Cloud, Your Solution(s) In Motion

 

 

"Cloud, Your Solution(s) In Motion", correlated to the right strategy!!!

This post provides an in-depth while simplified overview of Cloud Technology and Services from which I hope will provide organizations and or individuals a platform from which to drive valuable insights as well as the establishment of a strategy of engagement related to the Cloud.

 “Cloud, Your Solution in Motion” from my perspective and correlated to the right strategy, can help organizations derive tremendous benefits for their business.

 As background for my post I recently had a discussion related to Cloud with a friend of mine who coincidently is also named Eric. Eric runs a small business and like every other organizations looks to the Cloud to help enhance productivity, revenue and at a minimum curb cost. Eric has remained successful thru the years due to his excellent business acumen in terms of brick-and-mortar day-to-day operations, marketing, sales, supplies and demand. Inherently Eric also understands that the time has come to use technology to expand his business online from which would allow him to reach new audiences.

Eric Account Rep (AR) had told him that he could fix all his problem with a one word, “Cloud”. Eric started the conversation by announcing that his company would move its primary LOBs (Line of Business) to the Cloud within 90 days. Eric brimmed with excitement, he was moving to the Cloud and could finally take advantage of Cloud Technologies and Services. Obviously a buzz word does not constitute a business objective.

Obviously a buzz word does not constitute a business objective.

 

I felt that the best way to help Eric was to create a simple but concise overview of Cloud Technologies and Services offerings focusing on Cloud key aspects without diving into the gritty details of the technology.

First and foremost, what is Cloud Technology? At its core and with the most basic definition, Cloud provides access to globally distributed, always available, on-demand computing resources. I believe that it’s also important to denote that the Cloud computing paradigm consistently evolves as new technologies emerge.

The following set of tables covers Cloud Technologies characteristics, services and deployment models from which will help you derive a better understanding of the benefits of Cloud.

Cloud Technology Primary Characteristics:

Characteristic	Value Proposition
Self-Service	ü  Self-provisioning of computing resources by client
Network Delivered	ü  Availability of computing resources thru thin or thick client
Pooled Resources	ü  Computing resources are pooled using a multi-tenant model
Elastic	ü  Unlimited Computing resources are scaled based on demand
Measured	ü  Computing resources are provided based on a metering system

 

Cloud Technology Deployment Models:

Deployment Model	Value Proposition
Private Cloud	ü  Provisioned for exclusive use by a single org for multiple consumers ü  Managed or operated by the Organization or third-party
Public	ü  Provisioned for open use by the general public. ü  Managed or operated by a business, academic or government organization
Community Cloud	ü  Provisioned for exclusive use by a community of consumers from organizations that have shared interests including but not limited to business objectives, data integration, security, policy and compliance
Hybrid Cloud	ü  Combines two or more cloud infrastructures (private, community or public) ü   Use the same technology that provides data and application availability

 

Cloud Technology Service Models:

	Value Proposition
Service Model	Vendor manages or operate	Organization manages or operate
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)	ü  Applications ü  Data ü  Runtime ü  Middleware ü  O/S ü  Virtualization ü  Servers ü  Storage ü  Networking
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)	ü  Runtime ü  Middleware ü  O/S ü  Virtualization ü  Servers ü  Storage ü  Networking	ü  Applications ü  Data
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)	ü  Virtualization ü  Servers ü  Storage ü  Networking	ü  Applications ü  Data ü  Runtime ü  Middleware ü  O/S

 

As the aforementioned shows, Cloud provides a breath of Technologies and Services to suit any type of business needs. In most cases, your primary interest will rest in the set of Cloud Services offering and how they can better meet your business requirements.

As such SaaS primary value resides in the fulfillment or support of an LOB objectives such as CRM, Helpdesk, Marketing, etc…
PaaS on the other hand lends itself very well in the support of development, implementation, and testing of applications. DevOps activities in PaaS are all the rage these days as it provides rapid and unaltered access to computing resources.
IaaS is an extension of PaaS except you get more control over the Runtime, Middleware and O/S, great for testing third-party integration of data and systems.

Additional considerations must take place related to how the vendor supports Service Level Agreement (SLA), Security Policies and Procedures (SaS Type I & II, SAE116, etc…), Performance guarantees, Network Speed, Disaster Recovery (DR), BCP (Business Continuity Planning). Such considerations are lengthy from a review stand point from which I will discuss in my next blog.

Cloud Technologies and Services has matured in recent years and is now a viable platform for you to conduct your business. Furthermore the primacy benefit of Cloud rest in the fact that an organization is no longer tethered to a traditional IT vendor due to the pay-as-you-go business model that most Cloud Vendors have embraced.

In closing, we are at the beginning of the Cloud Technologies and Services era and big Cloud vendors in the like of IBM, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, Google, Rackspace are investing tremendous of amount of time, money and resources to expand their current capabilities knowing that today’s requirement is to support business objectives but tomorrow objectives will requires the Cloud to support, collect, aggregate and analyze the Internet Of Everything (IOE) for which is the networked connection of people, data, process and things.

Connect with me on twitter @thinkahead to continue the discussion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give someone freedom (to create, to inspire, to dream…) and they will give you hope.

Give someone freedom (to create, to inspire, to dream…) and they will give you hope.

This past week I had the opportunity to attend the IBM Redbooks Cloud Social Media Residency in Durham, NC. Such residency provides an overview of the benefits related to Social Media engagement. Although the sessions were well planned and thoughtful, I find myself even more drawn towards some of the stories, persona and different cultures in attendance. Such attendees came from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, India, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey  and USA to name a few. Their stories and presentations were inspirational and not all focused on technology. As the week progressed I had the good fortune to listen to the stories of two drastically different individuals. One of them Mac Devine (IBM Distinguished Engineer, Master Inventor) provided us with some insights on Cloud, Mac demonstrated such passion for technology as he walked us thru his latest project and why it was so important to him, IBM and the world.

Mac's latest project related to Cloud and the acquisition of Softlayer Technologies, Inc. You could feel how hard Mac had worked towards the acquisition as from his own words “It’s a game changer”, “Its Cloud without compromise”. Furthermore Mac exacerbated his passion, energy and unflappable belief towards the fact IBM had made the right decision. It takes tremendous energy to convince others that you are correct but more important Mac had been given the freedom to explore the value of this engagement especially related to the acquisition from a pricing, strategy and technology stand point. Big companies don’t always move fast but in this case, IBM showed how nimble it could be.

The other individual, John Romaine stayed at the same hotel than I had chosen. John was on business working at RDU International Airport. John’s passion related to soccer for which he helped start a club (South Georgia United – Youth Soccer) with only 2 teams a few years back. John passion with Soccer was truly reflected in the way he sought to teach and coach the game, allowing players to explore and discover the game. Having coached Youth Soccer for over 20 years myself I found it exhilarating to hear someone 2,300 miles away from home talk about the importance of mentoring our youth and walk them thru their own journey.

Win or loss should not serve as a foundation for teaching but more less a more precise focus should be on defining the purpose, the decisions or actions behind every touches on the ball that make the “Beautiful game” so great to watch. Even though John instill a strong foundation related to the fundamentals of the game, he still knows when it is time to just let the players be free and explore as today’s mistakes will turn into tomorrow’s successes.

Regardless of our background, personal or professional acumen I strongly believe in “Give someone freedom (to create, to inspire, to dream…) and they will give you hope”.

I hope you enjoyed this story, follow me on twitter @thinkahead and let’s continue the discussion.

I would like to extend my special thanks to the IBM Red Books team for making the Residency so welcoming, educational and more important inspirational. You can find those individuals on YouTube Channel “IBM RedBooks”.

The human factor as a data point…

The human factor as a data point…

As the world enters a new era of existential and ubiquitous computing, many companies still face the inextricable challenge of managing their assets and facilities with unstructured and uncorrelated data. Although IBM leads the market with well-regarded Integrated Workplace Management in the like of IBM TRIRIGA with well over 2,000 functions and workflow for Real Estate, Projects, Lease Accounting, Facilities Management, Facilities Maintenance and Energy/Environment. IBM’s breadth of vision in the tracking, scheduling and management of such assets has set the stage for IBM’s next innovation in providing customers with a means to more accurately predict a business outcomes. Such outcomes will help reduce costs as well as provide the foundation for smarter buildings optimization. Read more...

 

The next era of existential and ubiquitous computing.

Building a framework to foster an inextricable culture of self-reliance; thus defining the next era of existential and ubiquitous computing.

Software Awareness

Summary:

Software Awareness is a coinage that I have developed thru the years as an Application Architect and Information Technology Director. Having developed ERP systems across several vertical markets and supported many software companies ERP systems I have always felt that software companies should do more to ensure a predictable outcome for their customers especially related to Application performance.

The starting point for Software Awareness lies into a three part observation of software development and its application. The first part focuses on Software Performance Awareness (SPA).

Problem:

In recent years most IT and Business organizations have focused on understanding Application Performance Monitoring (APM), Application Transaction Monitoring (ATM) and Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) to name a few. Software companies have built new methodologies in an attempt to understand and document “Application Behavioral Performance” (ABP) as well as defining new means to capture the “Application Transactional Path” (ATP) related to the software stack e.g. Client, Network, Application Servers and Database components. Keep in mind that these monitoring systems live outside of the Application and have their own infrastructure requirements. Subsequently and as observed, tracking the ATP may also lead to an impact on performance even if minimal.

Inherently the value proposition related to the aforementioned in many cases requires as much infrastructure as the software that is monitored, needless to say that the additional exponential cost in Infrastructure, systems and resources precludes many organizations from purchasing these products, even though Software as a Service (SaaS) model(s) may provide in some cases an attainable point of entry. Although the industry has matured, software companies who provide extensive options around Application monitoring and provide an in-depth outline of the effects still face challenges when asked to characterize the root cause. 

In addition Software companies have found themselves at odd in properly characterizing “Application Performance Issues (APU) vs. Application Processing Timeline (APT)” and meet customer expectations. As an example a business user may portray a 30 seconds transaction as unacceptable when in effect that transaction performs well within the boundaries of the application as set by the vendor.

Furthermore, entities who cannot afford Application monitoring tools must engage in the traditional support model that requires an endless and costly stream of resources for both business and vendor to track and resolve perceived performance issues.

For most software companies, the failure to address software performance relates to drop in software sales, maintenance revenue and loss of confidence in the offering.

Solution:

Software companies must develop new methodologies to successfully articulate “Software Awareness” within their products.  The primary objective would include the characterization of SPA for which would include developing Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to help visualize the Application state. As such these KPI would capture and report against the Infrastructure, Systems, Network and Storage.

Understanding the “Application Transactional Path” (ATP) will inherently lead to a better account of Application Processing Performance (APP).

 In addition, the development of Active Error Handling (AEH) specifically designed around the Application ensures that both business users and supporting entities actively participate in the performance, issue or bug resolution. As an example, most errors handling windows or pop-up do not make sense to business users as the content addresses engineers or developers, therefore why present them. Furthermore these errors do not provide the user with the actionable option of seamlessly reporting the error, for which by the time the supporting entity acknowledges the error, it no longer has the contextual understanding of what triggered the error and therefore inhibits the duplication of the issue. One option would require capturing these errors through a global error handler and reformatting them based on their source e.g. Client, Web Server, Database, etc…, presenting the user with a modal window showing a generic error message with the option to send an email to the supporting entity with detailed information around the error e.g. functions, procedures, users and environment variables, would provide a reproducible context thus accelerating issue resolution.

Steps:

                The following provide a high level outline related to “Software Performance Awareness”. Keep in mind that providing the business unit with a keen understanding of Application Behavioral Performance (ABP) will also lead to better forecasting and capacity planning thus ensuring unparalleled business continuity for the Business users. In addition, software companies can now use the data across all their customers to build Business Intelligence (BI) to predict Application failures.

As an example, the data collected may show that the use of IE 8.0 with JDK 1.5 precludes business users from running function X. Imagine adding the aforesaid to the Application Active Error Handling; we now have the option to notify the business users before the issue occurs. Software companies can also decide to provide optimum Client-Side configuration to supporting IT organization as an added feature, thus ensuring a predictable outcome and behavior across the software stack.

1.       Track performance KPI within the Application

a.       Client-Side

                                                               i.      Browser (Type (Mobile, Desktop), Manufacturer, Version, Service Pack, etc…)

                                                             ii.      Add-ons, Java, Flash, Active X

                                                            iii.      Hardware type, Tablet, Mobile, Desktop, Laptop

                                                           iv.      Hardware configuration (CPU, MEM, Storage type – SSD vs. Traditional)

b.      Server-Side

                                                               i.      Application Stack, e.g.; JBoss, Apache, Tomcat, IIS, et…

c.       Database

                                                               i.      Database version, service pack, settings

                                                             ii.      Hardware configuration

d.      Network

                                                               i.      Internal bandwidth

                                                             ii.      External bandwidth

                                                            iii.      Customer bandwidth

                                                           iv.      Filters

                                                             v.      Proxies

2.       Data Growth Forecasting

a.       Queries

                                                               i.      Understanding exponential growth of data ensures that queries are optimized for real-life scenario data set vs. demo data.

b.      Storage

                                                               i.      Drive speed (10k vs. 15K vs. SSD)

c.       Data Warehouse

                                                               i.      Data archiving ensures that the Application always meet performance expectations

Conclusion:

                Software companies should consider adding “Software Awareness” methodology behind their offering not only as a mean to ensure a predictable outcome to their customers but also as a mean to lessen the burden of Application performance support in terms of time and cost. In addition time and cost savings provided to supporting entities and business users may help develop new features or functions around the Software stack thus providing additional sales opportunities.

Acronyms translation:

·         Software Performance Awareness (SPA)

·         Application Performance Monitoring (APM)

·         Application Transaction Monitoring (ATM)

·         Business Activity Monitoring (BAM)

·         Application Transactional Path (ATP)

·         Application Behavioral Performance (ABP)

·         Application Performance Issues (APU)

·         Application Processing Timeline (APT)

·         Application Processing Performance (APP).

·         Active Error Handling (AEH)

·         Software as a Service (SaaS)

·         Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
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