Layer 4

Previously:

Feb 11:

A record setting day as 17,890 people chimed in on the Cisco versus Dell heavyweight battle. Early on Dell's tag-team duo of Russ Holt and Randy Groves, co-VPs of the Enterprise Systems group and a #12 seed, took a commanding lead over Cisco's John Chambers, a #1 seed. But Cisco's no slouch either, using their strong employee base to stage an amazing run to take the lead going into overnight balloting. Dell then called in the bullpen, using it's Asia-Pacific group (according to an e-mail from Dell) to help the Holt/Groves duo beat Chambers, 9,244-8,646. Dell employees also rallied behind their leader, #2-seed Michael Dell, leading him to a commanding 9,507-506 victory over FCC Chairman and #3-seed Michael Powell. This sets up an all-Dell quarterfinal tomorrow. Stay tuned! Comments:

"Michael Dell's signature is on the bottom of my check stub every two weeks." ... "I have worked closely with the Dell Storage group and know the talent and determination it took to advance so substantially over the last 6 years. Of course, Michael Dell is my hero." ... "For a man that has revamped the way the entire computer industry works, forced a merger of two giants to compete...how many other people have done that?" ... "Chamber's easily has the best vision of the group. Powell is Government, and in the current state, FCC rules. Period."

Feb 5:

Wow! Looks like the employees at Computer Associates and Dell love their respected leaders. We recieved over 5800 votes in a battle between CA's CEO Sanjay Kumar, a #13 seed, and the #12-seed tag-team duo of Russ Holt and Randy Groves, co-VPs of Dell's Enterprise Systems group. In the end, the Holt-Groves combo edged Kumar, 3113-2755. Our second match was no slouch either, bringing in 2500-plus votes. In tight balloting, #1-seed John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, beat out Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden of the NSA, a #8 seed, 1320-1189. Most of the comments were run of the mill "I Love my company" types. Here are a couple that stood out:

"Its all about security, BABY. The NSA teams are diaper dandies, and Kumar has what it takes to go deep into the Tourney." ... "Lost money on CISCO stock last year and I'm a big Islander fan." ... "Dell cares about its customers, CA burns them."

Jan 30:

The two Michaels advance to the next round in two different fashions. #2-seed Michael Dell's loyal employees helped Dell walloped #10-seed Gary Reiner, senior VP and CIO of General Electric, 321-15. The Dell employees could give Henry Fiallo's Enterasys folks a run for who's supreme voting power. Our other match was thisclose as #3-seed Michael Powell, chair of the FCC, edged out #11-seed Sandra England, executive VP of Network Associates, 128-121. Comments:

"The FCC and GE will allow you to send your relative their favorite food to their 'fridge on 'that special occasion'!" ... "I work for him (Dell). I am still working for him because of him." ... "I am working for Dell, and I want to keep my job :). Just kidding...Michael is the MAN, we all know it." ... "If I didn't vote for Powell he'd probably come and cut off my illegal cable box!"

Jan 23:

Cisco's John Chambers (#1 seed) rode his popularity to a 122-77 victory over #16-seed Paul Ferri, managing partner of Matrix Ventures. And CA CEO Sanjay Kumar (#13 seed) overcame an early deficit to upset #4-seed Sam Palmisano, president and COO of IBM, 184-59. Comments:

"I like the way these companies [Cisco and CA] are performing in a down economy." ... "Chambers is like Bill Gate's. Both try to wipe out anyone that has a truly good product and or idea. Down he goes!" ... "Cisco and IBM will always eventually wind up on top." ... "Paul has had a broader influence on the direction of technology. Chambers has done a marevelous job of leveraging his sales channel by buying start ups VC's like Matrix had the guts to fund in the embryonic phase. IBM has come a long way and has really embraced Linux, validating it as a true buisness class OS."

Jan 16:

Another upset today as the #12-seed tag-team duo of Russ Holt and Randy Graves, the co-VPs of Dell's Enterprise Systems group, took out #5-seed Bill Friel, the senior VP and CIO of Prudential Financial, 44-19. Also, FCC Chairman Michael Powell (a #3 seed) defeated Procket Networks founder Toni Li (a #14 seed), 42-21. Comments:

"Li has the smarts all over Powell. A stuffy insurance guy is no match for the Dell tag-team. Actually, in both cases the opponents are out of the power league." ... "These guys get the job done." ... "Mathup 1: Toni Li is a brilliant and aggressive developer who will not be stopped. Mathup 2: I like innovation over sales."

Jan 11:

No upsets this time around as Michael Dell advanced over Couterpane's Bruce Schneier, 49-25, and the NSA's Lt. Gen. Michael defeated Juniper Chairman Scott Kriens, 43-31. Comments:

"Well, Dell has a ton of Money. Ultimately, Hayden has a nuclear arsenal at his disposal if push comes to shove." ... "I think security is more important than some hardware salesmen." ... "Dell is a powerhouse, and you don't mess with the NSA" ... "Tough choice between two tough birds. Michael Dell because the company has survived in a commodity market where every penny counts. Another tough choice. Hayden wins. Since there are more computer geeks per square cube in NSA than anywhere else in the world, Hayden must be pretty powerful. Kriens has chutzpa, though. Lots of people have made better routers than Cisco, but not many have survived."

Jan 2:

Sandra England of Network Associates beats Bernie Ebbers of WorldCom, 182-66 and Gary Reiner of GE beats Dennis Kirchoff of Ford, 130-44.

As in the matchup between Henry Fiallo of Enterasys and Greg Reyes of Brocade and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft and Carly Fiorina of HP, employee voting once again won the day, this time for Sandra England of Network Associates, whose employees eked out enough time from squelching viruses to describe her as a haloed visionary who is kind to puppies. Also, Dennis Kirchoff of Ford seemed to lose votes to disgruntled Ford owners.

"Leaders need to inspire people to follow, not threat. They also need to learn that they are not God's gift to mankind."

"Sandra screwed up PGP. She's a Gene Hodge's kissass. So Bernie is it. Gary is good, if Jack Welch likes him, can't be too bad."

"Sandra is doing something with networking, Bernie is doing business. Gary is driving a cultural shift, Dennis is addressing the work to be done to support such a shift."

"1. Worldcom has fluffed its market and is directionless in a declining field -- long-distance telephone service. It has little infrastructure and almost no cellular presence. Network Associates is a power in a growing field, network security, and England is charged with ensuring that the company remains competitive. 2. General Electric is still the only real power in its field, while Ford is reeling right now."

"Sandra's kinda cute, as corporate officers go, anyway. She's much smarter than that Bernie Ebbers. Isn't he the Independent Congressman from Vermont? Even though I'll never buy another Ford, Dennis Kirchoff sounds like a Russian, so he probably appreciates great literature. Gary Reiner was good as Mike Stivic in 'All in the Family' but hasn't had a good movie or TV role in years."

"Global Internet backbone of Worldcom (UUNET), steering company through tight time. ATT is losing and breaking up, other telecoms are breaking up and losing $, Worldcom is holding on and steering through a tight storm"

"Bernie seems like a heartless monster with only business in mind. Next, I just hate Ford :)"

"WorldCom is an example of mismanagement, Mr. Ebbers is responsible. Gary Reiner is a visionary who actually knows how to implement big ideas. The goals might be a bit off, but he knows what he's doing."

"Matchup 1 - Bernie is just building a financial house of cards that will eventually collapse of its own weight and lack of customer responsiveness. NAI, on the other hand, has made great strides and may eventually challenge Check Point for the network security crown. Matchup 2 - It's no contest. GE is nothing but a mutual fund masquerading as a company. Can I vote for the Fidelity CIO instead? Kirchoff, on the other hand, is single-handedly defining the VPN and community of interest content market of the future."

"Bernie Ebbers has been great at putting together a large organization, but has shown virtually no ability to be able to run it. Gary Reiner has done a very good job of running the IT organization at GE."

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