VMWare Exec makes my day

It was a really good day yesterday.  Very productive on lots of fronts, and a ton of good news for CloudBees.  We got in the Jolt Awards - "Cloudbees was included for special distinction because we strongly feel it indicates an important new direction in coding. The product is still in its infancy, but we think its importance to the market warrants inclusion for a special award." And we got named one of the 9 Hot Startups by NetworkWorld.


Then as I was getting ready for bed James Watters of VMWare posted this:

 James Watters 

@ 
 who in their right mind would take that troll blog by seriously? It doesn't even have its facts right around price

Well, a little tweet storm erupted that I will copy here for posterity purposes and ease of reading.  There are two blog posts in question: How Will PaaS be Priced, and Why VMWare Loves and Hates the Cloud.


 bobbickel 

I'm a troll!! So thrilling! Can't wait for those bridge tolls to come rolling in... Thanks 

 James Watters 

 I mean, I get it, start-ups should be scrappy and make noise, its cool, have fun.

 bobbickel 

 - my daughter just asked me if you called me a troll because I am short and ugly. I told it was complicated ;-)

 James Watters 

@ 
 but if your best troll is just making up pricing and not even looking at VSPP, its a pretty thin argument and you loose cred

 James Watters 

@ 
 I didn't call you a troll, I said your blog was a troll. And it was, look up the history of the word.

 bobbickel 

@ 
 - smile a bit. If my pricing is off, correct it in a comment. I tried my troll best to understand your pricing on VMware.com

 James Watters 

@ 
 its not my job to educate you about the market, enjoy your misconceptions, I just questions others using you as a reference.

 bobbickel 

Here are the two blogs in question - and

 James Watters 

@ 
 google: VSPP

 bobbickel 

I pulled the VMware pricing from  and

 Michael Neale 

@ 
 trolls do have beards.

This whole thread made me giggle.  


But to get serious:


1. This is my blog.  I do not seek approval from the companies I work with.  They are my thoughts as they pertain to the businesses I am involved in.


2. I am a homer (meaning I cheer for the home team).  So most of my blogs have to do with the businesses I am invested in and work with.  They recount the basic reasons that I am working with them beyond the fundamentals of wanting to hang with smart, hard working, fun, team-oriented people.  If that is a troll, then so be it.


3. I make sure that the information I write is accurate.  In spite of being a troll, I do value my credibility.  Although sometimes folks in big companies like Ted and James do not always agree.  As for the pricing in my blog it is based on single unit costs as explained on the VMWare TCServer Pricing and vSphere Pricing pages.  I do not get how James thinks a glorified volume discount program for Service  Providers makes my blog troll-like.


Making me feel a bit better about this was this tweet:
 Benjamin Dover 

  everyone is a troll according to so don't pay him no mind.

 Benjamin Dover 

 is much more accomplished then you  , he was on the board of  for crying out loud.
I am so happy a guy named Ben Dover came to rescue my credibility!

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