CIO Soapbox

We've all had these types of situations happen, right? When we've either done something really, really stupid and realized we had to fix it pronto or there would eventually be hell to pay. Or we've ignored a small-ish problem and it's now on the verge of blowing up into something much, much worse.

After nearly a week of all-things-SAP at the ERP giant's annual Sapphire Show, customers, bloggers and curious enterprise-software watchers have all done their best to sort through the major issues raised during the Orlando get-together. Analysis has not been in short supply.

It's no easy task to pinpoint who will jump to Windows 7 early. Given the economic uncertainty, nearly all companies in all sectors are reconsidering their IT budgets, say industry analysts.

If you care about your marriage, don't bring your BlackBerry to bed. Instead, indulge in some pillow talk with your spouse and bid her (or him) goodnight with a kiss to build a dream on.

Twitter is going mainstream. Who would have thought it?

On landing at Shanghai Pudong airport we were told to remain in our seats as Chinese quarantine officers moved through the plane. Covered head to foot in white hazmat suites, four health workers checked passengers for signs of flu. I was told to lean forward in my seat and “please close eyes.” Using a hand held infra red heat sensor a health worker quickly took a temperature reading of my forehead; and finding my temperature normal, she moved on to the next passenger. Checking the entire plane took only a few minutes.

The speculation that Google is likely in talks to acquire Twitter shouldn't be surprising. The Twitter founders already entertained offers from Facebook as well. As a result, Twitter will have a choice: sell to a company that connects people to information, or to one that connects people with people. Based on the nature of Twitter, the choice might not be so straightforward

Windows 7 is in a groove right now. The beta in January and the RC a week ago have received mostly positive reviews and Microsoft has done a solid job of pacing the development of the OS and testing it with partners and customers. It is set to ship before the holiday season.

Innovative ideas are not popular; it takes hard times to open our minds to innovative ideas. When things are going well enough there is no need to be innovative because innovation means moving outside our comfort zone; so why would we? If you are an innovator now is the best of times. But you need to be tough because you will cause discomfort and you will not popular (at first).

Is it just me or did anyone else ROFL when they learned about the pending Snoracle merger? On one hand, you have a company (Sun) that pioneered and embraced open source (UNIX, Java and MySQL). On the other (Oracle), you have something more along the lines of Star Wars’ interstellar crime lord Jabba the Hutt: "As long I get my cut, everything's good."

At a time when most enterprise software vendors are boldly clinging to their sacred cash cows, bowing to the all-mighty shareholder and ignoring some basic customer needs, SAP has recently displayed a refreshing blend of common sense, customer service and business smarts.

Sometimes I forget that selecting, implementing and paying for core enterprise applications are just the first steps in the long and arduous journey of managing the lifecycle of enterprise applications.

Boy, did I pick an interesting week in which to join Twitter: First I join up (@twailgum) last Thursday. The very next day someone named Oprah Winfrey goes out there and steals all my thunder.