IBM revamps it’s Cloud strategy

The Financial Times reports that IBM is to revamp it’s Cloud computing strategy. Having worked in IBM, handing such an area of business over to IBM Global Services will not be a fix to it developing an impetus to it’s Cloud computing business.

One interesting comment made by their head of Cloud computing business- Erich Clementi, was that there were as many opinions about their Cloud computing strategy as there were people.

IBM Global Services is a major outsourcer, and in my humble opinion, having to handle a Cloud Computing strategy alongside their existing business model is too contentious.

The IBM Software business has created SaaS products such as LotusLive, but this does not seem to be making an impact in the market place yet.

Whereas in previous era’s IBM has realigned itself just in time to continue to be a major force in the market.  I worry that in this new rapidly (not fast, but rapid) moving Cloud computing space, if they cannot sort out a cohesive strategy soon they may be usurped by new players.

Microsoft got the message in time and again in my opinion, realigned their business to meet the threat of disruptive market players like Google, head on.

I wonder what IBM customers must be thinking right now?

Email is dead, long live social networking

This year saw a major milestone in the evolution of information technology. Social networking traffic exceeded that of email.
Software technology and the Internet have also evolved to the point where integration is almost an open standard and applications now work together seamlessly, with little or no development effort.

The evolution has potentially achieved the holy grail of most software vendors, of true collaboration capability.

I would suggest that the traditional concept of collaboration is also changing. Traditional in the sense that, collaborative spaces are created and updates are notified by email for the user to then go elsewhere to collaborate. With email you address individuals or groups, and if you aren’t part of the crowd you are left in the dark. You don’t broadcast emails to all and sundry to let people know what you are doing.

A new form of collaboration is evolving known as social media. The term is stereotypically associated with the likes of Facebook, Twitter and other such social networking sites. To many in business this is seen as personal social networking. To continue with that perception will have dangerous repercussions because this form of communication is the new email. What the social networking sites have done is identify the new way which people now wish to communicate and collaborate. Now you broadcast, and if people have chosen to ‘listen’ to broadcasts and they like what they ‘hear’ they can follow you. If they don’t listen to broadcasts then they search for content they are interested in, and if they like what they see the follow the content also.

People talk about, that having started to use Facebook they can find out more about their family, friends and relatives than from meeting up with them periodically. Because they have been allowed, they can see all the ‘conversations’ and ‘broadcasts’ and again if they choose can join in or even create a new conversation.
Software vendors, because of open standards are now easily able to integrate this type of social media interface to their applications and suddenly collaboration and productivity levels are improving dramatically and increasing the performance of most company metrics – sales, cost reduction, customer satisfaction and ultimately profitability. It has enabled companies who have enabled this capability to do much more with less.

When senior executives tap in to this new social media in their business new insights about how the company is actually working become apparent quickly, hidden knowledge experts are seen and the substantial value they add to the organisation. Marc Benioff CEO of Salesforce.com recently commented that in switching on the Chatter solution, made him change his perspective on how to recognise people in the organisation. A meritocracy could be created, as individuals value-add could be seen at first hand.
Social media can be switched on to broadcast activities not just peoples statuses, so people can follow contacts, accounts, opportunities, cases and anything else an organisation would like to enable.

What people ‘follow’ is entirely personal preference, so information is better filtered to your immediate needs and provided in real-time rather than cluttering up your email inbox.

I’m being a bit harsh to say that email is dead, but it has certainly moved on. The important thing for you and your business is to move on also.

Things to do;
• Find out about social media and how it could become part of your business strategy
• Determine how your applications work today and how you could integrate social media capabilities to improve your business.
• Identify a partner who can help you exploit Software-as-a-Service solutions to make the changes to you business.
• Get the Finance director to revamp his CapEx budget downwards in favour of OpEx, because you are exploiting SaaS technology and Cloud computing.

The Devil Is In The Detail

As we engage on another customer project for Salesforce.com, we are ever mindful that we are not simply implementing a new solution, but delivering a new tool to make people more productive, improve their morale and deliver improved sales, customer satisfaction and profitability to the organisation in question.

If you leave out the people in a new implementation, it doesn't matter how well you think you've designed the system, if it doesn't 'fit' the users then you are on a sure course for failure.  Change management is a serious consideration for any project.  You can't please all of the people all of the time, the saying goes.  That may be true, but if you show that you have listened and will continue to listen, there will be greater tolerance to work things through.  People are only human!

We encourage our customers to walk through the solution with their users and try and shape the system to work for them, whilst still achieving the desired objectives for the business.  You would be amazed at how many different features people use, compared to each other.  We all have our own way of doing things, so if the system allows users to do the same thing differently, then let them do it.  (Did you know you can send an Email three different ways in Salesforce.com?)

Considering your people puts the human element into a solution, and so long as that helps productivity, customer satisfaction, sales and profitability, who cares how they go about it. 

Get the details right, and the results will be positive and naturally occurring.  So, don't worry about getting a new system online¹ quickly, worry about getting it online first time at the right time.


1. The beauty about Software-as-a-Service is that it is online and ready-to-go.  So, you are able to spend more time thinking about your people, workflow and processes.  You can try things out in real-time without the risk and worry of hardware, set-up and consultancy costs.

How Clean is Your Data?

In a recent client engagement, I was amazed at the quality of data that had apparently been cleaned and verified.

In preparing the data for import to the Salesforce.com platform, it was very clear that the companies that had cleansed the data, did nothing to prepare the data in a manner that could be easily managed in a proper database. They had merely validated details.

If you have old data that you want to re-qualify and re-use, having an understanding of some simple data principles will guide you to a correct choice of provider for your data cleansing. Ask to see a sample of the format of data to be returned, and if necessary specify the field structure you want the data returned in. Remember, as soon as the data is recorded it starts to age, so you want to be able to import and use that data ASAP and start to make it deliver value to your organisation.

Some Simple Actions Will Deliver Great Value

You should take care of your data and the way in which it is structured. When data is managed correctly it can be manipulated and analysed to deliver tangible and reliable results that enable sound decisions and actions to be taken. Many organisations spend a small fortune on solutions to record customer information but where they fail is in training users in the basic principles of databases and data entry.

Here is my take on some of the fundamental principles you and your staff should understand about data.

1. Decide on the purpose of each piece of data to be recorded. Why do you need it and what do you want to be able to do with it? (Think - billing, segmentation, forecasting, performance - to name a few.)
   
2. How do you want to record that data? It is fixed or variable? This will increase the accuracy of your data. For example, there are only so many salutations (Mr, Ms, Miss, Mrs, Dr, etc..), so a fixed picklist list of all the potential variables can be used, whereas, last names will be different, so a variable field would be used to record this data.
   
3. Do you need mandatory data? Some data is useless unless other data is also recorded - there is no use in just recording a first name and not a last name. (Have you ever had the classic sticky note 'call John' with no other detail?). If you need certain data to be mandatory, justify it to the users either in training or in help scripting. Conversely, too much mandatory data requirements will affect user adoption and usage. (You can complete a mandatory field just by putting in a full stop!)
   
4. Data ages from the moment it is recorded. Adopt a policy with users to continuously update data as a matter of habit, not as a matter of frequency. If a system is used continuously with information updated as it is discovered in the course of doing business, it will continuously deliver value. (e.g. - update a job title if someone gets promoted, or change their company name if they have changed jobs).
   
5. Purge your data with a vengeance! Sometimes we need to record data that is very specific and time related for a campaign. Once you have finished with data recorded for an old campaign, etc. delete it out of your pick lists and product tables. (e.g. - Product interest in Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics apparel, will not be relevant in March 2010 necessarily)
   

So, to your users, engender them to understand the purpose of each data field and how it should be completed. (Don't cram an entire address into the first field. This will prevent you searching and segmenting your data accurately). Get them to understand that even when they are creating a simple adhoc data collection spreadsheet, to record the data in a structured format, so that it can be manipulated and used easily for other purposes.

Whether you are managing a spreadsheet database or a major ERP or CRM application, data accuracy is king. Keep it clean and keep it tidy - it's everyone's responsibility, not the IT or database manager's.

Windows Azure - Do You Run The Risk?

With the launch of Windows Azure into the Cloud computing marketplace, do CIO's and CFO's run the risk of having the wool pulled over their eyes, in their desire to reap the benefits of Cloud computing?

What I mean is, if organisations are tasking their IT teams to move into the Cloud, do they truly know what does get moved into the Cloud and ALL the benefits the organisation should enjoy as a result?

If the mission tasking is based on the supposition that cost savings can be made by running applications in the Cloud, then one needs to be a bit clearer about what aspects of Cloud computing are to be exploited.

The media are getting more specific about what the Cloud is; Infrastructure, Platform and Software -as-a Service (IaaS, PaaS and SaaS, respectively). But for the Executives, here in comes the risk of Azure.

On the face of it, Azure might offer a cost benefit as a PaaS, but the move or redevelopment of legacy Windows applications to Azure may be an iceberg in your cost reduction strategy.

Software-as-a-Service has an attraction, in that it delivers all the functionality of an application for the masses. Organisations have moved to this type of service, after they have realised that all the customised application development they have undertaken to deliver their bespoke application in the past, had delivered no more of a return than if they had taken an off-the-shelf package in the first place. A SaaS application might not be perfect in all its functionality, but if it will deliver over 70% of ALL the features you require, and the core of the functionality is very user-friendly, you will achieve a very high level of adoption and deliver a quantifiable return. If you want to customise the SaaS application thereafter, you can do in typically 20% of the normal development time.

So, before you let your IT teams go running off and start redeveloping your Windows applications to be able to run on Azure, in the Cloud. Take the time to assess what's out there as SaaS, and take the opportunity to ditch some of those burdensome applications that have cost you dearly, so that the exploitation of the Azure platform is cost effective and delivers new efficiencies for the organisation.

Understand what PaaS is all about, what you want to redevelop onto the platform and take the opportunity where necessary to subscribe to a SaaS application if it will offer a more cost effective, efficient and productive solution.

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Are You Or Your Company Doing Something Illegal?

As I get around to visit more organisations talking about Cloud computing, the same well answered concerns get brought up.

Most people assume that you shouldn't put your data outside the UK and what about the security of the data?

The answers are simple. All the major Cloud vendors have Safe Harbor policies that comply with both the US and EU Data Protection acts. Many people forget that their own personal banking data is already handled offshore for the purposes of processing. So why should it be any different for your company data?

Similarly, you can well imagine that these major Cloud vendors are prime targets for all manner of hackers, phishers etc.. You should reassure yourself that your data is most probably substantially better protected that you could ever achieve. When was the last time you really proactively monitored your network security, or put security patches on in a timely fashion? If your Cloud supplier is SAS70 type II audited, then you have got all bases covered. They're betting their business on securing your data. So, despite being prime targets, they are most probably managing their network security by the minute and security patching will not be a 'to do' list item.

The other concern is about having security agencies, accessing your data without your knowledge. If you have not got something to hide, why should you be worried? The security agencies aren't going to use your data for competitive advantage! So long as you advise your client of how you are handling their data, then they can advise you of their concerns and storage of their data can be provisioned elsewhere.

Microsoft, IBM, Salesforce and Google all have data centres in the European Union, as well as in other regions of the world. It is very easy to be reassured that your data is safe in their hands, and you as the responsible data owner only need to be concerned that the data is managed and handled in compliance with any company policies or regulatory requirements relevant to your business.

Sleep easy, Cloud computing is well protected and you can include it as part of your IT strategy.

It's All So Simple - When You Know How

I marvel at the technological world we all now live in. Nothing is impossible, and everything is available, now.

Software technology is no longer exciting, there are no more 'killer apps' to solve your every business problem.

What we now have is an open technological world. It's all been simplified so we can point and click our way to the solutions we each believe will fix our problems. But even in this simplified world why can't we do certain things? It comes down to two things - knowledge and skills.

I can't imagine what the world would be like if we were all brainiacs. But because we are not, we are dependent upon each other. We are all unique, despite each of us being able to categorise ourselves into stereotypical pigeon holes.

We work and socialise with certain groups because of unique characteristics. Those characteristics are the creation of skills and knowledge.

We have got where we are today by working as individuals and as part of teams we have created to achieve particular tasks. We are Team-World, (for all it's good and bad parts).

We as individuals might have the vision of a solution, but have neither the skills or the knowledge to realise it. So we team with people who can help use their skills and knowledge to achieve. In-house or externally, it doesn't matter, but we do need each other.

When you have a business problem, you don't know it all. So, get to know the team around you and any other 'teams' who have the skills and knowledge that can fulfil your needs.

It's that simple, when you know how.

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