Data Centers organizations are interesting to watch as many problems for how data centers get designed and run are influenced by the organizational structure.  Jonathan Eunice guest writes on CNET News regarding IBM's reorg of HW under SW.

IBM's reorg shows shape of IT to come

by Jonathan Eunice

I'm always wary of analyzing corporate organizations and reporting structures. They change frequently--every year or two, in some companies--so they're always in flux. And the details of who reports to whom, or what they want to call this business unit or that--those things matter, a bit, but not nearly so much as the products and services a company offers, how it goes to market, who its competitors are, and so on. Finally, company structures are very "inside baseball"--the kind of detailed who's-on-first, who's-warming-up-in-the-bullpen information that industry insiders may find interesting, but that isn't really all that useful to most customers or investors.

But I'm going to make an exception here because the changes going on at IBM illustrate important structural changes in IT overall, how vendors approach the market (and each other), and what customers can expect from IT providers in the coming years.

The news is as simple as it is astounding: IBM's Systems and Technology Group (STG)--the unit that makes IBM's mainframes, Power and x86 servers, storage, and microprocessors--will henceforth report into the IBM Software Group (SWG). Strictly speaking, IBM hasn't been "a hardware company" for nearly 20 years. Software and services have grown up to be, both in terms of revenue and industry footprint, what the company's about. Everyone who's looked at IBM or industry finances realizes this. Still, when you started thinking about IBM as "a computer company" all those years ago, it's hard to fully internalize the idea that it's no longer really "a computer company."

Google has all its data center infrastructure and hardware report up to Urs Hoelzle.

Urs Hölzle is senior vice president of operations and Google Fellow at Google. As one of Google's first ten employees and its first VP of Engineering, he has shaped much of Google's development processes and infrastructure.

Urs being a SW guy looks at data centers as a computer for Google Software.

Before joining Google, he was an Associate Professor of Computer Science at UC Santa Barbara. He received a master's degree in computer science from ETH Zurich in 1988 and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship that same year. In 1994, he earned a Ph.D. from Stanford University, where his research focused on programming languages and their efficient implementation.

As IBM follows Google's model to have hardware report to a VP who is a software guy, it will be interesting to watch who follows the model.

And the world's changing. Enterprises are much more likely to start their IT planning and acquisitions with what they want and need to accomplish, not with pre-determinations of what hardware they'll run it on. That's a shift in customer thinking that benefits those focused on software and services. It similarly benefits those who consider non-IT issues such as financing, demand generation, and partner ecosystems equally important to products and services. IBM definitely thinks this way, about "the whole package," and not just about computers, or any other single element.

This is one way to bridge IT and Facilities.  Put it all under a software executive.

Thanks to Dave Harder convincing my wife that the hottest XBox 360 game is Alan Wake, I have a new game to play late at night. 

After playing the game, I realized it was a game that could be entertaining for people who work in Data Centers.  Bad things happen when the power goes off. 

During the day in each episode Wake can wander and talk to NPCs, but once the clouds roll in and the moon lights up it's a whole different beast. Shadows flit across the ground at supernatural speed like X-Files black oil when threats are imminent. The lighting effects can be stunning. Moonlight pours from above, streetlamps and construction bulbs indicate the way forward, and Wake's all-important flashlight is a tool for exploration and, more importantly, to vanquish threats. Just because there's such a focus on story and presentation doesn't mean the game lacks a responsive and satisfying combat system.

You have a flashlight to help you see the bad people and find generators to turn the lights on.

You need batteries which are sponsored by Energizer.  The diesel generators could have been sponsored, but they all look pretty beat up, so putting a logo on it isn't worth much.

Here is a video turning on a generator.

Here are some reviews.

Critical Response

Michael Plant from The Independent gave the game a perfect score of 5/5. He praised Alan Wake for its "flawless pacing", which "ensures a compulsive experience". Editing and plot were also received very positively, making the game "the kind of experience the current console generation was made for."^[32]

The Daily Telegraph rated the game 9/10 with editor Nick Cowen being impressed by its "stunning" look, stating the town of Bright Falls and its surrounding environment to be "authentic" in terms of architecture, vegetation, weather and lighting. He described the atmosphere as being able to "...turn on a dime from feeling safe and serene to one of choking menace and foreboding...". Combat mechanics and plot were also praised with the first making "the player feel constantly under threat." and the latter being "...one of its [the game's] strongest assets." Criticism included facial animation and shortness in length.^[33]

Dirk Lammers said the game kept "players on the edge of their seats", giving a final score of 4 out of 4 in his review for the San Francisco Chronicle.^[34]

Enjoy.