Let's face it–the Intel® Xeon® processor is the world's most widely deployed server for a good reason. IT has grown to rely on Intel Xeon processors for their performance, reliability, virtualization capabilities, and a whole lot more.

And at this week's Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, Intel Senior Fellow Stephen Pawlowski took the stage to discuss the next generation of Intel Xeon processors, codenamed Nehalem-EX. "We've had a number of customers who have come to us and said, 'we want to be able to use Xeon and also the mission critical segment.  What kinds of things or what kinds of capabilities can you put in there?'" spoke Pawlowski in his IDF session. The answer? Intel is throwing a whole lot at Nehalem-EX, all but the kitchen sink.

Designed for mission-critical performance, RAS, along with hardware-based virtualization, Nehalem-EX has got an industry-standard server makeover, with the ability to monitor, report, and recover from hardware errors to maintain data integrity and keep mission-critical services online. And that's just the half of it. With Nehalem-EX, IT and business knows that they've got a solid roadmap they can rely on for years to come.

Nehalem-EX also offers scalability along with world-record virtualization performance, enabling the highest consolidation ratios of any industry-standard server. And as IT departments across the board move to lower costs while increasing hardware utilization, Intel has responded to their needs by improving and enhancing its hardware-based virtualization technology.

Including broad industry support for an era that is increasingly moving towards the cloud, virtualization technology combined with energy-efficient performance and RAS-rich environments provide a reliable, scalable environment that IT departments can bank on. 

Radhakrishna Hiremane Shridhar will be talking about virtualization with the new VMware vSphere on IBM Intel processors on August 12, 1 PM EST.  He'll be joined by Bob Zuber, Program Director, High Performance, IBM.   The webinar is designed to help IT managers better understand scalable virtualization infrastructure, enterprise application virtualization, reduced TCO, and efficiency benefits along with a special financing opportunity.  

To register for the session “Virtualize with the new VMware vSphere on IBM Intel processors and take advantage of special financing” please visit

http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=141535&s=1&k=C47B398CE28768E91D34E61574D736B2&partnerref=Intel03

The Greeks argued that age was a precious virtue that could be passed on to youth to enrich their lives.  Socrates did not quite benefit from that before his execution. Western culture invariably argues age is an asset so long as it is youth. As IT pros of all ages, and especially those moving up the management ladder, it is often said one should understand how one’s seniors absorb information and use those traits as you develop through the corporate ladder.

Well we actually think that the senior IT pros and the CIOs in large organizations should think hard about learning from their younger colleagues. What we are learning very quickly is that there are patterns of information consumption that younger CIOs can pass to their older peers, and methods of information gathering that younger CIOs are still very attached to as their senior CIO partners are.

The reasons why these are critical are three fold:

Information gathering and management of this information are crucial components of a successful CIO’s work habits (strategic activities and day to day).  Learning what the best practices are can only enhance your personal value.

As populations age there is a tendency to lock into many of the habits of the past and fail to see potential trends and information that would be valuable to us now.  This is critical as a way to sustain our own personal competitiveness in a market. Old methods alone may leave you somewhat information naked in a rapidly evolving world

The bottom line is information is power and you need to ask yourself if you are accessing it in the right ways from the past and for the future. So we have analyzed our marketing effectiveness database in the US amongst CIOs in large IT pro organizations to understand.

The way this works is that we interview thousands of CIO’s IT pro managers and other technology influencers around the world. In this situation we have ranked (the top ones for the younger CIOs) to the left and then looked at the impact level (people choose the four most impactful from a list of over thirty-five).  Look at the significant differences here.

As David Letterman might say here are the top eight

1.      The younger CIOs consume a lot, a lot of everything. Older CIOs should pay attention to the need for a wide net of information sources.  The tendency to lock into a few sources is a thing of the past.

2.      Everything online is hot and immediate and this is most true in areas like Blogs and IT Forums when we asked the younger CIO about content needs.

3.      Tech publications (online versions) matter more to the younger CIO than the older one – who likes print.

4.      Analyst’s opinions and white papers have resonance for the younger CIO because they offer experienced views. ROI Tool sites seem to have more attraction to the younger than the older.

5.      Tech vendor’s websites have FAR less value amongst the younger CIO target.

6.      Older CIOs love the Trade Show, the out-of-office experience for an extended period of information gathering. We all might want to re-think this as the curve of acceptance drops off very significantly as a CIO gets younger. Time is everything for the younger CIO, Trade Shows are all time-intensive.

7.      Technology Information websites (like TechRepublic) work well for the Cusper or the Generation Y CIO, but not so much for the Boomer.

8.      Podcasting is a thing of youth.

We would ask you all to think hard about your learning maps going forward. In a world where information is critical for how we work, we need older CIO to learn, or at least assimilate, some of the consumption patterns from our younger colleagues. Maybe information wisdom is not always driven by experience – what do you think?  Does this seem true to you?

The April 1 issue of CIO magazine stressed the importance of “Marketing IT to the Business.” Per the call to "innovate and communicate," you can also market your projects via industrywide recognition.  Which brings me to the Premier IT Awards, where we’re a few weeks to the end of our call for submissions.

CIO custom solutions group and Intel have been receiving numerous IT department submissions from around North America that demonstrate best practices in data center or client fleet management.    Grassroots IT innovation and dedication to driving business value.  The submissions span projects valued from $10K to $2.5M, from customers with in-house vs. managed data centers and client solutions.   Intel products at the center of these solutions include not just Intel Core 2 processors with vPro technology or Intel Xeon processor-based servers, but Intel Itanium processor-based servers, Intel XScale technology and devices.

Just a few examples of our diverse submissions include a:

-Law firm

-Leading transportation company

-State government

-Non-profit healthcare network

-Managed service providers with small/medium business customers

-One of Fortune magazine 100 Best Companies to Work For

The short list of contenders for the awards will be posted on the Intel Premier IT Professional site soon.  And you’ll have the chance to vote for the “people’s choice” winner if you’re a member (it’s free to join).

If you think you’re too small or your industry doesn’t lend itself to driving business value because you’re state/local government or a nonprofit, I encourage you to think again.  Submit your best practices.  For more information visit the program website or if you have any questions, ask me here.

CIO magazine has received some great submissions from IT organizations for the Intel Premier IT Awards.  Stellar examples of best practices in client fleet and data center management.  But some of you, literally dozens, have incomplete drafts waiting to be submitted for award consideration. 

With the deadline for submission May 29, 2009 getting closer, I ask you: If you've come this far, what's keeping you from getting your submission to the finish line? And if you haven't considered submitting for the award ... why not?

Winning submissions for client fleet management and data center management as well as a "people's choice" winner will be profiled in CIO magazine.  Plus, a winner in each category will also be CIO magazine's guest at the CIO 100 Symposium & Awards or CIO: The Year Ahead events.  And a recogntion plaque for your company or office.  Eligible nominees are North American IT end-user organizations.

At our Intel Premier IT events, on Open Port, and elsewhere, we hear loud and clear from you that these are challenging times for IT.  And, in conjunction with CIO magazine, we'd love to provide some honor and recognition for the work you've done.

If you have a question about eligiblity or other critera, ask away.  To paraphrase a TV doctor: "Hello, IT.  We're listening."  And we hope to hear from you, here or through the official award website: http://www.premieritawards.com

As I go and talk to different SMBs across the country about different technologies, I always get the same question: “What technology is currently available that a lot of SMB companies in industry ‘X’ are using to provide a better customer experience.” Everyone knows that this is a loaded question and there is no silver bullet when it comes to exceeding your customer’s expectations. I try and have SMBs look at it from the end customer’s point of view.

First, what is the experience like when customers first interact with your company? If the process to learn about your company's product or service takes longer than 60 seconds to describe on the phone, SMBs will go to another provider. So ask the question, is my organization’s employees equipped to explain our companies product/service value to a new customer within 60 seconds. From a technology point of view that involves having the appropriate systems in place to support any questions the new customer might ask (i.e. making sure all pertinent data can be accessed by your customer support team). In addition, you need to make sure that your systems are fast enough to access this data very quickly. I have talked with numerous SMBs that have a great product & services information databases established for their employees to access however, the employees don’t use the system because it takes tool long for their system to bring up the needed information.

Second, do your employees have the needed resources to follow up on new customer requests? These resources not only revolved around data associated to customer inquires/needs, it also involves the needed time for your company representatives to follow up with the new customers. I have talked to some customers and they say that for every hour their computer systems are not available, they are losing at least 3 new customer opportunities. As a result, there are more companies making scheduled maintenance updates to the employee’s systems in off-ours. One customer specifically, Midwest Eye Consultants, is implementing new technology that is saving them 10 to 12 worker-hours a month on system maintenance and those extra hours are now being used by company employees to recruit new customers. Click here to see more information about the technology Midwest Eye Consultants have implemented: http://msp.intel.com/midwest-eyes-case-study.pdf

Lastly, does your internal team have the resources available to support existing customers? Most of the time the resources that matter the most for existing customers relate to past product/services they have received from your company. If this information is not readily available when your team is servicing an existing customer, it can mean keeping or losing a loyal customer. In the health care field it is even more critical. Northwest Newborn specialist relies on customer/patient data being available at all times of the day. Carolyn Kraus from Northwest Newborn Specialist says: “Our physicians can be impatient, and with good reason. They’re on 24/7 in a high-stress job where downtime can have serious consequences, and much of their work is done through technology. When a PC goes down, they can’t access patient records, look at an x-ray over the network, or pass on their notes to the next physician on-call. In this field, it’s critical to keep their stress level low and their PCs up and running.” Click here to find out more information  about the new technology Northwest Newborn Specialist is using: http://msp.intel.com/NW%20Newborn%20Specialists_final_318134-001US.pdf

In closing, when you think about what technology you need to provide a better customer experience, think about what you have implemented in your environment today. Do you have quick and efficient systems set up that enable your team to deal with first time customers and all the questions they may have about your company’s products & services? In addition, do your teams have up to date systems available any time during the work day to deal with follow up activities related to new customers? Also, do you have the right system managed infrastructure in place so that your desktops and notebooks will be available to support all existing customer requests during all hours of the work day? The answers to these three basic questions provide the best direction for your company to explore in order to provide a better overall customer experience.

I wanted to let you guys know about a contest the Intel Premier IT Proffessional team is sponsoring: Premier IT Knowledge Awards.

If you've made an impact in managing your fleet or data center, then tell us about it and get rewarded. By sharing your best practices and the results they've generated, you could be named an intel Premier IT Professional Awards winner. Honorees will be featured on the Intel Premier IT Professional site, profiled in an upcoming issue of CIO magazine, and presented with the opportunity to be our guest at either the CIO 100 Symposium and Awards or at CIO: The Year Ahead. Get the details and application here:  http://www.premieritawards.com/IPIK_2009_application.html?AWARDID=1