New IBM software lab ‘propeller-head nirvana’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/12/2001 (8851 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MARKHAM, Ont. — This sprawling suburb 30 kilometres north of downtown Toronto is home to some of the brightest computer minds in the world.

Down in the Big Smoke, a.k.a. Toronto, they refer to Markham as “up north,” mainly because it can take up to two hours in snail-paced bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Don Valley Expressway to commute back and forth.

Markham is home to most of the biggest names in Canadian technology and the area likes to call itself Canada’s Silicon Valley.

And in Markham, no technology name is bigger than IBM.

The IBM Toronto Software Lab is a $150-million state-of-the-art research and development facility. It specializes in IBM’s four major commercial software lines — Tivoli, Lotus, WebSphere and DB2.

But to the 2,000 software developers who work here, the lab is propeller-head nirvana.

The place is world-class and plays a major role in IBM’s global strategy, according to Hershel Harris, IBM’s vice-president of WebSphere server development and director of the lab.

“Software is the foundation of IBM’s e-business strategy,” Harris said in an interview at the lab.

So, one wonders, with 2,000 mostly Canadian developers working in one of the best software labs in the world, in a building that is so wired its 3.2 million feet of communications cable would stretch all the way to Winnipeg, why have we not heard about this place before?

The answer: The IBM Toronto Software Lab opened for business on Sept. 11.

“Our opening largely went unnoticed,” Harris admitted.

But last week, IBM decided it was time to tell the world. It invited technology writers from across Canada, as well as France and England, to tour the lab and spend a day getting to know the place.

In a word, the lab is magnificent.

A key feature is that it is totally wired — or make that unwired — for infrared wireless communications. It means you can take your laptop (IBM ThinkPad, of course) anywhere in the building and instantly connect to the network. Tiny infrared transmitter/receivers line the walls and corridors of the building.

In fact, there are 23,000 network connection points throughout the 563,000 square-foot building.

Programmers and developers sit in the cafeterias (there are four of them in the building) and work away. Actually, they call the eateries bistros, specializing in French and Italian cuisine. There are also a couple of Timothy’s gourmet coffee shops.

There is a full-service marketplace well-stocked with IBM-branded merchandise.

The developers take their ThinkPads into any of the 15 large conference rooms in the building, each room equipped with ceiling mounted projectors. There are another 48 medium-sized conference rooms.

You see them in any of the three oasis areas in the lab. These are quiet, contemplative retreats — each one themed: An English library, a country cottage and a south seas island. All have soothing water features and comfortable lounging chairs.

About the only place you don’t see them toting their ThinkPads is into the three games areas at the lab where they can play foosball or shuffleboard or cribbage or backgammon, or the fully equipped fitness centre.

This same wireless environment turns every PC in the place into a telephone. It takes a little getting used to watching folks walking about, talking to their computers.

When the developers aren’t wandering about their amazing building, they are in their PWAs — personal work areas.

A far cry from the Dilbert-like cubicles found in most workplaces today, the PWAs are a marvel of modern office ergonomics.

Each self-contained PWA has a seven-foot sound barrier wall with a sliding door. Inside each is a desk and PC, file space and the most comfortable office chairs imaginable. The subdued lighting is designed to best illuminate a computing environment.

As we toured the lab, I glanced inside one of the PWAs. The developer was hard at work — developing, one assumes. At his side was a jar of peanut butter, a box of Ritz crackers and a can of Jolt cola.

But no, he didn’t have white tape across the bridge of his eyeglasses.

paul.pihichyn@freepress.mb.ca