Although Sneak prides himself on being up to speed with the IT industry's ever-evolving jargon, there is always room for a baffling new term. The chief marketing officer of a large US software firm recently dropped a prize example. When the subject of a newly-announced partnership between two rival companies was brought up, the official dismissed it as the two firms 'doing a Barney'. Seeing the blanker-than-usual expression on Sneak's face, the executive was forced to explain about Barney the nauseating purple dinosaur and his trademark song - I Love You, You Love Me. "They're not announcing anything concrete, other than the fact that they've suddenly decided they need each other," the executive explained. Hence the phrase.
Sneak is a little too old to feel any fondness for Barney, so would like to suggest some further terms based on children's TV favourites of an earlier era. Doing a Barpapapa, for example, could describe those firms that change their priorities (and their roadmaps) as often as Barbapapa changed his shape. The many IT vendors that make an awful lot of noise to very little effect could be called Clangers. And then there could be doing a Pugwash, which could... err... on second thoughts, maybe this whole kids TV thing isn't such a good idea.

18 Nov 2004