Software Testing Blog

In the second part of our Testing the Limits interview with Jeff Papows we discuss his past rivalry with Bill Gates; how software glitches were dealt with at Lotus; the varying impact of software bugs across industries; cyber terrorism; enterprise governance platforms and other topics straight out of his latest book, “Glitch: The Hidden Impact of Faulty Software”. If you missed part I, you can find it here.

uTest: In your 30 years in the industry, which tech leaders have you come to admire most? We’re going to ask that you exclude the standard answer of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. All kidding aside, who has impressed you the most in your career?

JP: It’s hard not to say Bill Gates.  I competed against him directly when I ran Lotus and I have to say that kind of focused, competitive anger lead to a greatly increased rate of innovation at both Microsoft and Lotus.  People often expect me to say nasty things about Bill, but I truly can’t. I worked with him and the BSA (Business Software Alliance) in Congress and the White House. Bill is passionate, brilliant and truly cares about what he is doing. I’d love to say something different when Bill Gates is concerned, but the truth is that whether you love Microsoft or hate them, no human being on the planet has done more of a service to the industry as Bill has. I can also tell you he is truly one hell of a human being as well. I also have to say I thought Lou Gerstner did an amazing job turning around IBM during my tenure, and honestly Steve Mills has lead a cultural state change that changed IBM from a manufacturing company to a software Giant, so he makes that list.

uTest: As CEO of Lotus Development Corporation, you oversaw the progression of Lotus Notes from its initial release to sales of over 70 million copies worldwide. How did you go about avoiding glitches during that time and how is it done different today?

JP: I did indeed and we released Lotus Notes in those growth years on about seven operating systems and in about fifteen languages concurrently every release, with more than ten million lines of code. It was all about people. Lotus employed the best and brightest and they were an inspired populace that believed they were changing the way civilization lived and worked.  It’s a very subjective, human, statement but it’s very much at the center of your question.

uTest: In writing the book, you interviewed a lot of top leaders in business, academia and politics. Did you get the sense that they fully understand the impact these glitches can have on modern society? If not, what are they ignoring?

JP: It runs the whole spectrum.  Some do, some don’t.  In the end, it is a complex picture to put together.  Look to the chapter on cyber terrorism by Dr. Jim Lewis, PhD.  Jim was one of the most persuasive and articulate people I interviewed and an advisor to the White House, so he’s clearly placed where he can do some good.  Also Lyn Cox, an I.T. executive at Ford Motor Company, had some of the most well framed observations.

uTest: You are now the President and CEO of WebLayers, a company that has become one of the first vendors with a policy-based governance platform. What exactly is a policy-based governance platform and how can it help today’s software companies?

JP: Weblayers is one of the first “Enterprise Governance “ platforms that works across typologies from Mainframe to .Net, to Java and at the same time integrates with WSRR, RTC – Rational, Websphere, Oracle and all the critical middleware stacks. It’s about automated policy management, streamlined and automated review process.  We also provide the kind of automated dashboard reporting for management that codifies the economic and technical risk mitigation quantification spectrum in use.

uTest: Is there a particular industry that you think will be more affected by bugs and glitches in the future? Or will everyone share the pain equally?

JP: You have answered your own question.  Technology is everywhere in every fabric of our lives. With technology, as ubiquitous as it has become, everybody will gain or fail in much the same broad way as the next person or company. Nobody is exempt.

uTest: We always ask our guests where they go to find the latest tech news. Will you kindly disclose your sources (i.e. blogs, websites and publications)?

JP: I’m a big fan of eWeek, but get a lot of my news from individual blogs like Dana Gartner’s and the broadcast news cycle at CNN, MSNBC, as much as online print sources these days.

uTest: What would you be doing if you weren’t involved in technology? Tell our readers a little bit about Jeff outside the world of tech.

JP: I’m a dedicated amateur athlete and compete as an equestrian in the world of Show Jumping, which is an Olympic sport where horse and rider compete across complex courses or jumps.  I’m an animal lover and spend a lot of free time with my horses and dogs.

uTest: Any ideas on what your next project will be? Let our readers know how they can stay up-to-date on your work.

JP: You can follow my blog, http://blog.weblayers.com/. Glitch was not my first book, Enterprise.com came before it, and I’m sure it will not be my last stint as an author.

Editor’s note: We hope you enjoyed our two-part interview with Jeff Papows. If you have someone in mind for next month’s guest, send your suggestions to marketing@utest.com.