Pragmatic Cloud: “Working Together Is Success”

What capacity planning taught us about the value of alignment with Business

There has been quite a lot written about the benefits of IT-Business alignment, and even more written about the terrible things that can happen when the teams are not aligned. But, we hear little about happens when business and IT are aligned. As I wrote a response to Chris O’Malley’s article, wherein he urges businesspeople to take an active role in creating that alignment, I was reminded of one of the earliest times that we experienced its benefits as private cloud providers. It was one of our breakthrough initiatives in the context of IT-Business alignment so I thought I would share it.

Pragmatic Cloud: “…and business always wants it in a week”

I agree, Chris O’Malley, business should align with IT

Recently I read a post by Chris O’Malley, Nimsoft CEO wherein he makes the point that, while IT must align with their business consumers, business people must also make an effort to make their partnership with IT work. I have often written about the former, though I strongly agree with Chris’ point as well. In fact, Chris’ article reminded me of a conversation I had at one of last quarter’s Cloud Exchange events (about which I had intended to write for quite some time).

Suuuu-priiii-ise!

During an open discussion, participants (mostly IT professionals) had been asked about their most challenging issues. In response, one person said something like “…and business always wants it done in a week”. Though to some that may sound like use of literary license or venting some frustration, there were many heads nodding in agreement. Actually, most heads were nodding in agreement. (Perhaps they all were.)

Social Media: The Coffee House of the New Millennium

Five characteristics of social media that drive innovation and business value

Following a great Twitter chat recently (#CITEchat), I found myself again questioning whether social media can truly drive business value and innovation; and, if it can, why that would be the case. I believe some key characteristics of social media do, indeed, enable it to be a key driver of innovation and business value.

IT: Where Great Ideas Go to Die

“BYOD isn’t coming, it’s here“- @SimonBramfitt via @thelaurenfiles

Recently I participated in a great Twitter conversation regarding how IT departments have gained a reputation as a place where good ideas go to die. Initially there were several volleys about how IT departments have become known as the “Office of the C-I-No“. Whether these are perceptions or reality does not matter. (They’re often real.) What was interesting was that our conversation quickly morphed into a discussion of consumer driven IT (CDIT) and “bring your own device” (BYOD); the latest in the list of things that are both challenging IT organizations and, unfortunately, adding fuel to those negative perceptions.

And then it happened…

Pragmatic Cloud: Peeling the Cloud’s Green Onion

Does cloud computing really make things greener?

The Green Onion’s Three Layers

Recently my colleague Dhesi Ananchaperumal and I were invited to speak at several conferences on the topics of energy management and consumption, and cost reduction. During those sessions I was asked to share some of our experiences in our journey to providing a private cloud and to discuss whether the cloud made CA Technologies greener. In preparation for these sessions I realized that we had actually progressed through three levels of green awareness and maturity in our cloud’s early years. (You can watch a short YouTube video of one of our sessions here.)

1. Collateral Greenage

The Coming Opportunity of BYOD

A few weeks ago, RWW Channels Editor David Strom posted Why BYOD Isn’t a Trend. He skewers the notion that BYOD is new, notes that IT leaders have dealt with user-purchased tech for generations, and declares the “consumerization of IT” a new name for an old trend.

Strom’s take away: BYOD has been around since the ’80s, and the only change is that it is now writ large, thanks to low-cost smartphones, tablets, and Internet-enabled access to corporate data. But he asks the wrong question and misses a much more important point, about how rapid the influx of tablets is changing enterprise IT. Don’t ask if BYOD is a trend. Ask what IT leaders are doing about BYOD.

Pragmatic Cloud: A look at yesterday paints a picture of tomorrow (Part 2)

What I learned at Cloud Exchange 2011

In Part 1 of this series I discussed the first three of the top five topics of discussion during this year’s Cloud Exchange events (security, resilience/business continuity, data, finance, and user experience). In this post I will discuss the last two items, as well as a few others that almost made the top five.

Pragmatic Cloud: A look at yesterday paints a picture of tomorrow (Part 1)

What I learned at Cloud Exchange 2011

Having completed my last road trip of the year, I dusted off the notes I took during this year’s Cloud Exchange events (and a few others) to see what I might learn from them. (The first thing I learned was that I take a lot of notes.) In the spirit of the Cloud Exchange events, I thought I would share what I discovered, which I will do in a 2-part series.

The Top Five

Emptor Scire (Buyer Aware)

What is different about today’s consumer-driven IT?

As I prepared for an upcoming CA World panel discussion on consumer-driven IT, my thoughts took a 90 degree turn. While I had primarily been thinking about the implications of consumer-driven IT, I had paused to consider that it is also a challenge IT teams have had to address “forever”. So I began to think about what might be different about the current change wave we are calling “consumerization” or “consumer-driven IT” and similar demands consumers made to their IT groups many years ago. Certainly there must be some differences. If not, would we not have addressed it many years ago? And if we understand those differences can we better respond to today’s consumer-driven IT challenges?

So, as the plane I was on while contemplating this began its descent, here are a few of the differences I was able to think of.

Is All This Hype Giving Cloud the Business?

Is cloud computing disruptive innovation or great marketing?

For what feels like forever there have been debates regarding whether cloud computing is a game-changing approach or simply an unbelievably well executed marketing initiative. Even as someone who has experienced first hand the changes and benefits cloud computing can deliver I have at times asked this question. This weekend I believe I arrived at an answer that will be extremely difficult to unseat; though I will, of course, keep an open mind.

The End of the Vicarious Experience?

Does “hyper-personalization” sometimes (often?) deliver poorer service?

Recently I was reviewing updates to a social media application and a childhood lesson in customer service came back from my subconscious. This service had changed the function of the most commonly used area of its user interface; I assume with the objective of providing a better experience to its consumers. The change resulted in a firestorm of comments and negative user feedback, much of which was posted to that very area of the service. Though most of the feedback was directed toward consumers’ difficulties reproducing the site’s previous behavior it occurred to me that there was another, very significant issue to consider.

Pragmatic Cloud: You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Give your customers what they need.  It’s not always what they ask for.

Soft skills a key ingredient to cloud computing success

Last week I had the pleasure of joining the Cloud Exchange discussion in Toronto.  Though there was a great and diverse group in attendance with a broad range of interests, there were a few things that were of more universal interest.  Amongst these were several issues that might be placed into the “people management” or “soft skills” categories.  I was very encouraged to learn that, though not because I enjoy the suffering of others.  I believe this signifies an increase in the maturity of cloud computing.  At the very least it is a sign that more organizations are more mature when it comes to their thinking about cloud solutions.

Pragmatic Cloud: Cloudy Views Bring Sunny Outlook for Cloud Consumers

“#CloudViews” Cloud Outage Chat Participants Put Their Customers First

Last Thursday I participated as a panelist in Cloud Commons‘ “#CloudViews” Twitter chat (partial session archive here or page through the full archive here).  The following is a brief summary of that event.

Pragmatic Cloud: The LAN That Time Forgot

Four caveats for those evaluating the costs and benefits of cloud solutions

Recent announcements ranging from mergers and acquisitions, to movement of key personnel, to changes in licensing models have certainly made it anything but a “lazy summer” (or winter, depending upon where you are) in the cloud space.  These changes have sparked even more interesting discussion regarding the costs and benefits of cloud solutions, and of the never-too-far-from-the-forefront debate related to the benefits and advantages of public versus private clouds.

Trap Door

As a service provider, an advisor, and in friendly debates, I have been witness (and participant) to many discussions (debates, slugfests) regarding which type of cloud is less expensive.  While these discussions have been, for the most part, either useful, productive, or simply fun (I really need to get out more often), there are a couple of things about these discussions that are cause for concern, especially in the context of the selection of a business service.

Pragmatic Cloud: When Life Gives You Lemons… “Go Mobile, Go Social”

What IT can learn from a lemonade stand

Recently I had a very interesting conversation with an aspiring entrepreneur.  She told me about the demands a changing environment had been placing on her business, their impact on business revenue, and how she adjusted to take advantage of those new opportunities.  I am in a fortunate position to have conversations of this nature now and again, and I always learn something interesting and valuable; something I can use to improve my business life, and that I can share with our customers to help improve theirs.  This discussion was quite different from most others though, not because I did not learn something, but rather because this entrepreneur was nine years old.

Pragmatic Cloud: Time to Rock the Boat

You can have everything you need to protect your business, and still fail.

A River Runs Through It

Last weekend while my son and I were enjoying Father’s Day in our canoe we sighted another group that appeared to be doing the same.  An experience of this nature, two canoes passing one another silently, normally makes a trip even more pleasant.  Something about being on the water appears to put most people at ease and in the best of moods.  That was certainly the initial affect of our brief encounter, but then my son and I had the feeling that something was not right.

Pragmatic Cloud: “Keep Your Eyes on the Road, Your Hands Upon the Wheel”

When we engage cloud providers do we disengage our brains?

Though coverage and public discussion of the implications of a recent cluster of cloud services outages appears to be waning somewhat, I still find myself thinking about it from different angles, at least for a moment, almost every day.  One of the recurring questions bouncing around looking for some company in my head is “have we developed a habit of abdicating our thinking when we engage cloud providers, and was that at least partially responsible for the impact of those outages?” Just to clarify the question, I am not suggesting that abdication of thought caused the outages.  Rather, I wondered whether it exacerbated their impact.

Pragmatic Cloud: Private Clouds Deliver No Value (Part II)

People who live in glass houses should throw dashboards

In Part I of this series I discussed some of the challenges and value (or lack thereof) perceptions facing private cloud providers ending with the question “what can be done” to address those.  As is likely apparent, there are many things that might be done to address this, and selection of the most appropriate of those is certainly dependent upon your situation.  In this post I will focus on some simple strategies that are likely broadly applicable.

Live in a Glass House – Transparency, SLAs Critical

Pragmatic Cloud: Private Clouds Deliver No Value (Part I)

“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing” – Oscar Wilde

As a private cloud provider I dealt with widespread perceptions that private clouds (and internal IT organizations…) are of no value to the business.  Recent conversations confirm I am not alone.  Though this was partly the result of widely held perceptions (and realities) of IT becoming the greatest point of latency in business transformation, some of which I discussed in a previous article, there were also other forces at work.

When Techs Talk to Execs

Innovation is 1% inspiration, 99% communication

I have witnessed too many cases where great ideas, poorly communicated to senior executives, come to an abrupt end sometimes taking a career or two with them.  In a recent article I mentioned the importance of speaking in business terms.  Some people never get that far.

The following techniques can help make the difference between failure and the advancement of a great, high value innovation.

(This is an excerpt. Click here to access the original article, which  is also available on this site.)