Published: February 03 2012, 02:33 PM | no comments
by Eric Feldman

With the widespread adoption of cloud services, there is enormous effort to define offerings and align to market based pricing.

Let's face it. If you are going through a cloud transformation initiative, one of your business drivers is to reduce expenditures. In order to calculate your savings, you must have at least some basis of comparison of the service cost or value. And to calculate service costs, you must first define those services. This is a business exercise, yet I see many companies incorrectly focus their cloud initiative exclusively on their infrastructure.

But how does a Service Catalog help with an enterprise or MSP cloud initiative?

We can explain this better with a more familiar metaphor. When you are in a restaurant, you have no knowledge of the types of stoves, cooking utensils, or what brand of knives the chef uses. While you will see a waiter or server write your orders on a piece of paper, you are not aware of the ticketing system used - whether the paper is given to the kitchen staff, or the order is entered into software. In reality, what is in the kitchen is almost irrelevant.

What you are aware of is the menu and the descriptions of choices which can be written in elaborate or simplistic terms. You know the price, and how the food offerings are bundled. And you might know the approximate time your food will be delivered, either informally, or by explicit obligation. Remember the pizza guarantee, delivered in 30 minutes, or it is free?

Do you really care how your food is prepared in terms of the type of  equipment used as long as it meets or exceeds your expectations, provides good value for the price, and service is appropriate? Does it matter how many burners are on the stove, or how many BTUs it consumes per dinner?

A similar environment exists for cloud services. When you request something from an enterprise catalog, you do not care what, if any, automation tools are employed, nor do you typically care about the process used to deliver the service. You do care that the service is delivered in the expected timeframe, is appropriate to your needs, and if being charged for its use, is priced competitively to market equivalents.

As a result, the Service Catalog becomes the central and primary component of a cloud initiative. In this regard, we refer to a Service Catalog as the "driving force to deliver the cloud." It provides the basis and environment for which cloud services can be defined and delivered.

The Service Catalog is not the actual service - regardless if it is cloud based, virtual, or with physical elements - but it provides a representation or abstraction of the various components and parameters. A Service Catalog is not the process, but provides seamless access to the process from an end user. A Service Catalog is not the infrastructure, but enables a pathway to leverage its use via the process. And a Service Catalog is not a specific entry to a general ledger, but it does publish the price, and can calculate and charge for the service usage.

When planning cloud service deployments, many IT organizations concentrate their efforts on infrastructure and tools. I refer to this as a bottom up approach - the equivalent of a new restaurant deciding upon the brand of stove, pots and pans, and refrigerator before the recipes or menu are prepared.

A better way may be the top down approach - beginning with a type of cuisine, recipes, pricing, and menu - and then building the appropriate kitchen. IT operations are really no different. Cloud service deployments should begin with the service portfolio, the service definition, and how they will be published in the service catalog, or the driving force to deliver the cloud.

For an example of how CA Technologies is leading the industry in providing agile and innovative cloud solutions, see our recent announcement for the CA Private Cloud Accelerator for Vblock^TM Platforms, a new solution to enable enterprises and managed service providers to offer automated self-service delivery of infrastructure as a service.

 Menu image used under Creative Commons License courtesty of pellis.

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Published: February 01 2012, 10:06 AM | 1 Comment(s)
by Robert Stroud

After being a technology geek for the last 30 years, the one thing I know for certain is that the only constant is change! I love getting a new piece of technology and learning how it can make my life better.  I am not alone in this; we are breeding a generation where "geek is chic." It's a generation that doesn't think twice about adopting technology whether it's at work or play. They give little thought to Facebook or Twitter posts ranging from where they are - despite privacy concerns - to immediate feedback of a bad meal that they just had. Some describe this generation as "all about me," but I describe it more as "it's all about NOW!"

This generation and their virtual members (I count myself as one) have an amazing impact on the speed of change and if those in traditional IT organizations are not ready, you'll be swept up in this rapid evolution ... or is it a revolution?

I recall when I started in IT, our IT organization would move slowly, carefully and in an extremely methodical manner.  We delivered almost all aspects of the IT environment from the mainframe to the cables that connected those consuming IT. We would carefully manage each complex change with checklists that were checked and double-checked; we would have meetings to discuss actions and would do dry runs of complex change to ensure that we wouldn't impact any aspect of a system's availability. Lead times for change would be weeks and months and if you didn't like our standards, timeframes or imposed requirements - too bad. You could scream all you liked; we simply went back into our data center behind our locked doors to the place you were not allowed access to

At this time technology was a privilege.

But something has changed. I believe we are at the tipping point where technology is no long a privilege it's a right!

Yes, technology changed - we have our PCs, the internet, the Blackberry and of course my beloved (this week) iPad - but I think that fundamentally what has changed is they education system. We now have an emerging workforce of the "empowered" generation who are conscious of technology all the while we have educated the remainder to leverage it for value and good.

As I was filling my rental car this morning at the gas station I witnessed a parent with their school age children and they were playing with an iPad. As I commented to the parent at the pump he told me they were doing their homework assignment. The children, I was told, are ages 6 and 7.

For those of you in IT, it's no longer about the delivery of magic behind closed doors. The focus for you is changing. You are moving truly into the service industry, delivering IT-enabled business value by focusing on the service and its delivery. This all is potentially delivered through a complex value chain of providers. You can no longer hide behind rules that say "no." You must alter your posture to say "yes," while focusing on the risks involved and how to effectively communicate and empower the business to accept risk where appropriate and how to mitigate it where it's not.

Will IT go away?  No. At least not in the short term! Will roles change? They have changed already. The challenge or question for individuals is "to change or not to change?"  If you don't, you may be left behind!

This blog also appears on the CA Project and Portfolio Management blog.

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Published: January 25 2012, 04:05 PM | no comments
by Rich Graves

Last week with their usual fanfare and fantastic marketing, Apple made a small but absolutely world changing announcement. They announced their new Education focused iBooks release and digitial textbooks strategy for the iPad. In short students can now download interactive and multimedia driven textbooks onto an iPad for $14.99. They will get any updates that the publisher makes automatically. The marketing buzz from Apple focuses on giving students up to date information (unlike that 10 year old history book that I used in high school) in a format that is much more engaging than the printed page. I definitely agree with the high level benefits of this and it got me thinking about how this will impact our future workforce and how IT will interact with them.

I'm a big note taker and I like taking notes on paper- it helps me keep focused and ultimately I remember things better when I write them down. I do type faster than I can write, but I am easily distracted by all things on my laptop or tablet ... sorry just had to check my email, I'm back. See?

I am however from a generation who was educated on taking notes on paper and we didn't have hand held digital devices in our backpacks to use. I strongly believe that Apple's announcement is the first step in massive changes in how children will learn. Of course Amazon and Google will respond with offerings as well, but I don't think it's hard to imagine that big heavy printed textbooks will be gone in first world countries in the next five years (oh no, has Apple just killed the school locker industry?). As the price of tablets and ereaders continue to drop to prices that are cheaper than a single high school text book, it just doesn't make sense financially anymore.

But how will this transform our future workforce? If our end users spend more than a decade learning and studying on digital devices, how will this impact not only how they work within an organization but what tools business and IT need to provide to make them successful and innovative. I'm not predicting that we will have flying cars and live on the moon- but I think it's safe to say our work environments will drastically change in the next 10 years. We are beginning to see this today with millenials but these are workers that have only been exposed to Facebook, Twitter and iPads for a few years.

The only way to prepare for massive unknown change is to structure your IT organization for agility. Focus on alignment to the business and making sure you can react quickly to changing business needs which may not just be competitive forces or industry changes but also changes to your biggest input, the workforce. From a Service Management perspective I think it all starts with a strong change management process. This is of course easier said than done but a change management process focused on the often opposing forces of reducing risk and a minimal process overhead will make your IT organization ready for anything today, tomorrow or in the years ahead.

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Published: January 23 2012, 03:56 PM | 1 Comment(s)
by Eric Feldman

When I was in film school, I remember a student asking a question in an advanced filmmaking workshop, "what brand of film will we use?" The professor said "Kodak. Is there any other?"

When I read the recent news that Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection, I thought about all the once great and innovative companies, many of whom were household names, yet either operate vastly different from what they once were, or are no longer with us.

• Bell & Howell - manufacturer of motion picture machinery
• Bethlehem Steel - the second largest steel producer
• F. W. Woolworth Company - the largest department store chain in the world
• Gulf Oil - the 9th largest corporation in the US, now essentially a collection of intellectual property and brand assets
• Netscape Communications Corporation - the dominate web browser developer
• Palm Computing, Inc. - leading producer of PDA devices
• Pan American World Airways - the "flagship" and largest international air carrier in the United States
• Rockwell International - aerospace and semiconductor manufacturer and builder of the space shuttle
• Silicon Graphics - the dominate force in graphical workstations
• Studebaker-Packard Corporation - luxury auto manufacturer and once the 75th largest corporation in the United States

There are many reasons for the demise of these and other companies. Many did not adapt to market forces, or the growth of new technology. Others suffered the fate of bad management, or did not effectively react to different legal or political environments. And many pursued a poor acquisition strategy, made bad investments, or did not effectively control their costs.

In regard to Kodak, were they really in the photographic and film business? Or perhaps they were in the business of sharing life experiences and memories. There was a reason an event was called a "Kodak moment."

The lessons of failed businesses that were once the giants of their day can be an important tool within your enterprise IT organization. We do not need to review the complex operations of a large corporation over decades, but rather break down aspects of IT operations into a few basic business concepts.

You might say that this list of failed companies could not effectively answer many of the following questions:

• Within your IT organization, do you regularly review your portfolio of services? How many of your offerings still meet current business demands? Are you effectively embracing the latest technology in a cost effective way? Are your services competitive with market offerings?
• Throughout the enterprise, do you market yourselves throughout the broader business, including establishing and communicating your value? Do you appropriately set expectations and measure effectiveness and quality? How does the business provide feedback and help ensure continuous improvement practices?
• From a financial perspective, do you have detailed knowledge of your service costs? Do you measure service consumption using meaningful and appropriate business metrics? Do you understand your "per unit" services costs, and appropriately set prices for your offerings? Do you communicate costs in a way to effectively offer financial transparency?

Yes, this is a long list of business questions, however their answers are vital to the continued success of your IT organization, and its alignment and effectiveness to the enterprise. For 2012, detailed answers to these questions should be prominent on your to-do list, lest you become the equivalent of a little yellow box of film.

Camera graphic used under Creative Commons License courtesy of Capt Kodak.

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Published: January 19 2012, 10:14 AM | no comments
by Robert Stroud

I hope you're planning to go to ISACA's World Congress, INSIGHTS 2012, because you'll experience a vibrant and dynamic event that is much different from a typical conference. As chairman of the event, I am confident saying that attendees should prepare to be inspired by an engaging, informative and transformational event. To be held in San Francisco, Calif., USA, from 25 to 27 June at the Palace Hotel, INSIGHTS 2012 is not your typical conference.

Each day will commence with a keynote session that addresses thought-provoking topics at a strategic level. The opening-day keynote, "The Future Starts Today," provides a fresh approach to understanding the three cornerstones of success: innovation, collaboration and execution. On day 2, join executives from Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG for "Keeping an Eye on Tomorrow," where they will share their perspectives on the future of global business and impacts on today's business leaders. On the third and final day, I am excited to be moderating a session on a topic that is on the minds of many global leaders: "The Risk of Failing to Innovate." My distinctive panel of industry experts will take an in-depth look at the importance of innovation and the global impact if we do not innovate.

Futurist Bob Treadway will be brought back by popular demand as master of ceremonies and the closing keynoter. Treadway will synthesize the observations shared throughout the conference with his eye-opening, and perhaps controversial, discussion about the future of information technology and global business. In "What Will the Future Hold?", Treadway will provide an update on his 2011 predictions and share new insights with us.

In addition to these keynote sessions, INSIGHTS 2012 will feature executive panels, interview sessions and talk-show formats to address pressing business issues in an interactive environment where you can directly engage with the industry luminaries.

Digging into the most high-profile business issues, our interview session topics include crisis management and the lessons learned from recent catastrophes, the impact of privacy, mobile devices, social media, work force issues and cloud computing, just to name a few.

You will not want to miss participating in our roundtable discussions, titled INSIGHTFUL Forums, where you can fire the questions that matter at industry leaders on current and future technology trends such as mobile workers, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), social media, talent management, cyber security and risk management, privacy vs. innovation, and many more.

If you have a few minutes to spare between sessions, stop by the INSIGHTS hub, a meeting and collaboration place. Our unique and highly interactive setting is the spot to collaborate and network with your peers, industry leaders and new contacts. Reconnect with those you have not seen in a while, get to know industry thought leaders and relax.

Seating is limited to ensure a collaborative and intimate environment with the panelists, colleagues and attendees, so make sure you act quickly! I am looking forward to seeing you there!

For more information on ISACA's World Congress: INSIGHTS 2012, visit www.isaca.org/insights2012.

This Blog Post first appeared on the ISACANOW Blog

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