John Abbott covers systems, storage and software infrastructure topics for 451 Research, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence. Over a career that spans more than 30 years, he has pioneered specialist technology coverage in such areas as Unix, supercomputing, system architecture, software development and storage.
As one of the co-founders of The 451 Group in October 1999, John ran analyst operations from the company's San Francisco office. He has been a principal author on many 451 Research Special Reports, including those on storage virtualization and blade servers – the first comprehensive surveys of either subject to be published. More recently John has focused on topics such as converged infrastructure, new systems architectures, AI and deep learning accelerators. He helped establish 4Sight, the 451 Research framework for the forward-looking, long-term coverage of emerging technologies.
John began covering the technology sector in 1984, building on his previous experience as a technical author and direct involvement using mainframes, early PCs and Unix workstations. As a freelance journalist, he contributed to publications including Computing, Computer Weekly, The Financial Times and The Times. In 1987, he was appointed editor of ComputerWire's weekly Unix newsletter, Unigram.X, and later became editor of the company's daily Computergram International service, first in London and subsequently in San Francisco. He established the 451 Research office in San Francisco and lived there for over a decade.
John studied music at the University of Keele and has an MA in modern English literature from the University of London.
