, my blood boils.

AMD has great technology and great partners (SUN, HP, IBM, Fujitsu). We also have great customers ;-)

I belive in an open market and I believe in free trade. I believe we should strive for a perfect world without corruption. Intel's unfair manipulation and monopolistic practices not only reduce customers access to innovative technologies, these practices also reduce the ability of their customers and ecosystem partners (such as the OEM's, chipset vendors, tool suppliers) to fairly benefit from their contributions to the solutions end users purchase.

I believe in AMD and will stand up for what I believe. Customers deserve choices, access and the best possible products and technologies. I believe that AMD is serving our customers best by providing the leadership needed in this industry.

I call on the market to join AMD and speak out against Intel. This is not about an "us vs. them" (referrring to AMD vs. Intel), this is about an "us for them" (AMD & Intel for our customers and partners) which will help build and establish the market.

At 4AM in the morning, I think people should be proud I wrote this much ;-)

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!


Kyle

Missing Wallets Suck

I returned from my UK/Germany trip last night through Dallas with a stop over on my way back to San Jose.

After being awake for the entire trip (thats the way to beat jet lag, lemme tell ya) I was a slight bit exhausted so I didn't really notice when some guy bumped into me outside the admirals club as I was leaving to head to my gate. Turns out, I probably should have noticed.

Upon arriving in San Jose I went to go find my wallet and replace my euros and pounds with dollars. No matter how much you try, Starbucks wont take Euros...go figure. When I discovered my wallet was missing I retraced my steps and figured out that I last had it in Dallas at the admirals club because I bought a bottle of water for my trip. I had to wait until this morning to call because it was too late to reach the Dallas club last night.

This morning, after I called, they suggested that I may have been pickpocketed. I dismissed this idea at first as just typical AA laziness, but then the lady described in creepy detail the look of one of the known pickpocketers. Turns out I wasn't the only victim yesterday.

It dawned on me (it shouldnt take this much I know) that identity and the whole process of managing a persons identiy is really the next big "problem".

Imagine the steps you need to take if you loose your wallet (and this is just mine):
(1) Stop and replace credit cards
(2) Get a replacement drivers license
(3) Get replacement social security cards/health insurance
(4) Get replacement corporate phone card
(5) Get replacement frequent travel cards (air, hotel, car, name it)

etc.......

So imagine the solutions to these problems:
(I know people will bitch about civil liberties but I am sure the system can fix those problems)

(1) Smart Card technology that "carries" your multiple identies in "one" card
(2) Merge your identites into one place (your smart card) then ATM/POS systems ASK which one to use.... do you buy groceries on your visa, m/c, amex etc...

(3) Let your smart card be an "access" token for information about you. There is no need to carry information, smart encryption (public/private key) should allow your smart card to present your identity (via PKI) to a system (such as the Colorado DMV) to allow THEM to search for YOU. If you loose your license, simply get a new smart card. This method would fix SO many problems.

If you loose your ID, you get a new smart card and new encryption pairing. You replace one card instead of many, your identity isn't tied to a collection of plastic, its tied to a real "identity" that can easily be voided if lost.

I point this out mainly because as of right now, I have no credit cards and none of the identity pieces needed to run my life. Lucky for me, I kept my UK passport seperately so that will be my identity for now!


The real question is how do YOU define identity?

The coolest song ever

Chipz: Cowboy




If you find me this album or can find me a place to get the MP3, I will be your best friend. It wasn't on iTunes but who knows..... the challenge is ON!

../boo ya!
KYLE

Real Work

ALERT --> (never put this word in an email subject, it only causes managers to be alert)

I am on my last day here in Europe which surprisingly has seemed like my longest trip EVER!

I had a joint meeting with a partner and our EMEA sales folks this morning that went amazingly well. Typically I am not on my game at 8am, but with some kind of "miracle" I was able to fake it. I firmly believe there should be a law against doing business before 10AM, unfortunatly that law would probably be circumvented by some obscure German regulation.

I walked around the ISC expo and was quite surprised at how small the world was. My vote for most "random" appearance was Sean Copp a sales monkey from Tailspin/Cisco. I have worked with Sean quite a bit over the last couple of years...but never would I have imagined either the US government letting him out, or the German government letting him in ;-) (smile Sean, you know I like you).

I had a great dinner with our UK BDE folks where they informed me that us Americans treat them like a "51st state". They suggested I mention to AMD folks (thus the blog entry) that at one point they did settle our great nation, provide us the provocation to kick them out, and taught us how to properly fight a war. Oh, and they let us have a wonderful tea party in Boston which was one of their many contributions, therefore they think we Americans should consider them a seperate and equally significant country.

I am cheap I know, but seriously....this AA flight I found is cool.

ISC Day 1

Don't you remember the days when you had partners, customers and business friends that you actually liked? Ok, so I admit....I really, really like some of the partners I work with here at AMD.

Trains in Germany are interesting. The schedules are pretty easy if you speak german, complicated if you speak english. I ended up in Stuttgart and then went backwards to Heidelberg.

I met with the folks from the OpenIB group at an event they were hosting this evening. I forgot that in the HPC world, the IB folks and techies can get away with their jeans and polo's.....I was a good boy and wore my "business atire" (unfortunatly that means I was slightly cooler than a steamed lobster by the end of the night).

The OpenIB folks pitched the idea that AMD should join their group because we are "ecosystem" partners to the IB industry. What they really want is a "small" sum of money and the use of our labs for testing. This is something I think we can accomplish quite easily but hey....this is quirky territory so who knows.

Whats funny is that the OpenIB guys finally "got it". Instead of everyone using their own "IB" stack...they should combine it all into one good stack and offer it to customers. That makes it interchangeable and much easier to deal with. I only wonder how you combine 5 products into one, and then keep the value each of those companies added.....but maybe someone will tell me.

I had a great meetings with my other favorite partner folks (Voltaire, Infinicon, Panasas and now Pathscale). I also got to spend a few minutes with the HPC product manager for Microsoft.

Tonight is a short night, I have early meetings and a full day of "stuff" including my flight back to London. Funny story but every time I come over here, I end up having to promise to come back.....hmm...

Headaches in Frankfurt

I am on the road this week in Europe. With a brief stop in Scotland this weekend (the real Scotland) to see my granny and aunt/uncle/cousins I am now on my way to the International Supercomputer Conference in Heidelberg, well sort of.

I had originally planned to fly from Glasgow to London and then continue on to Stuttgart where I could meet up with some of my counterparts from Europe to make the drive to Heidelberg, a plan that was simple before you allowed British Airways to get involved. After 2 cancelled flights, they ended up getting me into Birmingham and then into Frankfurt. As you would expect, they managed to loose my luggage en route (corporate folks have been nice enough to help me round up replacements until they find my luggage).

I realize that airlines generally work and that their problems are occassional. With almost 150,000 miles flown last year alone.... stuff like this just happens. My only complaint is that a number of airlines seem to think that the last person to be "involved" should be the customer/passenger. For example, the BA counter folks in Glasgow thought that I should go take a seat rather than help them come up with additional options, and when I arrived in Frankfurt they provided me a telex from Birmingham noting that my luggage was still stuck in Glasgow. Once the counter folks allowed me to assist them, I was able to come up with an option that at least got me to Germany (rather than Paris as they suggested) and I could have procured additional clothing BEFORE I left the UK had they notified me as soon as they had the information (ever try shopping in Frankfurt after 10pm?).

This experience convinced me that I would rather fly on an airline that remembers I exist and wants my business. I have since switched my flights from BA to BMI, happily giving up the BA first class for an airline that wants my business. Coach is just fine for me if it helps an airline that wants me!


There is an interesting business lesson you can abstract from this. One way relationships between companies and customers just don't work for the long term. Communicating and collaborating with customers is the only way to win. Following your corporate procedure and "plans" will only work as long as you satisfy the needs of your customer. When companies move to follow procedures and policies without regard to the needs of the customer, they begin to loose touch with the very reason they exist as a company.

I will happily pay my money to any airline that wants to value and respect me. I don't care if they screw up, just make sure you keep your focus on ME. I am the one stuck in Frankfurt without any clothes (or excedrine -- remind me to blog on this tomorrow).

Why venture capitalists should be scared

Tonight I convinced a couple of my colleagues to attend a Silicon Valley Bank event focused around letting a number of startups "pitching" their ideas to current CIO's. Nobody believes me now, but I really meant to show these guys that startups are cool.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) did a great job of running the event. Good food, lots of wine, and everyone was properly dressed (except me of course.... nothing but the good ole jeans and a polo shirt). They designed a simple process by where the "start-up" had 5 minutes to pitch their idea, the CIO's had 2 minutes of questions followed by a vote using paddles - red for NO, green for GO ;-)

So I didn't keep official numbers on every company but lets just say it was pretty pathetic.

There were 2 companies I was "really" impressed with, Azul and ShoreTel. Azul Systems simply because I know them and I wasn't sure that the Azul guy could actually inspire me and ShoreTel because I have used their gear before, I buy their story and product and I honestly like the fact that they are a little guy in a big market.

This being said, everyone else sucked and without naming names....let me tell you why.

There was a definite lack of "purpose" exuding from all of these startups. Not a single one (with the exception of Azul) could tell us "why" they were the leader or going to be the leader in their particular product area. They also with rare exception (including Azul and ShoreTel) delivered any kind of compelling pitch regarding the "value" of their product to the customer.

I have been around Silicon Valley for a while (granted I used to commute here but that counts right...) and I remember why the dot-com days actually were interesting. The companies "then" were looking to solve real problems. Their focus was on solving real problems and in order to figure out the solutions, they thought big. Unfortunatly the VC community and business/corp dev folks got greedy and well we blew and burst that bubble pretty badly.

Startups need to answer relatively few questions to impress me. I am looking to hear "what" you are doing, why you are doing it, what problem you are solving and what makes you better than the other guys (either the existing market leaders/segments, or the up and coming startup competition). I don't care about valuations, research reports, lame market directions or even where your company is located. I do care about you telling me what you are going to do and then having real customers validate your idea.

The closest we came to hearing that tonight was a customer who told us that he had met with 8 of 10 CIO's and they told him what they viewed as their current security problems. What he forgot to tell us was why we should let him solve those problems and what his solution was.

My vote... all RED paddles. Lets get some of the smart people out of Google, Apple and all the other cool kid companies and get it right this time ;-)

Sun & StorageTek

So a lot of people have been asking me lately, what do "you" think of the Sun & StorageTek merger (see the disclaimer below).

Contrary to what people might think, I believe Sun is a great company at its heart. I think Sun has somewhat lost its way over the last couple years but that was only a function of a number of shifting forces colliding in one place (dot-com bust, migration to ISS x86 as a platform, adoption of Linux, Windows/Microsoft stability etc..).

While Sun has been restructuring, they claim to have finally seen the light. The jury is out still as to this being a lasting phenomenon.

So lets talk about StorageTek and Sun and the Kyle prediction ;-)

Sun needs a sales team, and a really tough one. They used to have this back in the glory days (remember Masood Jabbar) and they need one again. StorageTek brings this to them in full force. You could argue this point one of two ways; The StorageTek sales force is great at "selling" a dying product and thus extending its life, or Sun can benefit from the great Enterprise Sales experience these folks would bring to them.

Verdict: StorageTek brings a tough sales force to Sun


Sun needs a way to be competitive in the Enterprise space. If you look at history, you realize that Sun is a relative newcomer to the top 3 (lets exclude Dell because...well...being an Intel reseller doesn't count). HP and IBM have spent years becoming de facto choices for enterprise customers. With both of these vendors there were lines like "you can't get fired for buying HP or IBM". With Sparc dying a sudden death and a "new" strategy focused around x86, Sun really was missing that long reach technology that provides them the image of stability (the thing Enterprises really care about). StorageTek brings this to them. Tape may be a very old technology, but its still there.

Finally, Sun really needs new blood that is not based in California. I personally believe 3/4 of Sun's problems come from being based in California. They are trying to play the same game as everyone else with less mindshare, more skepticism and less morale. Sun can now (with StorageTek) focus their operations in areas such as Colorado, Boston, Austin etc.. where there is still plenty of "tech" investment, but without the crutches of the silicon valley grind. Scott and Jonathan might be great leaders, but they certainly aren't innovating and changing the game the way they used to. I would argue that one of Sun's smartest moves was their SmallWorks project based in Aspen (run by Bill Joy). A group of western cowboys figuring out how to build an innovative solution might be just what Sun needs.

Yes I think its a good merger, even considering their history screwing things up (Cobalt). Let's see if they can pull this one off ;-)




The views expressed here are mine alone and do not express the view of AMD or its partners & affiliates

The blogs collide

I discovered today that all of my blogging (that I have been doing recently) was actually only for the benefit of our internal (inside AMD) folks.

This seemed rather lame to me, so I have re-set the blog so it links here ;-)