At the centerof the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History's gleaming new Sant Ocean Hall lies a preserved giant female squid -- the arresting, spineless star among the vibrant exhibition's animal specimens. Tentacles menacingly outstretched and seemingly frozen in time, the 24-foot squid embodies humans' fascination with the briny deep. But this squid also symbolizes something else: an ongoing experiment in the chemistry of preservation, without which the Smithsonian's new exhibition would not have been possible.

Also note the terrorism tie-in:

To create the exhibit, the Smithsonian had to work around post-9/11 rules restricting flammable materials, while maximizing the lifelike appearance of the squid for public display. They turned not to formalin or ethanol, but to a new fluorinated chemical called Novec, developed by 3M.

If we give up our preserved giant squids, then surely the terrorists have won.

Hello folks: my name is Sam.  My first anniversary at RSA just passed, and it seemed like as good a time as any to plunge into the security blog-o-sphere. I sit in a unique position within RSA: in the middle of the customers, the partners, the markets and the technology. In the course of the last year, I’ve met with hundreds of people with whom we do business, with whom we do science and with whom we look to change the way the world works. And, let me tell you this: things are becoming more complex...

The name reveals some of its creepy appeal: Spykee = Spy Camera. I suppose the nanny you're trying to make sure isn't shaking your baby might be freaked out when it suddenly starts emitting Star Wars music, or such like. Made by Meccano under the Erector brand, its control software is Mac and Windows compatible.

I, for one, welcome our new Spykee overlords--on 15-Oct-2008 when it starts to ship generally.

Silicon Valley project finally gets underway: It's a still a pilot, small, with no promised outcome. And after all this time, a switch of partners, and new parameters, they've still mounted just 20 of 28 access points.

As we get closer to the conference dates, I wish that I had made plans to fly back to the US to meet everyone.    However, I have been cutting back on public speaking, taking a break since May.  In addition, Gartner did not ask me to speak at their Event Processing Summit this year, I assume because they did not want to pay airfare for my flight from Thailand to the US.    Also, Gartner always likes to fill their conference speaking slots with as many Gartner speakers as they can, unless you are a paid sponsor; and I noticed a number of Gartner employees speaking in multiple slots.

(Editorial Note) Then again, maybe I complained to much about the lack of organization and conference problems when I was invited at be a Gartner keynote speaker last time - reservations not made propertly,  problems with the guest speaker registration list at sign-in, rooms shifted without notifying the speakers and panelists.   Admittedly, I was not happy with the conference organizers at the last get together.  This was my fault, as I am accustomed to better conference execution and am probally too “picky” about details these days - my bad.  Anyway, the Gartner organizers apologized numerous times, saying they had too many conferences going on at the same time and not enough people to cover them all.

One of the problems with spending so much time in Asia, especially in Thailand, is that guest speakers are really treated as VIPs.  There are usually special comfy couches set up for the speakers and the conference staff really treat you very nice, taking care of you every step of the way.   In fact, there is an entire very nice culture around how guest speakers are treated in Thailand.   Often, they pin flowers on the VIP speakers and take your photos like you are a star.    Very nice culture.

I absolutely look forward to speaking on event processing or CEP at a future venue and meeting everyone face-to-face instead of over the net.  My sincere and deepest apologies for not attending either the Gartner or the EPTS event this year.   

PS:  If you take up a collection and send me a RT business class air ticket, I might change my mind

To kick off our celebration of our first five years, we asked ScienceLogic founders Dave Link, Richard Chart and Chris Cordray for their thoughts and memories on events leading to today’s milestone. How and why did they set out on this venture? What happened along the way – expected and unexpected? Why were they successful in times when other new (and established) businesses have come and gone?

How did you three put together this team?

We all worked together at a large Managed Service Provider for a couple of years before leaving to start ScienceLogic, so we all knew each other and knew our collective strengths. More importantly, each of us had worked with network management tools on some level (sales and marketing, engineering and product development), and knew first-hand all of the customer pain points, from every perspective. So we left and began rapidly figuring out how to build a better network management solution based upon our real world operational experience..

Dave: One interesting aspect is that our areas of expertise don’t overlap, which has contributed to our success. Chris is excellent with developing the product front-end and interface, Richard handled the backend architecture and engineering and I focused on the technical business side of sales and marketing. Our roles have been to build a product that works well and that provides real value to operations teams that experience the same day to day frustrations that we felt.

Whose idea was it to start the company?

Dave: It was really a collective effort. We were all passionate about “getting it right” and not just starting a company. We knew the industry need and between us, we had the knowledge and skill sets to address all of the right aspects of developing a product and a building a business around it.

What process did you go through to get started?

Richard: From the beginning we knew the type of solution the market needed and we knew that we wanted to build it as an appliance. From different vantage points, we had each experienced the effects of long, difficult and expensive installations that still exist with traditional network tools. Every install has unique variations: there are always different server types, varying hardware and software versions, different patches installed, and on and on. Every installation was time consuming and unpredictable. We knew that an appliance model would address all of these variables and save a lot of time on how quickly customers could achieve immediate value.

The harder decisions were around actually starting the business, assessing the market and of course determining the product pricing.

EM7 completely flips the traditional model of complex, lengthy and expensive deployments. How did you convince others that the EM7 Meta-Appliance product was valid?

Dave: Yes, EM7 totally disrupts the traditional model for network management. While others take a narrow approach, we intentionally designed EM7 to focus on the broad problem – managing the data center. How do you cover a variety of technologies and make sure they work seamlessly together? The vision was to make it easier, not harder, for customers.

Chris: I have to give it to Dave – very early on, he realized the power of a demo. If Dave could get in front of someone, he’d make them a believer. He’d use the Peter Falk/Columbo technique of “let me show you one more thing.” It was very effective. It’s getting easier, but even today people sometimes have to see EM7 in action before they become believers.

Can you describe the early days of running a new business?

Dave: ScienceLogic is a classic case of entrepreneurship. For the first year we worked out of our basements. We kept the costs low in every conceivable way and spent the first year developing the product before we even made a sale.

Chris: We stayed at lots of odd places when we were on the road, took cheap flights with multiple layovers and purchased lots of our first test equipment on eBay. This was during the dot-com bust so there was lots of equipment for sale on eBay, really cheap!

Richard: The amount of equipment I had in my house was absolutely crazy. Back then, servers were huge – I had a Cisco 6509 Catalyst, a Compaq Proliant DL380, Brocade switch, IBM Netfinity 4500R, and tons of other machines.

Chris: I had to install a new circuit box at home because I was blowing breakers. I remember when that 6509 crashed, we revived it and it died again. The second death was final.

So you started in your houses – what was your first office space?

Dave: My friend, the CEO at Ernst & Young Technology had a few extra cubes and a data center in their office that they graciously allowed us to use. Their help was an important step in helping us really formalize the business. We started doing well and adding people, but ironically, their company was downsizing. Before long, many of their original YET people were gone and the ScienceLogic team kept growing in to the open cubes.

Our first leased space was converted warehouse space in Chantilly, VA that once housed an internet radio station. It was cool – it had a large salt water fish tank, a loft, a spiral staircase and a Star Trek door that retracted into the walls with the customary lights and “whooshing” sound.

We outgrew the Chantilly space, leading to our current office in Reston, VA.

Who was the first ScienceLogic customer?

Our first paying customer was Martins Point Health Care. We deployed there in July 2004 and are pleased to say they continue to be a ScienceLogic customer. Other early (and still) EM7 customers include Navy Knowledge Online and the Department of Transportation. Nearly all of our customers are still actively using EM7 and renewing their maintenance.

Where do you see the company in the next 5, 10 or 15 years?

Well, our revenue has doubled year-over-year in each of the last three years, so of course we’d like to continue to grow like that or even faster. In five years we’ve gone from three founders to the point where Dave does not know everyone’s fondest childhood memory. We’ll continue to scale our growth to cover the demands of our growing customer base.

Where do you see the industry going over the coming years?

Chris: IT is always moving and gaining in complexity, so network management is also becoming more complicated. There’s increasing diversity, new standards, virtualization and cloud computing. All of these are today’s technologies. Customers have a mix of the old and the new, so EM7 has to accommodate and support both.

Richard: Each generation of products has a new set of ways to monitor, but the “old” doesn’t go away. Even when a new, hot technology comes along, the old technologies still need to be supported. We work to ensure EM7 keeps up with both.

Dave: After five years we’re just hitting our stride and we’re just now reaching the tipping point in awareness of ScienceLogic and EM7. We’re all still passionate about the product and as Chris and Rich said, there’s still a lot do. We’ll continue disrupting the market with EM7. Our vision hasn’t changed, and with the increasing levels of automation that customers demand, the market needs are greater than ever. Our future is as bright, or brighter, than ever and we’ll continue to be looking for smart ways to automate traditionally manual IT Operations processes.

What’s your advice for someone interested in starting their own business?

Chris: Be passionate. That’s what has gotten me through the tough times. I didn’t really appreciate this thought when I heard others say it before. But it’s very true.

Richard: I agree. We met and talked with lots of people who told us, “That’s been done before.” But we kept going because we truly believed in what we were doing and we knew that while our approach was different, that it would be successful.

Richard: Be fearless. You can’t be too nervous and you need to be able to expect and handle the stress because it will be there. You have to learn to accept the stressful times as a necessary part of the process of starting out on your own.

Dave: Know your niche from the beginning and give potential customers a compelling reason to trust you and really benefit from your solution. You have to know the problem, see the gap and have a clear and consistent vision of how to solve the problem. Then you have to execute. If you don’t build your team with “doers” you won’t make it.

Chris: It helps to have friends. ScienceLogic was built on friendships and relationships, starting with the three of us. If you look at our team, most of our hires are referrals – people who developed and maintained great connections with other great people throughout their careers. Maintain your connections and keep in touch with your network of friends.

Image by goddam via Flickr

Ah, its almost August.  Football training camps are open and the Yankees and Red Sox are battling. Does it get any better?  For most of this year I thought the Yankees were going to be out of it this year and content to have a rebuilding year.  We have several veteran players who past their prime and whose contracts are up after this year.  We have a some great young talent that need to grow into their potential.  It looked like the Bosox and Tampa Rays were going to run away with the division and wild card this year.

But like inevitable turning of the seasons, sometime after July 4th and then the All Star break, the Yankees beginninng their drive. Those old bones warm up in the heat of the summer and the bats come alive. This year the pitching is carrying them too.  Old pros Andy Pettite and Mike Mussina are joined by Jobba Chamberlin.  Mariano Rivera is still the best closer in baseball.  Just like old times the Yanks went out and fleeced some 2nd division team for a bunch of minor leaguers and added a quality hitter and pitcher right before the trade deadline.  Look around and we are one game behind the Red Sox for the wild card slot and only three games behind the Rays for first place!

I still think Tampa is going to stumble and it will come down to the Sox and the Yanks. Just the way it is supposed to be. I am heading up to NY next Friday, taking my sons to the shrine that is Yankee Stadium to see it in person in its last year.  The rest of the baseball season is going to be very exciting.  Again, just the way it is supposed to be!

Image by goddam via Flickr

Ah, its almost August.  Football training camps are open and the Yankees and Red Sox are battling. Does it get any better?  For most of this year I thought the Yankees were going to be out of it this year and content to have a rebuilding year.  We have several veteran players who past their prime and whose contracts are up after this year.  We have a some great young talent that need to grow into their potential.  It looked like the Bosox and Tampa Rays were going to run away with the division and wild card this year.

But like inevitable turning of the seasons, sometime after July 4th and then the All Star break, the Yankees beginninng their drive. Those old bones warm up in the heat of the summer and the bats come alive. This year the pitching is carrying them too.  Old pros Andy Pettite and Mike Mussina are joined by Jobba Chamberlin.  Mariano Rivera is still the best closer in baseball.  Just like old times the Yanks went out and fleeced some 2nd division team for a bunch of minor leaguers and added a quality hitter and pitcher right before the trade deadline.  Look around and we are one game behind the Red Sox for the wild card slot and only three games behind the Rays for first place!

I still think Tampa is going to stumble and it will come down to the Sox and the Yanks. Just the way it is supposed to be. I am heading up to NY next Friday, taking my sons to the shrine that is Yankee Stadium to see it in person in its last year.  The rest of the baseball season is going to be very exciting.  Again, just the way it is supposed to be!