Google investing in robotics for mfg and logistics, and maybe data centers?

GigaOm has a post on Google’s Android Chief Rubin working on robotics.

Google gets into the robot game, with former Android chief Rubin leading the effort

by David Meyer

2 HOURS AGO

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SUMMARY:

The company has been quietly buying firms to help it build robots that could be used in manufacturing, logistics and quite possibly other sectors, too.

What seems quite possible is Rubin’s efforts with Android have woken him up the opportunity to be the OS for robotics.

I have written on my own and researched the potential for robotics in the data center. With Google’s ability to design its own data centers, racks, servers, and network gear it is quite possible there are robotics in a future scenario.

the post references the NYTimes with manufacturing and logistics.

In an interview with theNew York Times, Andy Rubin suggested Google’s latest “moonshot” involves robots for the manufacturing and logistics markets.

and with amazon’s drone now it is a hot topic to discuss automated delivery.

Server Automation - 4 choices - Puppet, Chef, Ansible, or Salt

Here is an Infoworld article one of my friends sent that reviews the 4 choices for server automation.

Review: Puppet vs. Chef vs. Ansible vs. Salt

The leading configuration management and orchestration tools take different paths to server automation

By Paul Venezia | InfoWorld

Follow @pvenezia

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Credit: Teerawut Punsorn

The proliferation of virtualization coupled with the increasing power of industry-standard servers and the availability of cloud computing has led to a significant uptick in the number of servers that need to be managed within and without an organization. Where we once made do with racks of physical servers that we could access in the data center down the hall, we now have to manage many more servers that could be spread all over the globe.

I know people who are hard core users of each, so even though the reviews may make you think one is better than the other.  There are some who have found that one particular tool works best for them.

This will probably all change over the next year as each add more features.

Amazon gets it that inventory should be abstracted to its size to fill space

Almost all the news about Jeff Bezos is the drone for delivering devices.  I am a distribution logistics geek, and what was more interesting to me is how amazon.com understands that utilizing space saves money and time.  In the 60 minutes presentation.

The executives say they can now put twice as much stuff in the space when they allowed the mixing of different skus in the same location.

Twice as much stuff besides taking up less space means there is a sizable time savings in accessing the goods.

The system I worked on at Apple took an order and turned it into the boxes to be shipped, then sort the boxes to be picked easier, and place labels on them.  Box #1 gets the packing list, the rest just get a label.

Amazon shows how they focused on dividing an incoming supply of material into dozens of smaller quantities to be efficiently put in a location.  Think about it if you get 100 books and do things they way most would think you need to put let’s say 20 books on a shelf, then 80 in a box somewhere else.  Amazon takes all 100 books and spreads them, putting them away once in the most efficient place to access them later.

This means all items in amazon.com’s inventory most likely has a universally unique ID.  Besides being efficient, it makes it much easier to catch mistakes.

Flying drones gets the media’s attention.  What got my attention is amazon gets how to manage every single item in its inventory.

Growth of IT Operations and Automation

35 years ago when I was getting my degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research I liked manufacturing, and realized that going into automotive was not were I wanted to go. I focused on distribution logistics and going to a high tech firm.  My first company was HP.  At HP I got really good at distribution logistics which got me recruited by Apple.

When I started my degree it was in the early days of computers and automation.  The PC was just getting going with Apple II and commodore 64.  The PC is not nearly as interesting as mobile and the data centers where I spend my time now.  But, some things come back like Operations.  What is a big topic that continues to grow is IT Operations and Automation.  I like IT operations as it is the same type of problems as manufacturing operations and distribution logistics.

And, one benefit I have over many others is I have been through lots of different stuff in 35 years working at HP, Apple, Microsoft and being independent.

One of the ski friends I know said he has a new job at company X starting in a week.  “Have you heard of them?”  Yep.  Know the co-founders, VP of marketing, CTO.  IT Automation is a hot topic and will get bigger.  My wife even chimed in she knew the company as she sees the t-shits all the time.

IT Operations and Automation is a necessity if you are building a cloud.  

Maybe Microsoft Should have co-CEO's Mulally and Nadella, two could be much better than one

Normally you think of a company with a CEO, the one who has the most power.  The software company that I co-founded, we have three equal executives who make decisions, and it is comforting to have two people “watching your six."

To watch your behind, used in aviation as a warning by your wingmen.

Watch your 6 nighthawk, you have a bogie on your tail

We’re a bunch of data center geeks so having two sets of eyes watching you is much better than one.  This concept is a bit too radical though for most people most know this concept as a Triumvirate.

A triumvirate (from Latin, "triumvirātus") is a political regime dominated by three powerful individuals, each a triumvir (pl. triumviri). The arrangement can be formal or informal, and though the three are usually equal on paper, in reality this is rarely the case. The term can also be used to describe a state with three different military leaders who all claim to be the sole leader.

On the other hand a a Co-CEO is more common.

Co-CEOs: Are Two Better than One?
April 2 2012 by Russ Banham
Two for the Road: The Rise of Co-CEOsAre Two Better than One?
“Co-CEOs are ideal in many situations, especially when the executives provide oversight of each other’s actions and have complementary skill sets,” says Stephen Ferris, a finance professor and Rogers Chair of Money, Credit and Banking at the University of Missouri’s Trulaske College of Business. Ferris has studied the efficacy of the co-CEO model and argues that it is a highly effective way of running a business. “Co-CEOs are ideal in many situations, especially when the executives provide oversight of each other’s actions and have complementary skill sets,” he explains. “It’s actually a very successful model.” From his research on more than 100 shared-governance examples, 

Reading CNET news latest post on Microsoft CEO Hunt, it says that Mulally and Nadella are leading candidates ahead of others.

Ford boss edging out Nokia's Elop in race to replace Ballmer at Microsoft, report says

New reports suggest Ford's Alan Mulally and Microsoft exec Satya Nadella are ahead of rivals including Nokia boss Stephen Elop in the race to replace Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Everyone is focusing on who is the one, but maybe Microsoft should have two CEOs.  If Microsoft had Nadella and Mulally the two combined could easily outperform Ballmer’s one CEO performance.