1. Connecting the client to
the cloud –
The Sputnik Story
Barton George
Director, Developer Programs
Michael Cote
Director, Software Strategy
OSCON July 24, 2013

2. The Sputnik Journey
Thank You!

3. Developers are a big deal
Source: IDC: It Cloud Services At The Crossroads (Stephen Hendrick, Robert Mahowald, Malanie Posey), April 2013, doc #240572
85% of net new software
built in 2013 will be built for
cloud delivery - IDC

4. So why don’t more large companies engage
with Developers?
Large company
developer programs

5. Enter

6. An awesome but “impractical” idea

7. An awesome but “impractical” idea
Dell Innovation Fund

8. Project Sputnik goals
Gain traction with Developers: key in web, cloud, IT in general
• How: Involve developer community to guide product development
• How: Work with Canonical, OpsCode and The Frontside
• Why: Elevate conversations above infrastructure
• Why: Add sizzle to client line, change perceptions
• Why: New accounts, additional HW/SW/services

9. The Concept Phase
(will we embarrass ourselves?)
• March 15 Approved by Dell incubation team
• Apr 6-10 Feedback from select alpha developers
• April 16-20 Customer visits to get feedback
• April 20- May 7 Getting ready to go public

10. The Pilot Phase
(get feedback and validate)
• May 7 Project announced via blog and at UDS
Unique visitors to bartongeorge.net We struck a nerve!

11. The Pilot Phase
(get feedback and validate)
• May 7 Project announced via blog; IdeaStorm kicked off
1. Don’t make it more expensive than Windows
2.Make it work with the vanilla image
3.At least 8GB of RAM
4.No Windows Preinstalled
5.No CD/DVD
6.ProSupport

12. The Pilot Phase
(get feedback and validate)
• June 20 Touchpad driver written (now in 3.9 kernel)
• July 2 Beta program announced (6K+ people) <- Tipping point
• July 17 Announced at OSCON: Project to become product in fall

13. The Launch Phase
• Nov 29 Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition launched in US/Can
• Feb 18 FHD version, EMEA launch offline
• Feb 28 EMEA online availability
< 9 Months

14. Cloud back end
• Joyent
• OpenStack private
• EC2
• Rackspace
GitHub.com/sputnik
Profile library on Github
• Community assembled
language stacks that are
configured on the users
client via the profile tool
(built on chef scripts)
• Simulate entire app
environment on client
in Linux containers
then deploy to cloud
via cloud launcher
Project Sputnik:
a client-to-cloud platform for developers
Micro cloud
Client

15. How the idea has been received
4 Ways Dell Is Becoming An Open Source
Company
"The laptop gives Dell credibility in the open source
developer community. With that support, Dell can...
grow a new sector of the hardware market."
— Alex Williams
Dell's Sputnik - Git what you want
“Dell is on the right track with their profile thinking. To
me, this could be a game-changer in the computer
manufacturer race."
—Mike Hendrickson
Dude, Dell’s Building an Open Source Laptop
“The opportunity to skip the customization process should be of
interest to CIOs, because it will help them eliminate costs and
speed up the development process.”
- Clint Boulton

16. How the System has been reviewed
Dell's Linux laptop has good hardware,
decent toolkit
“….the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition is a thing of
beauty." — Katherine Noyes
Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review –
Linux laptop an Ultrabook in all but name
It just works:
Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition Linux Ultrabook
review
“Dell's substantial investment in making a functional
Linux Ultrabook pays off..” - Lee Hutchinson
The Dell XPS 13 Developers Edition With Ubuntu
"Excellent Ubuntu performance out of the box…
Using the laptop was a dream." — John Biggs

17. How the System has been received

18. The conversion of Lars (there’s always hope)
Sept 4, 2012: Lars when he hears the Sputnik beta program is not offered in Europe
• Well the problem with DELL meric[sic], it’s not possible to buy a laptop without
Winblows……..Thanks, but I’ll look elsewhere and choose some non merican[sic] nationalist
brand next time
Sept 11, 2012: My reply
• I’m sorry its taken so long to get back to you and I’m sorry you have not had a positive
experience in the past … I appreciate your feedback.
Jan 29, 2013: Lars checks back in
• It's been half a year and nothing has changed. It's still bulls--t laptops ……. These ultrabooks
compete with that Fruitcompanys Air books with a almost similar price. So it isn't hard to
figure out why nobody is buying DELLs laptops...Honestly, I don't think there will ever be
sanity in the marketed products here. ... Over and out,
Jan 29, 2013: My reply
• Thanks for checking back in. If you hold on for a few more weeks you should have a new
offering available in Sweden that hopefully you'll find acceptable :)

19. The conversion of Lars (there’s always hope)
March 13, 2013: Lars replies
Thanks! We got the first one in for the company today.
Nice!
Best regards, Lars

20. Lessons we’ve learned
• Don’t over promise, deliver on what you say you
will and explain when you “screw up”
• The power of plain speak and transparency
• Action is better than non-action but don’t strive for
perfection out of the gate
• Treat everyone with decency (may need to take a
deep breath before responding), don’t write anyone
off too soon

21. What you can do/information
• www.github.com/sputnik < We need your help!
• Joyent cloud offer
• www.dell.com/developers or www.dell.com/sputnik
• www.bartongeorge.net
• Twitter: @barton808, @cote
• #ProjectSputnik

22. Questions?

24. XPS 13 Developer Edition: Client-to-cloud platform
Hardware: XPS 13 laptop
• FHD, i7 CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD
Software
• Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
• Basic set of tools and utilities
• Beta projects: Profile tool & Cloud launcher
• Dell.com/developers
• GitHub.com/Sputnik
Key Links

25. Availability
North America
• U.S., Canada
Europe
• Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,
• Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom
Currently working on a strategy for:
• Israel, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
• South Africa, Turkey, UAE