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Project Sputnik
Driving Innovation at a Large Company
Barton George
Office of the CTO
@barton808

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Question: How to stay relevant?

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Photo source: marissa anderson http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Question: How to stay relevant?

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+

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+
Impractical

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Dell Innovation Fund+
+

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• What: High end offering
• How: Open/Involve the community*
• Why: Change perceptions
The Plan
*Share and give back to the community

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Let’s see if it will fly
$40,000
Photo source (jar): Pictures of Money; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
+

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Photo source (map): Giles Clark; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Don’t embarrass ourselves
Three intrepid alpha cosmonauts
Three large web cos
Let the hacking begin

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Why “Sputnik”?

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Going Public
Unique visitors to bartongeorge.io

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1. Rough plan
2. Rough image
3. Request
Photo source: Takumi Tsutayak; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Going Public
Unique visitors to bartongeorge.io
Minimum Viable Product

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1. Rough plan
2. Rough image
3. Request
Photo source: Takumi Tsutayak; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Going Public
Unique visitors to bartongeorge.io
70,000
Minimum Viable Product

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1. Don’t make it more expensive than Windows
2. Make it work with the vanilla image
3. At least 8GB of RAM
4. No Windows Preinstalled
5. No CD/DVD
6. ProSupport
Gathering Feedback
IdeaStorm Kicked off

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More cosmonauts
(6,000! -> Tipping point)
Bring on the Beta

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Photo source (globe): Jason Bachman; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Photo source (map): Geoforma; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Bring on the Beta
Oops

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8 Months after green light
Launch

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Plug in to the machine…

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But stay process light wherever you can
MVP* for Executive-sponsor update
*Minimum Viable Presentation

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The Team –Small but Scrappy (none of us full time)
Jared
Linux server engineering
Barton
Project Lead
Mario
Linux architect
Amit
Linux architect
Amber
Linux program Mgr

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Cloud back end
• Joyent
• OpenStack private
• EC2
• Rackspace
• Simulate entire app
environment on client in
Linux containers then
deploy to cloud via cloud
launcher
Our Dream for Project Sputnik:
Micro cloud
Client
Profile library on Github
• Community assembled
language stacks that are
configured on the users client
via the profile tool (built on
chef scripts)
A Client-to-Cloud Platform for Developers

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Cloud back end
• Joyent
• OpenStack private
• EC2
• Rackspace
• Simulate entire app
environment on client in
Linux containers then
deploy to cloud via cloud
launcher
Micro cloud
Client
Profile library on Github
• Community assembled
language stacks that are
configured on the users client
via the profile tool (built on
chef scripts)
Our Dream for Project Sputnik:
A Client-to-Cloud Platform for Developers

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How the System was Received
It just works:
Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition Linux Ultrabook review
“Dell's substantial investment in making a
functional Linux Ultrabook pays off..”
- Lee Hutchinson
The Dell XPS 13 Developers Edition With Ubuntu
"Excellent Ubuntu performance out of
the box…Using the laptop was a dream."
— John Biggs
Dell's Sputnik - Git what you want
“Dell is on the right track with their profile thinking. To me, this
could be a game-changer in the computer
manufacturer race."
—Mike Hendrickson
Dude, Dell’s Building an Open Source Laptop
“The opportunity to skip the customization process should be of
interest to CIOs, because it will help them eliminate costs
and speed up the development process.”
- Clint Boulton

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How the System has been Received

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Recent Reviews (last few weeks)
“Ok, I didn’t see that coming. Dell
building a better Macbook Pro than
Apple ”
“Dell continues to build the
best out-of-the box Linux and
open-source laptops”
Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13360339

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Recent Reviews
“Ok, I didn’t see that coming. Dell
building a better Macbook Pro than
Apple ”
“Dell continues to build the
best out-of-the box Linux and
open-source laptops”
175,731 views
(As of August 24, 2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvsgTJbIWNo

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Do you know this guy?

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People just want to be heard
Not all trolls mean to troll
Not all Trolls
mean to Troll

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Cloud back end
• Joyent
• OpenStack private
• EC2
• Rackspace
• Simulate entire app
environment on client in
Linux containers then
deploy to cloud via cloud
launcher
Remember Our Dream?
Micro cloud
Client
Profile library on Github
• Community assembled
language stacks that are
configured on the users client
via the profile tool (built on
chef scripts)

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Office of the CTO - EnterpriseSlide 30 of 42
Serendipity

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Jared Dominguez
Expanding the line after hours

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The Beast gen 2 +1Beauty, 6th gen
Today’s line up

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$40,000
Photo source (jar): Pictures of Money; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Oh, by the way

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$10s of millions
$40,000
Photo source (jar): Pictures of Money; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Photo source (briefcase): thethreesisters; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Oh, by the way

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Photo source: Randen Pederson; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/; I added thought bubbles
•Explore
•Create
What did we learn?

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You need someone high up to go to bat for you
You must be ever vigilant
What did we learn?
1. Get a Champion
(be a champion)

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2. Leverage, execute
Doesn’t matter if it’s not your idea, delivery is what counts
What did we learn?

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3. Start small
Don’t over promise, err on the side of caution
What did we learn?

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4. Be Human, be transparent
Speak directly and with empathy
Own it when you screw up or fail to deliver
What did we learn?

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5. Develop a transition plan
Or risk staying a perpetual startup
What did we learn?

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Thank You!
• www.dell.com/developers or www.dell.com/sputnik
• www.bartongeorge.io
• Twitter: @barton808
• #ProjectSputnik

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Questions?