Lady Backup is a fan of tattoos.  Sure some can be tacky, but on the whole they are amazing works of art.  Check out this tattoo (temporary) that I got at EMC World this week… it takes up most of my forearm.

In real life, any good tattoo artist will draw the tattoo on paper to create a stencil.  Then he or she will use a pen to draw the design on your body before getting out the needle and ink.  This way you know what it looks Continue Reading

Lady Backup has a massive collection of music from all genres.  I have music from the Fabulous 50s through to 2012.  Blues, swing, country, classical, hip-hop, movie soundtracks … you name it and I own it.  But what I don’t own any more is any CDs. 

Before I moved from the US, I ripped every CD that I owned and threw them away.  Many of them were scratched and a few were broken.  The minute I got my MP-3 player (pre-iPod), I couldn’t wait to bin my CD Continue Reading

Lady Backup is back!  I had a lovely Christmas break that included a short visit to northern Sweden to visit the ICEHOTEL.  WOW – talk about an experience!  If you are looking for something completely unique, I would highly recommend it.  And if you are wondering, yes we did sleep on a bed of ice.  All things considered, I would call it just another regular night’s sleep. 

It’s been tough getting back in the swing of work.  My brain is sluggish and my motivation is about as strong as the weak daylight we have this time of year.  But I’m glad to find that in spite of my long winter nap, my colleagues still have their eye on the ball.     

Today, in fact EMC delivered a press release to promote a new IDC study about the backup appliance market.  According to IDC, during the first half of 2011, EMC commanded a 62% share Continue Reading

Lady Backup’s favorite book is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Published in 1957, this is a deep piece of work – both literally and figuratively. At 1,168 pages, it’s little wonder that there are so many different interpretations across political, social, and religious spectrums. I promise this won’t become a full book report, but I want to share a dialog that resonates with me:

“If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater the effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders—what would you tell him to do?”

“I…don’t know. What…could he do? What would you tell him?”

“To shrug.”

This passage reinforces for me the ideals Rand writes about regarding the uncompromising pursuit of innovation and the intense drive to be competitive.

But if the weight of antiquated systems, process and technology weigh you down, then it’s impossible to look forward. It’s impossible to do better than you are doing today if the weight of today’s world is pressing down on you.

What has me thinking about this is a new analyst study documenting cost savings generated from backup transformation. Not surprising, Continue Reading