James Bond—otherwise known as 007—likes taking risks. In books and movies, living on the edge and pushing danger to the limit is what takes to get his “job??? done.
However, it’s another story when it comes to corporate IT. Putting James Bond in charge of IT risk management would probably not be a wise decision by a corporate hiring manager. And with today’s regulatory and compliance environment, it’s a move that might even bring trouble to a company’s board of directors.
Sometimes even a buzzword has meaning. Take the notion of “governance.??? As in corporate governance, IT governance and yes, now SOA governance.
To some extent, governance is the latest marketing buzzword. Think of it as the paperless office craze in the 1980s, updated for the 21st century with its implied focus on control and efficient management of IT (or application or SOA) environments.
– First, a big event in 2006 was Oracle’s announcement of direct support for Linux, the same level of support it provides for its database, middleware and applications. By charging substantially less for Linux support than it’s partner, Red Hat, Oracle made a dramatic move that will affect how organizations purchase Linux.
– 2007 will be a big year for Open Source and Linux, with new Linux releases expected from Red Hat, Novell and other important Linux players.
– Linux will make greater penetration into the appliance market.
– Oracle will become an even more important Linux player. With Red Hat, Oracle pulled a Microsoft “we’ll love you to death??? approach, where it’s cozied up to them, obtained a strong relationship and build customer demand and then taken over and undercut its partner in delivering Linux support.
– However, a key remaining question is how little (or much) the Linux market may fragment as a result of this type of move by Oracle—as happened with Unix a decade ago, the pull exerted by individual vendors to serve their own interests, rather than the community’s interests, may eventually cause incompatibilities among different Linux varients.
– Linux on the desktop, as a replacement for Windows or Windows-applications, will continue to be a non-starter-even with (or perhaps, in spite) the roll out of Microsoft’s Vista Operating system and the next generation of applications.
– Open Source vs. Microsoft. Microsoft release of their new operating system will suck a lot of oxygen out of the room for the first half of the year. Most organizations will be too wound up in analyzing their opportunities or costs of upgrading to make Linux decisions. I do expect some companies to migrate to Linux after the evaluate the new Microsoft OS, but I believe that Microsoft will be offering a compelling combination of functionality and pricing that will not make the “move to Linux??? decision any easier.
Software Configuration Management (SCM) is a critical core infrastructure tool for all software development organizations. While often taken for granted or below senior management’s radar, SCM is an extremely important component of an organization’s software infrastructure. Historically, a significant number of organizations have used open-source SCM, such as RCS, CVS and more recently Subversion, to form the backbone of their development environments. However, such solutions can have hidden costs associated with them. This paper was written to help organizations understand when such free tools make business sense and when commercial SCM solutions may be more appropriate.
In this report we provide context for answering those questions and analyze a composite scenario of an organization that has used both types of solutions, based on interviews with enterprise developers and industry research.
Click here to download the complete Upside Research report on Open Source SCM
– I believe that digital recording of television programming is going mainstream in 2007. As more and more people receive video-enabled iPods or Microsoft Zune portable audio/video players for the holidays this year, they’ll need digital content to put on those devices. Since (in most cases) it’s still difficult, if not illegal to put copy (or rip) your existing DVD movies into formats for these players at the moment, a great place fill up your devices is by using digital recorders (DVRs such as Tivo or media-enabled PCs) to record TV shows or movies and transfer them to your device.
– For many consumers, all-in-one devices such as Tivo (the traditional Tivo unit, or the new high definition one) is a great starting point. I believe that Tivo has one of the most intuitive and easy to use interfaces available for selecting and recording shows. Once set up, even grandma can use the peanut-shaped remote to easily record a single show or set up season passes to record all episodes of any show.
– More technology-minded consumers may want to consider a media-enabled PC, for recording TV shows directly to your computers hard drive or a networked server. This option is typically cheaper (no monthly service fees, such as with Tivo), but may require a bit more work to use.
– Many cable and satellite companies offer their own, integrated digital video records with their set top boxes. These are also good alternatives for non-tech savvy users, but they may be more difficult to use than an independent product like Tivo, with less intuitive menus or fewer options. However, some companies (such as DirectTV) offer the option of transferring recorded shows to portable media players, which make them great for people that want to take content with them on the go. Tivo also offers a great option called “TivoToGo??? that allows you (on the older/traditional Tivo units) to transfer recordings to laptop PCs and other devices.
India – Sophisticated and Savvy by David A. Kelly
November 2006 : Profit Magazine
India is handling red-hot growth with real business intelligence.
India was everywhere at the Davos World Economic Forum earlier this year, as Indian executives and government officials used the event to promote India’s position as the fastest-growing democratic economy in the world. Beyond its borders, the country is sometimes seen as an immense and exotic land. For many consumers, it’s also the voice on the other end of the phone when they call technical support for their computers, telephones, or television sets.
But call centers are far from the only area that Indian businesses are focused on. Businesspeople who are paying attention know that India’s best years are still ahead, and opportunities are there for the taking.
Lawyers are known for their hard-working business ethics and their long hours put in at the office – and now, thanks to technology, outside the office. Because so much of a lawyer’s work involves technology today, it is imperative that the technology be available and working correctly when a lawyer needs it. If there’s a problem with technology—if a lawyer can’t access documents or email or get fast response from a critical application—there’s a problem with the business. That means fewer billable hours, less revenue, potentially unhappy clients and a frustrated lawyer wasting time. More so than in any other business, a legal firm’s IT infrastructure—from its applications to the network—have to work right, work fast and be available whenever the employees need them.
That, however, is easier said than done. As with most businesses, the IT staff in a law firm is typically stretched thin. Instead of being able to proactively monitor all the applications, servers, network connections and storage devices critical to daily operations, most staff are fighting technology fires or simply trying to complete important projects before deadline. For example, when an application crashes, or the network is bogged down, IT must scramble to identify the cause and then try to find the resources to fix it, all while under pressure to get the systems up and running again as quickly as possible. A downed network or server can easily cost a firm of 100 lawyers $25,000 – $75,000 per hour in lost revenues.
There is an alternative—automated systems that can proactively help IT (and even lawyers themselves) monitor everything from the new voice over IP (VOIP) telephone system to financial management applications to email performance and network bottlenecks. Leading companies in industries that have high service requirements or critical time pressures have been using these types of “application service management??? solutions successfully and profitably for years. While application service management solutions can work equally well in legal environments and can have a dramatic effect on the productivity of both IT departments and partners, most law firms are just starting to take advantage of them.
This report offers a solution for law firms feeling the crunch of their IT systems’ vulnerabilities or simply the uncertainty of inconsistent performance. By using a set of application management tools that monitor, manage and troubleshoot everything from desktops and servers to networks and applications, law firms can gain significant benefits and competitive advantages. This report also introduces Compuware Vantage as an option for law firms that are interested in leveraging the benefits of automated application service management.
Moving to SOA isn’t just about implementing new technologies, defining interfaces and creating services. It’s also about creating, fostering and enabling a more collaborative development process and collaborate technology environment that most organizations are used to.
While the payoffs from transitioning to SOA can be big—greater agility, increased efficiency, etc.—doing SOA right requires some significant changes to the traditional development lifecycle. Or, more appropriately, it requires a rededication and realignment of the traditional development lifecycle. Especially when it comes to capturing the benefit of reuse.
Please consider joining us next week for a special Upside Research webinar on maximizing return on investment using business process management with SOA
Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Time: 8:00 AM Pacific | 11:00 AM Eastern
Duration: 1 Hour
Register at: http://www.bulldogsolutions.net/IBMWebSphere/IBW09202006/index.aspx
Many businesses today are struggling to eliminate manual paper-based processes and progress toward more efficient workflows to automate and streamline everyday tasks. Business Process Management technology can help your organization improve overall capabilities, resulting in lowered costs and an increase in competitive advantage. BPM solutions not only allow you to automate processes by making them more efficient and less expensive, they also provide visibility into your business to help you capitalize on market opportunities.
In this complimentary Webcast, David A. Kelly of Upside Research and Stephanie Wilkinson of IBM WebSphere will analyze three characteristics of high ROI BPM projects, based on discussions with industry executives and interviews with organizations that have deployed BPM products. They will also highlight the types of solutions that can help your organization maximize the benefits of BPM.
You will learn how to:
– Identify and prioritize projects that can deliver high payback
– Enable collaboration to drive process improvement initiatives
– Discern BPM products that can help maximize productivity (Modeling, Monitoring)
– Align business and IT goals so that process improvements serve strategy
– Incorporate SOA into your BPM strategy
To sign up, visit:
http://www.bulldogsolutions.net/IBMWebSphere/IBW09202006/index.aspx