[extropy-chat] Forbes piece has some interesting catchwords

[Extropian Agroforestry Ventures Inc.]

Software
There's A New Grid In Town
Quentin Hardy, 12.06.04, 7:28 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO - Now that computer systems are bigger and more complex 
than ever before, industry titan William Coleman 
<http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=168533> 
figures, it is time they learned how to run themselves.

"We're heading for self-configuration" of computer systems, says 
Coleman, founder of BEA Systems (nasdaq: BEAS 
<http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=BEAS> 
- news <http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=BEAS> - 
people 
<http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=BEAS>), 
who left that company last year to start Cassatt, a software company 
aiming to steer that self-configuration. "With the commoditization of 
the computing world, we have to automate information technology 
operations." Cassatt is backed by Warburg Pincus with a reported $50 
million investment.

Cassatt has been in stealth for over a year, while attracting senior 
development executives from Sun Microsystems (nasdaq: SUNW 
<http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=SUNW> 
- news <http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=SUNW> - 
people 
<http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=SUNW>), 
Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL 
<http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=ORCL> 
- news <http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=ORCL> - 
people 
<http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=ORCL>) 
and Novell (nasdaq: NOVL 
<http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=NOVL> 
- news <http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=NOVL> - 
people 
<http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=NOVL>), 
as well as the former chief information officer of the U.S. federal 
government. Today, Cassatt will announce its first product, software for 
automated management of large systems of computer servers and 
applications. Coleman says the software will be able dynamically 
allocate previously dedicated servers to different tasks as needed 
through so-called "virtualization" of servers, fixing problems on the 
fly and only telling their human managers about it afterward.

The software costs about $25,000 for the controlling software, and 
$1,500 per server managed. Thus, a system of 30 servers would cost 
$70,000 -- $25,000 for the brain and $45,000 for the individual managers.

Coleman faces big competition in the market: Besides Sun, Hewlett 
Packard (nyse: HPQ 
<http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=HPQ> 
- news <http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=HPQ> - 
people 
<http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=HPQ>) 
offers its Openview software for system management. IBM (nyse: IBM 
<http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=IBM> 
- news <http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=IBM> - 
people 
<http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=IBM>), 
which has been pushing its own "On Demand" software, is said to be a 
Cassatt partner.

Coleman says that the current push among customers for lower prices and 
open systems pushed IBM to him. "If they could yet spend more money and 
make things more and more complicated" they would, he says, but "IBM has 
to adapt to this -- the world won't go in for On Demand to cost more 
money and tie it to a single vendor."

Both HP and IBM, Coleman says, "aren't competing with us, they are 
competing with where technology and the economy are going. They have to 
adapt -- we can help them get there."

The company says it has about 40 customers, including Informatica 
(nasdaq: INFA 
<http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=INFA> 
- news <http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=INFA> - 
people 
<http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=INFA>), 
Ascential Software (nasdaq: ASCL 
<http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=ASCL> 
- news <http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=ASCL> - 
people 
<http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=ASCL>) 
and a program for the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as a large 
pharmaceutical manufacturer. If things go as planned, a new version of 
the product, incorporating more sophisticated virtualization techniques 
to turn many computers into a single giant grid, will be announced in 
the spring.

Coleman says Cassatt marks the start of a fourth ten-year cycle in 
computer technology. The previous ones include exploration of the 
capabilities of the semiconductor, resulting in the personal computer; 
their growth into client-server networks; and the maturation of that 
into the Internet and Web services architectures.

In each case, both the capabilities and the geography of electronic 
intelligence grew vastly larger. In the new era, says Coleman, "the 
footprint is the globe, always connected -- the productivity 
enhancements will surpass everything we've seen before."
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