Disconnecting IT From Reality

Computerworld - In the past 60 days, I have been knees-under-the-table with hundreds of IT leaders and scratch-and-sniff close to scores of vendor
CEOs. In addition, I've attended more than my share of IT events. One of them, Comdex, brought together the ideas that have been swirling about me for the past two months, with frightening clarity.
We stand at a moment unprecedented in the evolution of IT. I use the word unprecedented because at no previous time in history has technology possessed more promise or its value been so seriously doubted. The doubts could overwhelm the promise, however, since two vast disconnects imperil our possibilities.
Disconnect No. 1: Despite being anointed by the mainstream media, Bill Gates, Windows and Microsoft aren't the future of our industry.
On Nov. 16, some 7,000 IT leaders streamed into the Aladdin Theatre in Las Vegas to hear what Gates had to say in his Comdex keynote speech. Yet barely half of the audience members were able to remain conscious through what may well have been the worst piece of oratory ever inflicted upon the technology industry. (In my row, half the people were asleep.) It wasn't just a matter of Gates' skills as a speaker, but also of the ideas he was presenting.
Still, the mainstream press equates Microsoft with the future of our industry. For example, Steven Levy and the editors at Newsweek -- known more for color-by-numbers linear thinking than strategic insight -- recently devoted a cover story to Gates in which he talked about the future of computers. In doing so, they did both journalism and IT a disservice.
Even a modest bit of reporting would have revealed that most of the $6 billion that Microsoft is spending on R&D is focused on protecting existing product lines rather than on creating new franchises. Microsoft's strategic weakness is its repeatedly demonstrated inability to generate sustainable businesses outside its core competence of operating systems.
Disconnect No. 2: People believe Scott McNealy, but they scoff at their local Sun Microsystems sales reps.
Thirteen hours after Gates' Comdex speech, McNealy gave his. What followed was a brilliant, no-props-required tour de force explanation of where the industry has been and where we are going.
Later, the 200-plus C-level attendees at the Comdex CIO Boot Camp were asked whether they more admired the thinking of Microsoft's chief software architect or Sun's CEO. The answer was unanimous for Sun's boss.
Herein lies the disconnect. McNealy and his senior team are spooky smart and have thought hard and long about how our industry works. The top of the house at