[H-GEN] London Stock Exchange update.

[QuarkAV.com - Hilton Travis]

On 6/10/2009 7:55 PM, Benjamin Fowler wrote:
> Hello,
>
> 2009/10/6 Simon Ellis <ellis777 at bigpond.net.au 
> <mailto:ellis777 at bigpond.net.au>>
>
>     A good move.
>     One point of interest is the "trading speed" of  the existing MS
>     dot Net based system of 2.7 ms versus the Linux-based system of
>     0.4 ms. This brings to mind other stories of embedded MS Windows
>     in control systems, particularly cars, which have high switching
>     times, are too slow to respond and cause problems.
>
>
> In applications like these, the operating system may or may not 
> actually be a bottleneck, but the entire stack from top to bottom 
> needs to be tuned and optimized for the workload.
>
> I think the advantage of Open Source here, is that one isn't stuck 
> with a one-size-fits-all approach to the way the operating system is 
> tuned, and what's enabled and disabled.  NT-family operating systems 
> can be stripped down and made to go fast, however, outside a few 
> places with source licenses and the right know-how, buying Windows is 
> like buying a car with its bonnet welded shut.
This is a part of the reason why Vista was so totally unsuitable to NLE 
and DAW scenarios - I could tune XP quite nicely, however there are 
parts of Vista that make it too slow to be usable for real-time 
applications, no matter how much you tune it.
>
>     Also, the London Stock Exchange buys a company with a superior
>     product for less than half the cost of  the current product.
>
>     It's fascinating to watch organisations change as management
>     changes. Often new management takes the organisation in a
>     different direction, primarily to leave their mark. They bring in
>     management consultants and accept their advice. Often the
>     management consultants do not have a real understanding of the
>     organisation or what it does. They seem to be primarily "textbook"
>     based.
>
>
>     They cut expenses, reduce the permanent workforce, employ more
>     contractors, outsource as much as they can and move on, leaving
>     the problems for someone else. Very often the quality of the
>     products or services go down and  management expenses go up. In
>     some cases the company actually closes down.
>
>
> Management consultants may or may not be useful, but if your senior 
> management is not very good, you're screwed either way.  There's a 
> reason why these guys are getting paid big money.
And I gather you've seen what Steve Ballmer is doing to Microsoft 
lately? The best thing he could do is to fire himself and let the 
company be run by someone with a clue!
>
>
>     The other part of the cycle is when people realise the mistake and
>     start thinking about what the organisation actually does and what
>     resources (people) are available. They start bringing things back
>     in house to maintain quality and control and reduce some of the
>     expensive, non-productive upper management.
>
>     In the Linux world, one company that comes to mind is Mandriva
>     Linux which was nearly wiped out when Consultants were brought in
>     and their advice was followed. Thankfully the new management was
>     removed , some of the changes reversed and the company was saved.
>     It was very close though.
>
>
> You should see what British Labour's love of management consultants is 
> doing to this country. In this case, big firms like McKinsey and 
> Deloitte are (perhaps improperly) cultivating ex-ministers, getting 
> work, and squandering billions.  Connecting for Health (the British 
> Government's electronic health record system) has managed, with the 
> help of an army of expensive consultants, to burn their way through 
> £12b while producing something that barely works.  The Olympics (which 
> are guaranteed to be the most ordinary, lacklustre, and expensive 
> Olympics ever), is going to cost another £12b. Undoubtedly, some of 
> that is going to be spent on charlie and blowjobs for people who don't 
> create any value.
Must be a hell of a blowjob!  :)

- Hilton Travis
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