Picture this: I'm on countless calls, chuckling and shaking my head at Viasat's choice to stick with Supermicro. Fast forward, and Elon Musk's xAI has shifted a hefty $6 billion AI server order from Supermicro to Dell. Being ahead of the curve? It's a mix of frustration and validation.
Background
Supermicro's been in hot water lately, dealing with DOJ probes and potential NASDAQ delisting. Their stock's nosedived, shaking investor confidence.
The Shift to Dell
Dell, on the other hand, is more than ready to catch what Supermicro drops, thanks to partners like Inventec and Wistron. They're amped up and ready to meet the surging AI server demand.
Personal Insights & Lessons Learned
Reflecting on those calls at Viasat, I remember laughing at the hardware lead, David S. He was getting "wined & dined" by SMC while his decisions made our lives harder. Leadership chose their failing bedfellow, and it didn’t end there.
Leadership Failures and Viasat’s Situation
Viasat's been grappling with satellite failures—two pieces ended up as space junk. Meanwhile, insider whispers about "unethical practices" don’t do any favors for company morale. Despite landing big contracts, revenue's dipping in their satellite services sector. Mark Dankberg and the leadership team clearly have some steering to do to regain footing.
My plan: Architect CDI (Composable Disaggregated Infrastructure), monitored by Zabbix and offering a fully dynamic environment. For Site-Sustainment, a Caretaker role would be established and open to anyone in the company. This Caretaker role would be scheduled a couple days out of the week and clear objectives for each day. The Caretaker could be anyone, a Sys Admin, Developer, Finance, HR, even the CEO himself. This Caretaker would assume responsibility over the data center and responsible for schedule failure replacements. CDI would allow us to continually upgrade.
Broader Implications
This shake-up's a wake-up call for the tech industry. Companies need to stay alert, ready to pivot, and realize that clinging to what feels comfortable can lead to missed opportunities. Supermicro, much like Viasat, has a lot of rebuilding to do.
Conclusion
In the end, being ahead of the curve isn’t just about having good ideas—it's about the guts to act on them. Hopefully, more companies will see this shift and learn to value vision over routine, steering clear of leadership pitfalls.