An EMP elevates Transformation to Reinvention

I've been saying for years that every major technology wave brings with it a new set of acronyms and a new generation of enthusiasts eager to deploy them. ERP. CRM. SCM. We built careers orchestrating the implementation of these systems. We transformed companies, changing the way employees worked, how customers engaged, how products moved through supply chains. We were proud of it, and rightly so.

But I want to propose something different today. A new frame. A new acronym. Allow me to introduce the concept of an EMP, an Enterprise Management Platform.

Here's why it matters, and why it's categorically different from everything that came before.

When we implemented ERP, we were transforming a company. We were changing how people worked.
Humans were still there, in greater numbers than before, in fact, just working differently, more efficiently, supported by technology. The technology served the workforce. The workforce ran the business. That's been the paradigm for decades.

AI in general, and agentics in particular, changes that equation entirely. We are no longer talking about orchestrating a transformation of select processes, or even an enterprise-wide transformation. We are talking about orchestrating the operation of the business itself through agents and robots. Technology doesn't support the workforce in this model. In many cases, technology becomes the workforce.

Think about what it meant to implement an ERP. You had a business. You had people running that business. You were asked to improve how they operated. Success was measured by adoption, efficiency gains, cost reduction. You were, in essence, a very sophisticated tool-giver. And a good one at that.

Now think about what the EMP requires. You're not being asked to improve how people work. You're being asked to envision an organization where the agents are the workers. Your procurement agent negotiates. Your finance agent approves. Your logistics agent schedules. Your customer service agent resolves. The CIO, or whoever owns this portfolio going forward, is no longer primarily a technology implementer. They are an organizational architect. They are designing and operating a digital enterprise.

That is a fundamentally different job description.

This mean for those of us who have spent our careers implementing ERPs, managing CRM rollouts, optimizing supply chains? It means we need to elevate our thinking. The era of the technical specialist, the person who is valuable because they know SAP modules or Salesforce configurations, is giving way to the era of the digital enterprise architect. Someone who can envision a company that runs on agents and robots, design the oversight structures that keep it honest, and preserve space for the human creativity that no model can replicate.

That's the EMP. And if you're a technology leader today, you'd better start getting comfortable with it.

The horizon isn't ten years out. It's next quarter.

Captain Joe Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

Three Golden Rules for AI Agent Implementation

Last week on Isaac Sacolick's LinkedIn Live show "Coffee with Digital Trailblazers" the topic was AI agents at work and how IT and HR should collaborate to drive adoption. It occurred to me that my three golden rules apply perfectly to this new world of AI agents. Let me explain.

Big tech is expected to spend nearly $500 billion on AI infrastructure by 2026, up from $100 billion annually before ChatGPT arrived on the scene. Microsoft, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Nvidia are all making big bets. Meanwhile, over 50 large SaaS and security companies are rolling out AI agents and related capabilities. There's a lot of noise and excitement, but here's what's missing from most of the conversation: How do you actually make this work in your organization?

Anyone who has been a member of my staff will tell you that to get along with me you only need to adhere to my golden rules. These are very simple, straightforward and quite reasonable. Nothing too complicated to remember or follow, and they have served me well for many years. Now it turns out they work beautifully for managing adoption of AI agents too.

First golden rule: When something, anything goes wrong I always want to be the first to know. Phone me, text me, send a telegram or message on a carrier pigeon. There is nothing worse for me than to hear about a systems related issue from someone outside of my department.

The same principle applies to AI agents. According to recent reports, 87% of enterprises have Microsoft Copilot enabled, more than half the agents access sensitive data, 90% are over-permissioned, and they move 16 times more data than humans. That's a lot of activity happening in the shadows. You need visibility before your CFO finds out from Twitter that your AI agent just did something embarrassing, costly, or worse.

Deploy AI agents with transparent monitoring. Know what they're doing, what data they're touching, and what decisions they're making. My focus is always on understanding what happened, fixing it, and then devising a means of ensuring it can never happen again. The only fatal mistake you can make is trying to hide a problem from me or in this case, not knowing there's a problem until it's too late.

The second golden rule: Stay on task but see the big picture. There is an old expression that goes you can't see the forest for the trees. I remember the time I waited patiently behind a waitress who was diligently refilling the large coffee urn in the lobby of a hotel where I was staying. She was so focused on her task that she couldn't see I was standing right there with an empty cup badly in need of a refill.

So, whatever we are doing, no matter how "critical" we think it may be, we should always be certain it will not somehow adversely affect the operations of the company. Executives need to evaluate how AI enhances their products or service.  It is good practice to lift your head and take in the big picture from time to time. It will also keep you from walking into a telephone pole.

The third golden rule: Your opinion matters. It struck me that I embrace the concept that the entire department is a team working together towards common goals. No one works for me. Everyone works with me. So too, agents are a part of the team and not totally independent. This is perhaps the most critical rule when it comes to AI agents. The agent shouldn't make you a lemming following it over the cliff. Encourage your teams to question AI recommendations with sound, fact-based arguments.

The best AI implementations treat the agent as another team member, not an infallible oracle. Your human judgment still matters. Your experience still counts. Your opinion which is based on years of knowing your customers, your processes and your business is the secret sauce AI alone can't replicate.

So how should you drive adoption? Stop thinking about "enticing" employees and start thinking about solving real problems. If your AI agent needs a 40-page manual, you've already lost. Remember when I tried Spotify? No training required. Performance was flawless. That's your bar. Make the agent intuitive enough that people discover value organically.

And whatever you do, don't form a task force or alliance that creates PowerPoints nobody reads. Create real cross-functional partnerships where IT provides the infrastructure and guardrails, HR ensures alignment with workflow realities, business units define actual problems worth solving, and everyone has permission to say, "this agent isn't working."

As I learned in my time playing Shark Tank with investments, we had to separate high potential candidates from glitzy flash in the pan ideas. The same principle applies here. Focus on AI agents that solve real problems, not the ones with the best demo.

The golden rules have served me well for many years. They've helped me manage complex technical environments, build effective teams, and deliver results for the business. Now they can help us navigate this new world of AI agents. Perhaps they can help you too.

Captain Joe
Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

Stop Building Faster Horses

During a recent Coffee with Trailblazers, we discussed how many companies think of AI as a means to inventing a faster horse when they should be developing cars. 

You know the story. Henry Ford famously said that if he'd asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse. But Ford built something entirely different that solved the same problem in a revolutionary way. Today, I'm watching the same pattern play out with AI. So, here's my take.

If your AI strategy centers solely on "efficiency gains," you're already losing. While your competitors debate AI ethics, their customers are using ChatGPT to solve problems you should be solving for them. The companies winning are the ones making AI invisible to users.

Here's what I've learned from more than thirty years of watching technology reshape business: the real money isn't in the obvious applications. It's in the combinations, extensions, reinventions, and entirely new categories that emerge when you stop thinking about what new technology can do and start thinking about what it makes possible. There are four types of innovation that actually matter. 

The first is what I call unexpected combinations. This comes when industries collide in ways that create entirely new value. For example, if Waymo and Airbnb had a baby in might look like a self-driving Tesla. One that allows its owner to leverage their vehicles when they're not using them. This isn't just ridesharing; it's asset optimization at scale. The pattern here isn't complicated. You take two existing business models that never intersected before, add AI as the connective tissue, and suddenly you've created value that neither could achieve alone. What if your CRM got together with your SCM? What if your HR system combined with your customer service platform? Don't use AI to simply further automate these systems. It should enable them to speak to each other in ways that create entirely new value propositions.

The second type is product line extensions. This involves taking what you already do and amplifying it into spaces you could never reach before. This is where most companies get it wrong. They think AI is about replacing what they do. Smart companies realize it's about extending what they do. For instance, tax consulting where for decades, you had two choices. You could employ expensive human expertise or cheap software that missed nuances. AI enables personalized tax strategy that scales. Your tax consultant doesn't show up in March or April to prepare your return. Your agent becomes your year-round financial coach, analyzing every transaction and proactively suggesting ways to minimize exposure. The lesson? Don't ask what AI can do for your existing products. Ask what your expertise could become if it could scale infinitely and personalize completely.

Then there's complete reinvention. Here's where it gets interesting. What if your ERP system wasn't a collection of modules but a collection of AI agents? Imagine your procurement agent negotiating with your inventory agent, while your finance agent approves the deal and your logistics agent schedules delivery. This isn't automation but rather orchestration. The product disappears and becomes a conversation among intelligent agents, each representing different aspects of your business. Instead of screens and reports the interface is natural language requests and intelligent responses. We're not just digitizing existing processes; we're reimagining what those processes could be if they were designed from scratch for a world where information flows freely and decisions happen at machine speed.

Finally, there are net new categories. These include markets that don't exist yet. The biggest opportunity isn't B2B or B2C, it is going to be entirely new businesses that exist purely to meet your needs. Personal health coaches that know your genetic markers, your daily habits, your stress patterns, and your goals. They don't just give advice; they orchestrate your entire health ecosystem. These aren't enhanced versions of existing services. They're entirely new categories that couldn't exist before AI made them possible. The market didn't exist because the capability didn't exist.

Now here's the bottom line. Every leader should stop asking "How can AI make us more efficient?" and start asking "What becomes possible when intelligence is no longer the bottleneck?" When little Mary 

asked why her grandmother cut the roast in half, she uncovered a process designed for constraints that no longer existed. Today's AI capabilities could make most of our business constraints obsolete if we are willing to question why we're still cutting the roast.

The companies that win won't be the ones with the best AI. They'll be the ones that use AI to create value that was impossible before. They'll stop building faster horses and start building cars. The future isn't about human versus machine. It is about human creativity amplified by machine intelligence. Revenue from AI should not come from replacing humans. It should come from amplifying human potential at machine speed.

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Captain Joe
Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

The Agile Shall Inherit the Earth

Digital transformation is not a project. You will always be transforming, and that requires dexterity.

Not a buzzword. Not a tech skill. Digital dexterity is a leadership muscle: the ability to navigate through
the fog, move across boundaries, and stay focused on outcomes even when the ground keeps shifting. It’s a kind of superpower, adaptability in motion, that separates those who react from those who lead.

You don’t identify it in people by using a checklist. You watch how people behave when things aren’t well defined. Do they lean in? Ask better questions? Connect all the dots that others don’t even see? Are they comfortable being uncomfortable? That’s the sign, the tell.

If you're a digital trailblazer, or trying to be, stop waiting for permission. Volunteer for the mess. Pair up with people outside your lane. Learn by doing. Stretch until it hurts a little. That’s where real dexterity forms. The people who grow fastest are the ones who embrace the unknown, not just tolerate it.

Organizations don’t only need more training programs. They must also build environments where learning is embedded in the work. Shadowing, rotations, rapid pilots. These aren’t side projects, they’re leadership accelerators. Want to develop transformation leaders? Give them something to transform.

Change isn’t the challenge. The challenge is building leaders who know how to move through it.

Captain Joe 

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

The Horizon is Closer Than It Appears

For years, we’ve treated Horizon 3 innovation like a moonshot. These were far-off bets we hope will pay off someday, safely removed from the core business. It was a comforting illusion: we could acknowledge the future without having to engage with it. But like most illusions, it didn’t age well.

Today, the horizon isn’t ten years out. It’s next quarter, perhaps even next week. Emerging technologies don’t wait patiently in the lab. They break out, scale fast, and change customer expectations overnight. What was once the bleeding edge is quickly becoming table stakes.

The classic Three Horizons model gave us a sense of order, a neat way to sort ideas by distance. But as
Steve Blank recently pointed out, that mental model no longer applies. All three horizons operate in parallel now. Innovation is no longer a linear path. It’s a simultaneous juggling act between now, next, and what’s emerging.

This shift requires a different mindset.

First, we need to stop treating Horizon 3 as something defined by the calendar. It’s not “what we’ll care about in 2030” it’s what’s just outside your operational comfort zone today. For example, AI is already deeply embedded across industries. If that’s Horizon 1 now, Horizon 3 might be quantum computing or autonomous decision frameworks. What matters is not the timeline, but the potential for disruption.

Next, it’s crucial to focus on capabilities and not just technology. The trap too many organizations fall into is tech-first thinking: chasing blockchain or metaverse hype without asking what business value they’re trying to unlock. A more grounded approach is to ask: What do we need to be able to do that we can’t do today? That question leads to meaningful innovation, whether it's real-time personalization, trusted data provenance, or radically adaptive systems.

Finally, Horizon 3 shouldn't exist in a vacuum. The skunkworks approach of separate teams, with their own goals, and no connection with the rest of the organization is where good ideas are born and then die. These efforts must be loosely coupled and strategically aligned with the business. That means executive sponsorship, visibility throughout, and a well-defined means to bring mature ideas into the mainstream.

That’s the thing about Horizon 3: it doesn’t wait. The signals are already there if you’re paying attention. The challenge isn’t to predict the future, but rather to be ready when it shows up. It's not unlike the well-known advice in hockey to "skate to where the puck is going to be."

The bridge isn’t just for crossing from now to next. It's where you go so you can see what’s coming. And from here, the future looks a lot closer than we thought.

Chief Chief Officer

Every major technology innovation marks the dawn of a new era and with it the promise that business and technology will never be the same again.  And it seems to follow that we need a new 'chief' to lead us into this promised land.

The latest earth-shattering wave of innovation is, of course, AI.  So, as with BI, Cloud and others before them, we are now seeing cries for a Chief AI Officer.  Ours is the only discipline which can't decide on what the top spot should be called.  Of course, it took decades before technology rose to the C-level at all, but when we did, we immediately confused everyone by using CIO and CTO almost interchangeably. 

The CEO, CFO and COO titles are by far the most consistent. CMO and CRO are later entrants to the c-suite but clearly represent the leader of the marketing and sales organizations, respectively. HR recently got into it by adopting CPO (Chief People Officer) presumably so they too could have a three-letter acronym. 

There have been many other novel chief somethings invented along the way such as Chief Experience Officer, Chief Sustainability Officer, Chief Diversity Officer and others.  However, these Chiefs are focused on an outcome and not on the use of a specific toolset. 

There is only one head of technology in any organization, just as there is only one CEO. This has been referred to in some circles as the President of Technology having overall responsibility for the use of technology throughout the business. This is a C-level position, and the CIO (or CTO) should be focused on the business first and, being the person on the senior management team most knowledgeable about technology, how to best leverage technology to execute the mission of the company. 

Part of that role involves building the right team with all the necessary skills and experience to efficiently and effectively design, build and operate the technology that supports the business. This team must include or have access to expertise in relevant technologies. AI is critically important, and the emergence of generative AI is clearly a watershed moment in technology, but it is still only a tool to be used wisely and not an outcome in and of itself. 

There is an exception to my CIO rule. The CISO role does rise to the C level on its own for two reasons. First, security should not report to the CIO. There are conflicting priorities, and it is unfair to hold the CISO accountable when the "boss" can override decisions. Second, like sustainability or diversity, security is an outcome and not merely a set of tools and techniques. 

A company with a Chief AI Officer, Chief BI Officer, Chief Cloud Officer or other C whatever Officers, will probably need a Chief Chief officer, one Chief to bind them all. 

Captain Joe 

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

All My Children

Leaving your child at daycare for the first time can be unsettling, despite knowing the facility is safer than your home and staffed by professionals. Similarly, entrusting your data to cloud security can be daunting. You worry if your data will receive the same attention and care as you would provide. This anxiety is natural, but it's essential to recognize that hosting centers and Software as a Service (SaaS) providers invest heavily in physical and logical security, far surpassing what most companies can afford.

Their expertise and resources provide robust protection, including state-of-the-art infrastructure, monitoring, and incident response. This partnership doesn't entirely alleviate concerns, but it does shift some of the burden to the provider. Your organization remains accountable for educating users on cloud security best practices and governance policies, controlling costs associated with cloud services, and holding the provider accountable for safeguarding your digital assets.

To establish trust, it's crucial to include key provisions in your contract, such as Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that define performance metrics, uptime guarantees, and response times. Additionally, ensure the provider complies with industry-recognized security standards like SOC 2 or ISO 27001. Regular security audits and penetration testing should also be conducted, with transparent reporting. Clearly outline data ownership, access, and retrieval rights, as well as procedures for contract termination, data return, and secure deletion.

It's also important to maintain vigilance. Regularly review security reports, conduct periodic risk assessments, and engage with the provider's security team to address concerns. This "trust but verify" approach helps build confidence in your cloud security solution. By partnering with reputable providers and implementing checks and balances, organizations can overcome cloud security anxiety.

Just as you learn to trust daycare staff with your child's well-being, you can trust your cloud security provider to safeguard your digital assets. Recognizing the benefits of cloud security and taking steps to ensure accountability can help alleviate concerns, allowing you to focus on your business while knowing your data is secure.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

The Lesson of the Holiday Roast

Have you ever heard the story of the holiday roast? Little six-year old Mary is watching Alison, her mom, carefully preparing the big holiday meal. There are appetizers, salads and all sorts of side dishes. But the centerpiece is always the wonderful holiday roast.

After spending time at the market to choose just the right one, Alison is now in her kitchen, ready to begin cooking it. It is unwrapped, placed in a huge roasting pan, seasoned, coated and finally, most importantly, carefully cut exactly in half. As she gently placed each half face down in the sauce little Mary asked why she had cut this beautiful roast in half. Alison had lots more to do and shrugged off the question.

After exactly two hours, Alison opened the oven, pulled the pan out, turned it around and put it back in. Little Mary, curious again, wanted to know why the roast had been cut in half, and why the pan had to be rotated. "Why?" Alison snapped back. "Well that is the way my mother, your grandmother, taught me to do it," she explained.

Still curious, the little girl asked her mother if they could call grandma and ask her these questions. When they got grandma on the phone, she said the same thing. It was just what she had been taught. Maybe cutting it open makes it juicier inside, and rotating the pan makes it cook more evenly, but I never really asked my mother. Fortunately, great grandma was still around in a nursing home. Little Mary's curiosity still unsatisfied, grandma thought perhaps great grandma could reveal the secret.

As IT professionals, we will often try to uncover the origin of a particular business process. Like little Mary, when we see how things are done, and it is not obvious why, we ask. Called upon to add, change or remove some element of a process, it goes beyond mere curiosity. It is important to know the real reason behind each step being taken, and to put this process into the context of the larger picture. While this can be irritating to the person making a seemingly simple request, this story illustrates why the relentless inquires are often justified.

You see, they got great grandma on the phone and little Mary suggested cutting the roast made it soak up the juice better or would somehow preserve tenderness. Great Granny laughed and explained that in her day the ovens were small and if you didn't cut the roast and lay it flat it wouldn't fit! The wood fueled oven was much hotter in the back than the front and so you had to rotate the pan to cook both halves the same. Of course, neither of these conditions existed today and the tradition was pointless.

And so often it turns out that a business process was invented to meet a need which was outside of the capabilities of systems in place at that time. The reporting oven could only bake so much data at one time leading to a need to slice the data in half. Clever people invent clever ways to achieve their goal by whatever means they know and it then becomes routine. As time passes and people hand off responsibilities, the approach becomes institutionalized and the rationale behind the design of the process is lost. It becomes tradition or, as we often hear, simply "the way we have always done it."

We all know the speed and capacity of systems today are far greater. The data "ovens" are larger and "heat" evenly all the way around. Moreover, software capabilities have expanded beyond our wildest imagination. If together we focus on the ultimate goal, deconstruct the current process and perhaps even trace its origin we are likely to find we can eliminate unnecessary steps and take advantage of newer, faster approaches. With less effort we quickly and consistently deliver the best holiday roasts.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

The Third Golden Rule

Anyone who has ever been a member of my staff will tell you to get along with me you only need to adhere to my two golden rules.  These are very simple, straightforward and quite reasonable. Nothing too complicated to remember or follow, and they have served me well for many years.

First, when something, anything goes wrong I always want to be the first to know. Phone me, text me, send a telegram or message on a carrier pigeon. There is nothing worse for me than to hear about a systems related issue from someone outside of my department. I ask my staff to advise me as soon as they know something has gone awry. They have no fear or reprisal, even if they inadvertently did something to cause the problem. My focus is always on understanding what happened, fixing it and then devising a means of ensuring it can never happen again. The only fatal mistake you can make is trying to hide a problem from me.

Second, don't get in the way of the business. Often we can lose sight of the fact that while technology is important to the business, it should rarely be considered a higher priority. We can easily get caught up in the need to reboot a server or upgrade a piece of software and overlook the impact it will have on the business -- and its ability to generate the revenue that pays all of our salaries. So whatever we are doing, no matter how "critical" we think it may be, we should always be certain it will not somehow adversely affect the operations of the company. Usually this is just a matter of careful testing, coordination and scheduling.

Recently, I decided to add a third golden rule. Your opinion matters. It struck me that I embrace the concept that the entire department is a team working together towards common goals. No one works for me. Everyone works with me. I may be the senior manager and head of the department, but I don't want to be surrounded by lemmings who will follow me happily as I lead them over the cliff. As the saying goes, the buck stops here, and, yes, I will likely have the final say. But that should never inhibit anyone from expressing their view. Any sound, fact-based argument can and should be put forth respectfully, and I assure you I will listen.

These rules have always been key to my success as a manager. Follow them and we will be golden.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

Who Are You Going To Call

Leveraging technology to make a company run more efficiently, reduce cost or improve quality is simply not enough. A resume in which you offer to replicate this for any new company is going to be passed over by most. Today the head of technology is expected to be a full member of the

management team contributing to the development of new product and services, expanding the customer base, and opening new markets of all kinds.  The good news is we are empowered to do this with the affordable computing power, connectivity and data available.  Moreover, the world is finally in a state of readiness to accept these new ideas. The classic examples include Airbnb, Uber and the new similar application where people share boats.  The new norm is technology turning an industry completely inside-out.

We are now an on demand, variable supply, value-based micro-company society where every individual can be an entrepreneur, running an entire business, often without having to leave home. Business opportunities exist on both sides of this model. Traditional companies  leverage just-in-time supply of expertise, consuming just enough to meet their needs without incurring additional overhead or associated costs. Individuals can apply their deep knowledge and experience to a wide variety of issues across many clients, constantly learning and improving while delivering efficient and effective solutions. Instead of one individual with a little experience in several areas being on staff, engage six experts as needed for portions of the project achieving superior results with lower long term cost.  

What I envision is different from the classic consulting model where companies engage teams from well know firms like Accenture, Oracle or Mercer, and instead turn to vehicle such as e-lance to solicit bids for specific resources or solutions from individuals.  As the boomers age out of the work force they become increasing rare and valuable resources with exactly the right knowledge and skills to meet these demands. Orchestrating the match of needs to resources represents, in my mind, one of the most interesting and potentially rewarding business opportunities today and the near future.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

Mind My Own Business

People often react to my use of social networks to "check in" at a location,  regularly posting my adventures in travel, food or special events. Those of you who may follow me on Facebook pretty much know where I am or where I am headed, what I am eating, drinking or cooking, and sometimes the people who are with me. "Why do you want everyone to know where you are and what you are doing?" I am asked, "Don't you want some privacy in your life?"

Allow me to explain.

First, I segregate my network activity into social and business, and while there may be occasional crossover, these social posts are purely for fun. My social posts are done using Swarm (successor to Foursquare), Facebook and a personal Twitter account. More recently I started posting via Instagram in an effort to keep up with current trends. The accounts are connected so, for example, a Swarm check-in automatically posts to Facebook and tweets. Similarly, my Instagrams also post to Facebook and Twitter.

My friends, family and I all derive a certain pleasure in sharing. I know this from the "likes" and comments garnered over the years. With people segregated in both time and space, this turns out to be a great way to keep everyone apprised of events, however important or mundane, in my life. Whether its a simply an extraordinary meal at a local restaurant or family wedding photos, what better way to 'broadcast' this small chapter of your life to those who care? Followers can choose to view, react or ignore each however they please.

So, what about privacy? Well the most effective means of keeping something truly private is to not tell anyone. So where I want privacy you are not likely to see any posts.  It's that simple.  Most of the time I have nothing to hide and no reason to be secretive. In fact, there have been a couple of instances where posting my whereabouts has lead to an unexpected and pleasant chance meeting with a friend or family member. Unless you are ducking bill collectors or the mob, why not let people know you are around?

Posting on LinkedIn, Google+ and my business Twitter persona are whole different kettle of fish. There the main purpose, as it says on this blog, is to educate, inform and sometimes entertain in a professional way. On these networks I share my blog posts, business knowledge, experience and even pieces of useful information gleaned at seminars, conferences, events and publications. It is important to remain informed, connected, active and visible in today's business world.

That's how I leverage social nets to keep friends and family informed, share life experiences and to remain ever present among my colleagues and peers in business.

How does that differ from what you routinely do?

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

Thoughts on Immortality

This morning I read yet another article declaring how some current piece of technology will soon be dead and gone. This time it was that conventional, spinning storage medium we call disk. Solid state devices are getting cheaper and faster and more efficient and so naturally all those floor space mongering, power hungry, heat generating mechanical antiques are going to simply vanish.

I disagree.

The truth is none of this stuff ever really dies. Of course you don't encounter many 3.5 inch floppy disks any more. But we can cite an almost endless list of technologies that the prognosticators have assured us are destined for the the grave, most of which are still around.

For instance there are still as many or more lines of COBOL code in production today as there are in any other computer programming language. Mainframe computers abound. Even the RIM Blackberry is still with us despite Apple and Android, and the company's own missteps. Pagers and PDAs still sell well years after the advent of the ubiquitous and all powerful mobile device. The list goes on and on.

In fact, outside the computer realm, people continue to read books and magazines, VCRs are still around and so are CDs. According to the CEA, digital cameras, e-readers and MP3 players are among the top gift holiday items. Even vinyl records have enjoyed renewed popularity and are staging a comeback. Heck, I own a hand cranked phonograph and a collection of 78s.

Okay, the phonograph is an antique and, though it works, I don't actually use it to listen to music. But the point is many of these things are very much in daily use many years after the prediction of their demise. If you expand your view outside of the US there are even more so-called obsolete devices very much alive and kicking.

Perhaps they aren't written about as much or advertised as heavily and so they slip quietly into the background of our minds. They are no longer the newest, hottest or sexiest thing on the market. But news of their death, as one famous author is reputed to have said, has been greatly exaggerated.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

The Danger Within

Security is surely on everyone's mind these days.  One merely has to pick up a newspaper, magazine or visit news sites on-line to read about the latest incident involving the release of personal data, confidential corporate files or government secrets. As a direct result of the rash of these high profile incidents, articles and presentations abound on the need for better means of protecting our information.

Some of the focus is on better educating the person at the keyboard, since they are most often the initial crack in the armor. I have even advocated for this in previous columns.

We are inundated with demands for better, more complex passwords, two-factor, three factor or biometric and other means of authentication. We must have improved edge security, faster intrusion detection, the latest anti-virus and web filtering systems. Network equipment vendors try to outdo one another with increasingly sophisticated methods of preventing unwanted visitors, while the security related software companies race to stay ahead of the nefarious individuals exploiting holes in the code by spotting the latest attack vectors.

What we do not hear enough about is an effort to ensure there are no holes in the code to exploit. In my recent work with the NAiC investor group I had an opportunity to learn about several companies with tools that automatically read and evaluate software code. These tools can be used to find logic flaws and identify opportunities to improve code efficiency. But importantly, they can also highlight potential security issues allowing these dangerous holes to be plugged before the code is ever released for use.

Major corporations, particularly software houses, routinely have a QA group perform reviews. But the priorities of the company and demands of the marketplace often push the code release ahead of a complete review. Moreover, the QA department is often the poor, red-headed step-child with little power to truly complete the mission. They are only there to make sure the code doesn't crash the system or fail to perform in line
with some option on the menu.

Until we make the quality and especially security of applications as important as meeting the date we promised our customers new features, we will always run the risk that some employee will unwittingly allow malware to evade all the perimeter defenses and take advantage of flaws, infecting systems, stealing data or taking control.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

The Static Role of the CIO

Frankly, I am growing tired of hearing about the changing role of the CIO. It's the same tired story being told over and over again. It is no different than the heralding of all of the other dramatic changes in technology, each supposedly changing all the rules and creating new challenges and opportunities for business.

Why do we single out these particular senior leaders and judge them by standards different from the other members of the C-Suite?  Surely the tools and techniques, problems and issues the CFO deals with have evolved over time as they have for the head of Marketing, Sales and business leaders in general.  Yet, the people who occupy these senior roles have not been repeatedly threatened with extinction.

Could it be because the members of the C-Suite are not focused on the tools of their trade but rather bring their knowledge, experience and discipline to bear on those most critical aspects of running the business and meeting their specific criteria for success? Sales, quality, customer satisfaction and, yes, even profitability are some of the key concerns of these top managers. They strive to please their customers, shareholders and employees.

As a member of the C-Suite this is what a true Chief Information Officer focused on 20 years ago and what CIOs will focus on 20 years from now.

Whether your data center is in the basement or the cloud is not the issue. Is it operating efficiently, with speed and agility? Waterfall, agile, extreme or whatever may come next is not the question but rather, are the developers delivering the capability to run the business? Buy or build is not the question. Are we investing our limited capital in the manner which generates the best overall return.

I would argue simply, if your focus has been on managing technology and not managing the business, you never were a CIO.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

All Clouds Are Not Created Equal

Every CIO is constantly challenged by management's demand to control operating costs, maintain a high quality of service and yet support the ever growing needs of the business. Add to that the new pressures of transforming the company to compete effectively in the new digital economy.

We are all familiar with the triangle of price, quality and schedule. The conventional wisdom is you can have any two out of three -- but rarely can you achieve all three. If you want it fast and cheap, it isn't going to be very good. Add a strong desire for quality into the equation and keep the time frame short, and costs are likely to soar.

Enter the "Cloud." This is a latter day timesharing, service bureau or remote computing model (for those of us who have been around a while) with a bit of a twist. The platforms, tools and software systems available today truly enable computing power to be delivered as a utility to anyone, anywhere and at any time.

The cloud presents an opportunity to push routine or commodity services out the door, reducing the burden on internal resources, increasing agility, flexibility and predictability of costs. The cloud makes it easy to scale up and scale down as needed, and can free limited internal resources to focus on higher value projects.

But with these benefits come new concerns. The top of the list is always security. How can we be assured our data will be safe from theft or misuse when we put it in the hands of some outside data center operators? Clearing that hurdle brings us to other make or break decisions. Does the provider offer the platforms, API or software tools that are needed to run our applications and support the business? Can I meet all of my regulatory obligations?

Assuming we can identify a player or players that meet these and other necessary criteria we eventually turn our attention to cost.

Here is where it becomes really interesting because costs are not always that predictable. For Software as a Service (SaaS) we can apply the rates per user per month and have a reasonable estimate of the cost. However, this is not as simple in other types of cloud services such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) where costs will depend heavily on the actual resources consumed by our application.

We can estimate resource consumption and, using published rate charts, try to predict the cost. But it turns out this may not be a fair basis for comparison. Research shows not all clouds are created equal. A series of benchmarks run by Krystallize Technologies demonstrated the same workload run on identical machines provisioned at different cloud service providers will yield different performance levels. This would suggest we will can expect different levels of performance for our application depending on its characteristics and the provider we choose.

That was not too surprising given different providers will have different equipment, architectures and design. What was very surprising was the performance varied within provider. The representative work load executed on several identically provisioned machines at the same provider also yielded different performance levels.  Moreover, these performance levels varied significantly over time. Keep in mind these cloud service providers operate data centers that are in a constant state of change.


While there are plenty of tools to simulate workloads, monitor the performance of an application or the network, and monitor costs, Krystallize CloudQoS™ provides the kind of visibility into the cloud that no other monitor delivers. You will be able to detect when the "sand" under the platform has shifted.

Whether you are first choosing a cloud service provider, managing an existing provider or just trying to maintain a quality of service, having the ability to measure the true performance of the platform supporting your application will be essential.

With the proper visibility, you may be able to rest easy knowing your cloud service will remain as fast and cost effective, and will continue to provide the same high quality service throughout the life of your application.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

Where Did We Meet?

I have always been a fan of LinkedIn. For professional networking it is unsurpassed, outdone only by live events where you can shake hands, make eye contact and exchange business cards.

I am not exactly sure when this feature was added but I would love to shake the hand of the person who enhanced the "relationship" tab to allow for notes and other information about each contact that only you can see. One of these special fields is "how you met."

I attend a lot of conferences, business meetings and social events which means I collect a lot of business cards. I have always been pretty diligent about keeping this contact information in my personal address book, but often the 'connection' is made on-line in LinkedIn as well. I also connect frequently with people who I meet by phone, video-conference, through publications or even by referral.

Of all the things I have the most trouble tracking it is how and where I first met someone. Being not just able, but prompted to include this tidbit of information when adding a new connection is pure gold. Now, when looking back at people, particularly people with whom there has been little contact for a long time, one can easily be aware of the source of the connection.

By the way, the section allows you to add multiple notes about the individual such as personal information or other background material you may have, activities or communications with the person. You can set up reminders to prompt you to call, write or take some other action. The contact can also be "tagged" or assigned to a group. 

By using these features, which are included in the free version of the product, you can have  pretty robust contact tracking system.

Recently, I started to go back through my contacts, reconnecting with people and carefully adding notes. Not only has it been working well, but I even get a laugh when some of them can't recall where we met either.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

Swimming with the Sharks

When you see a ship in port it not only means the end of one voyage, but the beginning of another. And so it is that my ship has come into port again, ending an almost three year journey. This was the fourth voyage where I filled the role of captain, pulling a crew together from different parts of the ship and taking the systems of the vessel up a couple of notches.

The role of the CIO is changing in many ways and like an old sea captain it becomes more and more difficult to find a ship where people are comfortable with you and believe you will function well on the bridge. Some think you lack the energy while others might feel you haven't kept up with the latest advances in the engine room or navigation systems. In fact, many think technology has advanced so much the ship can practically run itself.

Well I may find myself on the bridge of another ship one day, but in the meanwhile I have embarked on a completely new journey. Toward the end of last year I joined the crew of a pirate ship. Well, not really, but I'm not sure there is a good nautical analogy for an investors group. I suppose we're more like a independent fleet of fishing boats, casting our nets and hoping for a big haul.

I am now a partner in the North Andover Investors Collaborative II. Week after week we evaluate different early tech based start-up companies to choose the ones we think are going to be winners. What sets this group apart from most is the collective brain-trust with a diverse cross section of disciplines and experience.  To select the investments we draw from over thirty seasoned professionals with backgrounds in law, finance, technology, and a variety of verticals.  I've only been a part of it for a few months but I can already see where this breadth of knowledge has quickly segregated the high potential candidates from the glitzy flash in the pan ideas.

Playing Shark Tank has been exciting, fun and a real learning experience. I am seeing some incredible innovations, new software, services and technology. There will certainly be no lack of material to write about.

This new journey may be more uncertain, with less clear direction and a much higher risk of return. But I am enjoying the wind and the waves, and the camaraderie. This role turned out to be quite a catch!

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

ello, I Love Tsu, Won't You Tell Me Your Name

Almost as if right on queue a couple of new social networks have arrived in recent months. The last time I found myself between full time assignments, Google+ captured my attention and consumed a significant portion of my free time.

Perhaps I have missed some, and surely others will come along in time. But let me share some initial impressions of ello and Tsu.

ello popped up and when one of my good friends from Google+ days invited me to participate I thought I would give it a go. Signing up was quick and easy and I was in. It took all of about ten seconds to realize this was not a feature rich environment. In fact, I characterize the interface as rather spartan.

To be fair, I tinkered a bit, was not overly impressed and have not returned since. While I was "tickled" frequently for a few weeks, I have not received any recent notices of a new post or invitation to return. It seems to me activity there is quite low.

The promise of ello is a new place to interact with others of like minds without the fear of your content or data being exploited for financial gain. The operators promise the basic service will be free forever. They will never sell advertising on the site, nor sell data about their subscribers to anyone. Their plan is to up-sell with special features so compelling you will be happy to pay for them. This is a familiar business model sometimes called the freemium model.

Tsu, on the other hand, has a rather different approach. They will sell ad space and hope your content will attract eyeballs and drive revenue just like some other social networks we all know and love. The difference, though, is the 90 / 10 revenue sharing model. Yes, 90% of the revenue driven by your content will be credited to your 'bank' while the operators are only keeping 10% of it.

The interface looks like the what you would get if Google+ and Facebook got together and had a baby. It is very similar in appearance with a multi-dimensional stream, right side ad bar, and several other familiar features and functions including the like, share, friend and follow constructs.

I like Tsu and plan to continue to have fun with it, posting faux proverbs and the occasional story, graphic or video people might find amusing. I want to see just how many pennies I can accumulate under this novel business model.

Has someone finally come up with the magic to compete with Facebook? Will this new upstart grow fast and prosper, while its participants also prosper?

You can click here to sign up, explore and decide for yourself.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

No Lack of Focus

Often people view social networking as a waste of time or distracting. Sneaking a peek at your daughter's Big Bird costume or reading the tweet on who won the New York marathon is very likely to draw your attention away from whatever it is you are supposed to be doing.

Yet, I had an experience last week at the 2014 FW SIM CIO Executive Leadership Summit which suggests otherwise.

It was my plan to kick back and attend all the sessions, absorbing the wisdom and experience the world class lineup of speakers would share with us. I had no role in the formal agenda as a speaker, moderator or even panelist. But I did want to tweet and share an occasional nugget with all of you, my Twitter followers.

I have done this before at meetings and conferences when I saw an opportunity to pass along a catchy phrase, bit of news or novel concept in 140 characters or less. There are usually one of two pearls worth pecking out on the old iPad, even at the risk of missing the next sentence or two.

As usual, the CIO Summit lived up to its reputation with a long list of top notch presentations from the opening session on security with industry giant Whit Diffie and former head of the FBI Shawn Henry, right through to the informative and very entertaining close by noted columnist, author and TV host, David Pogue.

There was no lack of material to tweet. It felt like every other sentence was a sound bite that just had to be sent out to the world. But instead of this being a distraction, I found myself listening more intently and mentally digesting the ideas, concepts, facts and opinions of these thought leaders. I was paying more attention and remained more focused throughout the entire day.

In fact, at the close of the conference, our host and moderator had to catch a flight. I was invited to jump on stage and pinch-hit some closing commentary. With very little preparation, I was able to walk through the high points, still fresh in my mind.

Of course I refrained from tweeting while on stage.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

Stay on Task But Don't Lose Sight of the Mission

There is an old expression that goes you can't see the forest for the trees.

I was reminded of that the other day as I waited patiently behind a waitress who was diligently refilling the large coffee urn in the lobby of the hotel where I was staying.

I have been traveling quite a bit this year and stay in a variety of different hotels. Some are major chains like Marriott, Hilton, Westin, and Hyatt. Others are the "suites" such as Double Tree, while still others are independent hotels.

At this particular independent, the restaurant off the lobby offers full waitress service. Breakfast is included as part of the daily room rate. The usual fare can be found on the menu: pancakes, french toast, eggs and so on. But the deal includes a self-serve buffet, too. In the lobby, there is a coffee station where, after breakfast, I like to grab a cup of coffee to take with me on the ride to the office.

Dedicated to good customer service, this waitress was very carefully pouring in several pots of recently brewed coffee to make sure the urn was full. Her mission was to ensure customers could always fill their cups with fresh, hot coffee. That meant, of course, that she had to check the urn from time to time and, when necessary, fill it up.

She was concentrating so hard on her immediate task, filling the urn without making a mess, that she failed to notice anyone (like me) waiting to get a cup. She wasn't doing anything wrong, but she had become so focused on her immediate task that she lost sight of the overall mission; delivering coffee to her customers.

So it often goes in business that we get so caught up in the immediate tasks at hand we lose sight of the larger picture. Had my friendly waitress kept the overall mission in sight she might have paused for a moment to fill my cup with some of that lovely fresh coffee in the pot she held, allowing me to be on my way, and her to complete her task.

In my elementary school we were frequently reminded not to look down at our feet when we walked. While you could see where you were stepping, you might not know where you were going. It is good practice to lift your head and take in the big picture from time to time.

It will also keep you from walking into a telephone pole.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC