Even in a world absorbed in social media and digital communications, nothing beats old fashioned face-to-face connections when it comes to spreading the word and getting candid feedback on our new PowerLinux solutions. As I write this, I am at 36,000, feet flying over Russia on my way to Beijing. Two weeks ago I was in the UK, Netherlands and Belgium with our PowerLinux Chief Architect, Jeff Scheel, at the Power Symposium and several business partner workshops.
What I am finding most exciting as I travel is that our new PowerLinux offerings are creating interest with new clients, resellers and ISVs … and it is like meeting a whole new set of friends. In two workshops hosted by UK distributors in their Solution Centers, we spoke with managed service providers who provide a broad range of application and data management services for their clients, using HP x86 servers running Linux and VMware or Microsoft Windows and HyperV. Several of them also have experience with PowerVM and are now planning to start PoCs on their own PowerLinux 7R2 or utilize one in their distributor’s Solution Center to transform their IT environment.
For our long time friends who know and appreciate the value of Power Systems, PowerLinux is bringing fresh energy and generating new ideas for delivering new Linux-based solutions and services faster with superior economics. At the Power Symposium, I spent time with teams from Turkey, Croatia and Slovakia who are now able to go head-to-head competitively against HP x86 Linux-based opportunities, both with new clients or organizations within existing clients that they were unable to do business with in the past.
And in the Netherlands, I was able to meet Flexyz, the business partner who sold our first two PowerLinux 7R2s to Kwik Fit, supporting the rapid expansion of their auto service centers by:
delivering new online services faster, more reliably, and at lower costs with 50% less servers.
And again, Flexyz is using a managed service provider approach to support Kwik Fit much as I had seen with the business partners I met in the UK.
I am sure I will learn more from my week in Beijing along with the SUSE Linux Day events we are participating in across the US last month and in June. We would love to discuss how PowerLinux can transform IT for efficiency for your business, opening up new windows of opportunities and delivering real business value. And, of course, your candid feedback is always appreciated.
We have a busy June and July, with new offerings and solutions planned, so make sure to continue to check out our PowerLinux homepage and PowerLinux developerWorks Community.
Feel free to reach out to me in the comments section of this blog or on LinkedIn.
How are YOU transforming your IT efforts for efficiency and more impact? Let us know! Leave a comment on the Smarter Computing blog below or connect with us on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter. If you tweet, be sure to include the #TransformITnow hashtag.
To effectively compete in today’s changing world, it is essential that companies leverage innovative technology to differentiate from competitors. Learn how you can do that and more in the Smarter Computing Analyst Paper from Hurwitz and Associates.
Nice blog Chuck and good to hear first hand feedback from the field. Happy travels. Gabi