Preface

Some years ago I received a true pearl of wisdom from an industry colleague. "In order to truly understand your profession," he advised, "you must make the effort to learn other disciplines that are completely different from the one that you espouse."

That colleague was John McConnell, a man who truly understood this advice by walking the talk over the course of his life. Born into a military family, John developed a keen understanding of the importance of the global ecosystem at a very young age through his childhood experiences in both Europe and the Far East. Despite being a shy, scholarly individual throughout primary and secondary school, John also demonstrated the value of hard work and dedication by making the varsity rowing team at U.C. Berkeley.

The strong work ethic that John nurtured at Berkeley served him well after he received his master's in computer science in 1968. What differentiated John from many of his fellow graduates, however, was the application of his craft to non-IT disciplines after graduation. Some of his first initiatives included the application of computer technology to measure the rate of solar intensity upon the earth and the development of a programming language that was designed to test the content and substance of moon samples brought back to earth by the Apollo astronauts. In addition, John developed a number of network control programs for the ARPANET (the predecessor to today's Internet) in the mid-1970s when the state of the commercial data networking industry was in its true infancy.

John also spent a number of years in professional capacities that had very little to do with information technology. After graduate school, John became an accomplished massage therapist, hypnotist, and practitioner in the art of Rolfing, a technique for the detection, treatment, and removal of bodily stress and pain. In 1983, using his Rolfing technique, John was selected to work with the members of the U.S. bicycling Olympic team, and he applied this technique to aid the team in preparing for the 1984 Olympic games. Recently, when not consulting, John was training to become an instructor in the Ridhwan Foundation, an institution whose focus is the rediscovery and integration of the true self into one's own professional and personal life. Over the years, he had a myriad of personal interests including soaring, mountain climbing, bird watching, backpacking, rowing, and blues festivals. One of his most recent and satisfying accomplishments was the design, building, and completion of a second home in southern Costa Rica that effectively enabled both he and his wife Grace to really get away from it all.

First and foremost, John's professional focus in the IT industry was the advancement of technologies and products that improved the efficiency and the effectiveness of IT management.

Given his whole life background, John was especially dedicated to reducing the operational and business "pain points" associated with IT implementation and management. This focus is reflected in John's prior work, Internetworking Computer Systems and Managing Client/Server Environments, as well as in Practical Service Level Management: Delivering High-Quality Web-Based Services. John's numerous publications, conferences, and televised briefings reflect a focused dedication to the removal of technological barriers to the optimal effectiveness of IT organizations worldwide. His life experiences of a true Renaissance man uniquely enabled him to both understand and drive the level of change needed to not only improve state of the art, but also quality of life. John was indeed the "gold standard" of knowledge, professionalism, and personal integrity that made the pursuit of these goals not only a logical possibility, but, for many of us, a practical reality. The loss of John will be keenly felt for some time, but the goals and values that he aspired to and embraced will inspire and guide many of us for years to come.

John Morency, President, Momenta Research
May 2003