'Complexity kills': Can Microsoft, and all of IT, simplify?'

Enterprise IT projects are complex squared and many times management makes it more complex.
Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s former chief architect, has penned another visionary memo about the post-PC world where he talks about the post-PC world, complexity and how the software giant can adapt to it.
By Larry Dignan | October 25, 2010 zdnet.com
Ozzie arrived at Microsoft with big ideas that were largely implemented—Azure, Office 365, SharePoint etc.—but he couldn’t communicate them well generally speaking. His exit blog post talks about how Microsoft has to prepare for a post-PC world.
Last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer played down Ozzie’s departure somewhat. He said Ozzie’s big thinking is now Microsoft’s strategy. Microsoft is all in on the cloud and the services that go with it. Later, however, Ballmer noted that Windows 8 could be the company’s riskiest product. Sounds like a bit of a post-PC world worry to me.
More: Microsoft’s outgoing Chief Software Architect on the ‘post-PC world’

• Ballmer: Riskiest product bet by Microsoft is the ‘next release of Windows’
• Did Ballmer leave the door ajar for Windows Phone 7 tablet?

Here’s the pertinent part of Ozzie’s post:

But as the PC client and PC-based server have grown from their simple roots over the past 25 years, the PC-centric / server-centric model has accreted simply immense complexity.  This is a direct by-product of the PC’s success: how broad and diverse the PC’s ecosystem has become; how complex it’s become to manage the acquisition & lifecycle of our hardware, software, and data artifacts.  It’s undeniable that some form of this complexity is readily apparent to most all our customers:  your neighbors; any small business owner; the ‘tech’ head of household; enterprise IT.
Success begets product requirements.  And even when superhuman engineering and design talent is applied, there are limits to how much you can apply beautiful veneers before inherent complexity is destined to bleed through.
Complexity kills. Complexity sucks the life out of users, developers and IT.  Complexity makes products difficult to plan, build, test and use.  Complexity introduces security challenges.  Complexity causes administrator frustration.
And as time goes on and as software products mature – even with the best of intent – complexity is inescapable.

That passage was notable because it’s not just a tech issue. It’s a management issue. Can Microsoft really become less complex? Can it develop less complex products? And what does that mean for longevity—Ozzie also noted that Microsoft has benefited from complexity. One thing is certain: Complexity is everywhere in tech. Enterprise IT projects are complex squared and many times management makes it more complex.

MAYOR BLOOMBERG- New PARTNERSHIP WITH MICROSOFT

MAYOR BLOOMBERG DISCUSSES THE CITY’S GROUNDBREAKING PARTNERSHIP WITH MICROSOFT FOR A MORE EFFICIENT CITY GOVERNMENT IN WEEKLY RADIO ADDRESS 
(My Comment integrated with Oracle Portal and SUN Servers!?)
The following is the text of Mayor Bloomberg's weekly radio address as prepared for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio for Sunday, October 24, 2010
"Good Morning.  This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
"Mayor Ed Koch once said that New York City is the place 'where the future comes to audition.'  And that's something our Administration takes very seriously.  In fact, we're bringing the spirit of innovation to every corner of the city.  And by thinking creatively - by flipping the conventional wisdom on its head - by having the courage to try new things - we're gaining new ground on some of our most complex, longstanding challenges - like fixing our schools and protecting our environment.
"We're also using innovation to change the way government itself does business - making us more efficient and more effective than ever before.  A great example of this came to fruition last week when we unveiled a groundbreaking partnership with Microsoft.  The technology giant has a long history of working with our schools and our government, but our latest partnership - the first of its kind - elevates our commitment to innovation to a whole new level.
"Central to this agreement is a new licensing contract that significantly lowers our technology costs.  In the past, the City's numerous agencies would each negotiate their own licenses and purchase their own software individually.  But by leveraging City government's tremendous buying power, we've now been able to consolidate these dozens of agreements into one single license covering more than 100,000 City employees.
"And instead of us purchasing a bundle of products for every employee, Microsoft has also agreed to charge us based on which applications our City workers actually need and use.  Together, these improvements will produce an incredible $50 million in savings for the City over the next five years.
"This new agreement also gives us access to Microsoft's latest tools and products - like 'cloud computing,' which is becoming an increasingly popular way for people to collaborate and access information.  By storing some of our information on Microsoft's data servers, our employees are going to be able to work together online - regardless of where they are in the world.  This will also take some pressure off the City's own computer servers, which means we won't need as much hardware or use as much energy - which will save us even more money.
"And that really goes to the heart of what innovation can do for City government.  By harnessing the power of data and technology, we're not just making government leaner, faster, and more responsive. We're also making government more cost effective - and that's something that all New Yorkers can appreciate.
"This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.  Thanks for listening."

McAfee announces new antivirus developments/ Israel Export Institute Reports

Israeli Exporters Catalog Business Matching Economic & Trade Representatives Israel Trading Companies Geographic Specialization Fields of Specialization List Of Israeli Trading Companies

Aerospace & Homeland Security > News McAfee announces new antivirus developments 19/09/10 Information security giant McAfee's research labs have developed a new antivirus technology, the company has announced. McAfee's new antivirus technology is part of the company's Global Threat Intelligence battle and allows two key solutions to work together to fight extended malware attacks. First, McAfee's researchers can actively search for new online threats by using the millions of computers worldwide that run McAfee software. Secondly, researchers can produce more advanced defenses than the traditional malware "fingerprint." McAfee's labs have seen malware levels hit new records every year – in the first half of 2010, over 55,000 examples of malware were received by the lab every day.