From a recent press release:In a free Xtalks webinar on Wednesday, April 10, 2007, 1:00 – 3:00pm EDT, Nicholas Carr, former Executive Editor, Harvard Business Review, Author of “Does IT Matter? Information Technology and the Corosion of Competitive Advantage”, Bert Armijo, Co-founder and VP Product Management, 3tera, Inc., and Todd Abrams, President and COO, Layered Technologies will consider grid and utility computing and the changes it is bringing to the data centers today.Although I am not familiar with Todd Abrams, I certainly am with the other two speakers. In fact, in a previous conference that I chaired we were debating presenting a similar talk to get the Nicholas Carr perspective on grids. This is sure to be an informative webinar. From the release:Attendees will learn:Why delivering online services that align to the business needs shouldn’t be slow, incredibly complex and budget sinking task.How leveraging a hosted grid infrastructure of standard commodity servers allows enterprises to focus on delivering new online applications, meeting their business objectives without the hassle of buying, installing and managing hardware in house.Why utility computing is not about managed services and high consultant fees, but clear and transparent pay-as-you-go model.Admittedly I’m a big fan of 3tera’s technology and according to the release, part of the webinar will feature a demo of 3tera’s AppLogic technology, which, if you have not seen it, will alone be worth your time. I certainly hope that Nicholas Carr doesn’t simply lob questions over the plate for Bert Armijo to hit blindfolded. It will be far more interesting if he throws some heat at Bert. I’ve interviewed Bert myself for another publication and even when you come with your best stuff he can hit ’em out of the park. Technology Industry