Speaking in Tech

After catching up with Ed and Sarah, we start off the podcast with an interview with Eric Eyre of the Charleston Gazette about the paper’s investigation into a suspicious $24 million Cisco router purchase by the State of West Virginia using U.S. Federal Stimulus Funds for the purpose of “homeland security”. The enterprise routers, which are sized for at least 500 users and are typically used for thousands of users, were purchased for schools and libraries with a single computer.

The original story appeared in the Charleston Gazette: http://wvgazette.com/News/201205050057

In the interview we learn:

  • A Cisco rep confirmed the routers were dramatically oversized
  • At one library, the router cost more than the structure of the library itself
  • The routers were purchased by the state without a formal Request for Proposal by a single person after consulting with a Cisco salesman
  • The Cisco salesman retired after the $24 Million deal
  • Of the 1,064 routers purchased, 366 were never installed and are sitting in a warehouse


We get unwound with our special guest this week - Fred Nix, a vSpecialist at EMC

  • We dig into what a vSpecialist really does
  • We explore how critical vSpecialists are to the culture of EMC
  • How EMC has evolved internally
  • Recap Fred’s skiing accident


Finally, we wrap up with “10 Big Questions” for Fred Nix.

Direct download: SiT-8.mp3
Category:Technology -- posted at: 2:27am EDT