2013 Trends - What Do You Think?

Wonder what is coming in 2013? What does Gartner have to say these days?

Below are the top 10 technology trends for 2013 per Gartner. To make this list all ten items have the following attributes: They will have a major impact on enterprises. The technology will drive significant change or disruption. Tipping points are occurring now or over the next couple years that makes the technology strategic or applicable to a wider market.

1) Mobile Device Battles - BYOD and BYOA increases. Cloud and mobility are mutually reinforcing trends. No platform, form factor, or technology dominates.

2) Mobile Applications and HTML5 - New expectations for usability, appearance, and behavior. The experience flows to where you are and working in context. Development challenges: new design skills, cloud/client architecture, complex apps may not work, native apps vs. HTML5.

3) Personal Cloud - replaces the PC, a collection of services and representation of your personal life. The cloud is where users center their digital lives, they are in control. Contextually aware and operationally obvious apps. So what about security? Worried? I am........

4) Internet of Things - Over 50 percent of Internet connections are things. Cameras, microphones, remote sensing of objects, wi-fi. Operational IT and traditional information technology are converging. Traditional supply chain transitions to Digital supply chain.

5) Hybrid IT and Cloud Computing - Strategic models for cloud service consumption. Adopt cloud techniques. Secure, manage and govern hybrid cloud and hybrid IT. Adopt new application design. Make externally facing services cloud services. Big outstanding question: Who will be responsible for delivery of cloud services? Architecture and Engineering is key. IT will be broker. Does that mean Business is the buyer?

6) Strategic Big Data - Hadoop and NoSQL gain momentum. Big data is a transformational architecture vs. isolated project. Centralized model replaced with distributed "logical" model. Homogenous RDBMS model replaced with heterogenous model.

7) Actionable Analytics - Cloud, packaged analytics, and big data accelerates in 2013-2014. Systems shift from computing and aggregation to reasoning, learning, and acting. Search and analytics become more intertwined. Convergence of analytic trends drives new values. Usage emphasizes decision management optimization.

8) Mainstream-In-Memory-Computing - Changes expectations, design, and architecture. Boost performance and efficiencies.

9) Integrated Eco-systems - Simplification, optimization, and security. Appliances become more popular due to integrated hardware, software, and services to address workload. No one appliance does it all. Marketplaces and brokerages. Facilitate purchases, consumption, and/or services or apps. Changes the landscape doesn't it?

10) Enterprise App Stores - Enterprise app stores are strategic for governing cloud and mobile use in a consumer driven world. Mainstream enterprise App Store with packaged and apps and portal options is key.

So what do you think? The 10 listed here by Gartner on track? Missing the mark? What are you seeing out there?



Keep it positive!



Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net
 

IT Religion vs. Hard Truths About Strategic Advantage

IT shops that choose their "religious" idols of technology and don't consider the full ramifications of their choices (costs!), will eventually pay another high price - their jobs. You always have to be looking to do more with less (budget).  Let's take Virtualization for example - MS Hyper-V vs VMware.

Hyper-V was the choice a few years ago because it did 80+% of what you needed it to do, but the anti-MS mindset helped to keep the VMware machine humming.  Now, the writing is on the the wall with Server 2012.  Do the math.  Don't be silly. If you are a manager and you are listening to your IT staff that got all their certifications in VMware and don't want to move to because "VMware rules!". You better start teaching your staff about being a bit more agnostic and doing what is right.  If not, your company will lose strategic advantage because others will do more with less, better than you.... Now that functionality/features/performance has parity, it is about cost.  Why pay to virtualize now, when it comes with Server 2012.

Keep it positive!

Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net

BCP Plans: Don't Forget The People

Fall is always a good time to review, refresh and update your Business Continuity Plan (BCP) - plus test this plan.  A plan isn't a plan if no one is aware, or knows what to do. 

Many of the BCP plans I review has one big flaw - we forgot the people.  If there is a major incident in your metro area, and your employee can not get to the office, the plan calls for remote access.  Good deal!  What happens if the incident impacts your employee directly, their first priority is their family safety and security.  Your BCP plan needs to take into account you may not have all your employees available to deal with your business continuity plan. 

This brings a few things into account, one is that if you have multiple locations, staff need a copy of your plan so they can help you from remote.  You also need good documentation on how your systems, infrastructure and facility operate so remote employees or contract employees can keep your business in operation.  One of the biggest mistakes is to forget that your employees maybe impacted by the same situation that has impacted your business. 

Therefore, your test needs to include bringing some contract employees in and see if they understand your plan, can follow it and get your systems, infrastructure, and business process back into operations.  A complete Business Continuity Plan is People, Process and Technology. 

One more reminder, keep some copies of your plan off site and easy access to your staff - the plan needs to include emergency contact information for employees, vendors, partners, and contract staff. 

Keep it positive!

Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net

WAN Design: Building a Resilient WAN for BCP

Time to refresh your Business Continuity Plan, and while you are doing that, let's make sure your network can support your plan.  Perhaps it is time to rollout out a WAN upgrade project - let's not forget to include our BCP plans into the new WAN design.

Wide area networks (WANs) provide connectivity to local area and other networks over long distances. Users, Data Centers and corporate assets alike are dependant these days on the WAN.


WANs have a multi-faceted role in an organization: They can support voice and data communications and Internet connectivity, provide connectivity for company email and virtual private networks (VPNs), and link to other organizations doing business with the company.

In a disaster situation, WANs become essential tools for an organization to communicate internally among its employees and externally with stakeholders and other third parties. Loss of a WAN infrastructure, without suitable backup and recovery capabilities, can seriously disrupt business operations, and a financial impact.

WAN technologies have evolved dramatically from the days of fixed point-to-point circuits. Depending on the applications being transported, a variety of network protocols may be supported by a WAN, such as MPLS (multi-protocol label switching), SIP (session initiation protocol), SONET (synchronous optical network), Ethernet (e.g., 10 GbE) and, of course, the TCP-IP standard. Transport is typically over fiber-optic networks coupled with high-capacity copper- and fiber-based local access facilities.

When building or managing WANs, a primary activity is to keep them running with minimal disruptions. A principal WAN design goal, therefore, is resilience, which ensures that any potential disruptions are found and resolved quickly and efficiently.  Depending on the size of the organization and the network, a Network Operations Center is usually essential for real time monitor and support of the WAN.

When developing WAN resilience plans, your most important ongoing activity is to work with your carriers to take full advantage of their recovery and restoration capabilities. In addition to getting details on their service recovery and restoration offerings, find out how they approach service-level agreements (SLAs) that specifically address how they will respond during a service disruption. Make sure that their time frames align with your business requirements. For instance, if you have a four-hour recovery time objective (RTO) for a specific system that needs Internet access, be sure that your carrier can restore access within your RTO. I also like having more than 1 carrier in your network - some of the best WAN designs have a primary carrier and a secondary carrier.  Your business has critical applications or transactions on the WAN -you can't afford a significant disruption.

To build resilient WANs, access to real-time information about network performance is essential for spotting potential disruptions. That information must be end-to-end, and not limited to network segments. To obtain visibility across WANs, your network management system must be able to “see” all network segments and how well they are performing. Ideally, you should have an automated tool that can be programmed to analyze cross-WAN performance data. Use that data to compare current network performance against specific metrics and/or SLAs. The tool should also be able to flag situations that indicate impending problems. I would also like that tool to integrate to your incident ticketing system and open a priority one incident ticket for immediate notification and response. 

The most resilient network topology is a mesh network, in which all network end points connect to each other. This, of course, is also the most expensive configuration, so you may wish to use network design software (work with your service provider on this) to define a configuration that balances cost-effectiveness and resilience. Ensure that channels with the highest traffic volumes have alternate routes available, from different carriers if possible, that can be rapidly activated to maintain performance levels. If your WAN uses undersea cables and/or satellite channels, be sure to consider alternate cable and satellite systems for diversity and resilience. This design is also key in your VoIP corporate solutions for call routing from point to point.  No need to bring all that voice traffic back to the data center.

At your data centers and offices, install redundant network connection devices, such as routers and switches, and also have an inventory of spares that can be brought into service quickly if a device fails. Be sure to rotate spare devices into production networks to ensure they perform properly. I would also recommend having a process or procedure for keeping your spare hardware updated and current on firmware or IOS.

Ensure that your WAN’s primary commercial power supplies have backup power (e.g., uninterrupted power systems) so they will remain operational in the aftermath of a commercial power outage or lightning strike. I would also say locate network infrastructure equipment in secure, HVAC-equipped rooms that are accessible to a limited number of employees and vendors.

Establish network disaster recovery (DR) plans that provide step-by-step activities to diagnose problems, establish bypass and recovery arrangements, recover failed network components and return WAN operations to normal. Periodically test these plans to ensure they are appropriate for your WAN as configured, the procedures work and are in the correct sequence, and that your service providers are in synch with your network resilience requirements.  One more thing, don't forget staff training and skill development to be able to quickly troubleshoot and repair WAN issues.

Summary

Resilient wide area networks can be achieved through a combination of partnering with service providers, intelligent network design, proactive network management, a disaster recovery program combining plans and regular testing, and an operational philosophy that blends performance with resilience and survivability. In addition, test your plan on a regular basis - make sure your design works, but that staff know and understand the design, and have the skills to respond.

Keep it positive!

Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net

End User Experience

This application is so slow, I can't even use it..... ever hear that?  What is the end user experience?  Do you find that the only time you know there is a problem is by users calling the service desk? 

It is even more complex today than it was just a few years ago.  Cloud computing, mobility, virtualized infrastructure and outsourced vendors provide companies with the flexibility to compete effectively, but they also represent a huge increase in IT complexity.  Customers expect companies to be 'open for business' anytime, anywhere and on any device of their choosing, and they expect the experience to be simple, engaging and fast.  Sound familiar, same expectations of your employees. 

One of the challenges in many organizations is that performance is managed in silos.  There is no end-to-end performance management, and that is a problem.  The business has to ensure consistent, reliable performance of systems across multiple external networks, platforms, and companies.  The business has to address things like performance issues with technology suppliers in the cloud, disconnects between groups that monitor, diagnose, and verify problems.  The list goes on, but bottom line for both customer and employee, you need a clear view of end-to-end user experience. 

To me, when capacity, availability, response and the scalability of technology are aligned with your business performance needs, your processes and people are efficient, your customers receive frustration-free access to your products and services, and you are empowered with reliable information and comprehensive visibility.  It is that visibility to internal and external systems that operations needs to have. 

It is not just application monitoring, or hardware monitoring - it is all of it, end-to-end performance monitoring.  Performance Service Management for operations that provides that deep visibility into systems, application, and devices and integration into your ITSM tool set.  When performance is no longer within acceptance, would it not be nice for an automated ticket into incident management be created and staff be alerted to a problem before the user calls.  To me, that is taking your operational commitment to excellence up a notch. 

Bridge the silos, start taking an enterprise view of Performance Management, and give your customers and users a positive experience. 

Keep it positive!

Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net

Take This Picture.....

Look – I have a smartphone camera.......


You have heard in the news how many times a great technology has been misused. From a technology perspective, there isn’t a great way to make the consumer of the technology blessed with class. Just because it can do it, should we use it?

I got into a great discussion on the abuse of technology by consumers, and how that abuse carriers over into the enterprise – why, because these consumer gadgets are coming into the enterprise. Big shock – right? You worried about pictures, video or audio recordings in high level confidential meetings? Companies are starting to make sure to make the statement at the begin of these meetings to turn them off, and 1 company I know even makes you leave them in your office. 

Why is it that we think it is funny to take pictures or video with a new found friend, my iPhone, of unsuspecting individuals. The average person in this conversation thought it was ok in a bar, or the zoo to take whatever pictures or videos of whoever they want, when they want. You are in public, you are game to their childish antics. Really?

So is the camera in these technology devices really necessary? Do the benefits come up short with all the invasion of privacy, risks, and abuse? Look at the age of most users of the iPhone these days, and that helps answer some of the questions.

Everyone is now the paparazzi and looking for the picture I can put out on facebook or maybe sell. Why is it no one can just mind their own business and just worry about what they are doing. Perhaps all this reality TV and nonsense shows these days plays into this bad behavior. I am not Dr. Phil, but I for one would like to see the behavior change, not that I have been the victim of this, but sick of seeing it on TV and on the news. It changes people’s lives, breaks up marriages, and can jeopardize the work place.

Just because the technology can do it, does it mean we need to do it? What about some class people? What about some grown up behaviors? Don’t always worry about one ’s self but think of others for once. The picture you think is funny or cool, really isn’t. Plus, do you really need to share it?

This is a classic example how great technology in the hands of immature and classes individuals can really give it a bad name. Maybe our consumer technology purchase agreements should come with a quiz on the mentality of the purchasing individual. Maybe we need a technology to help some folks get some class. A simple little camera on a handheld device has such a big impact.

Put your camera away, and think next time you desire to get it out.


Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net

From The Lab.............

The past week I have been playing with beta Exchange 2013.  I know many enterprises will be asking is it worth the upgrade, and to me there are a few key items that would make me move to 2013. 

My top 2 reason items are: 

The new Exchange Online Protection is high on the list of enhancements Microsoft has provided. This cloud-based service provides malware and spam detection and protection. It also offers back-up email queueing for on-premises servers and usage analytics data, such as reporting, auditing and message tracing. Exchange Online Protection, which is an upgrade to Forefront Online Protection for Exchange, also features inbound message blocking, content filtering and transport rules. In my usage in the lab, seems to work very well. 

The new Exchange also comes with a data loss prevention (DLP) capability that automates the detection, monitoring and protection of sensitive content and data on email based on pre-established policies, rules and exceptions. The DLP functionality can trigger a variety of actions, including stopping an outbound message or placing it in a moderation queue. It can also inform end users about potential violations of company policies regarding the type of data and content they're allowed to send via email, to promote awareness among employees. I found this feature/function not only work very well, but fills a significant gap in many organizations.  I am impressed with this new feature.

The other feature is around the new mobile client that comes with 2013.  We all know that the iPhone and other smartphone devices are used for email more and more everyday.  This client works very well, and offers some native feature/function of the device. 

The other one worth mentioning is around archiving.  Microsoft highlight of Exchange 2013's architecture, which allows administrators to keep current and archived messages in the same mailbox infrastructure, as opposed to keeping them in separate repositories. With this "in-place archiving" technology, archived messages are more easily and quickly available to end users, and email management is simplified for administrators, who can address compliance and retention from a single repository, according to Microsoft.  I found this feature clunky.  In addition, am looking for the overall value to the enterprise. 

Email archiving to me can not be a stand alone solution, but part of an overall enterprise information archive solution.  Provide a search portal that allows you to find archived information, regardless if it is email, document, fax, or data.  To me, this feature is efforts missed placed, and a feature around meta data tags to be used in an enterprise wide archive solution, part of Data Lifecycle Management of the company is better.

Overall, I am impressed with Exchange 2013.  I like the enhanced security, the hybrid of online vs premise and continued interactions with SharePoint, Lync and other productivity tools. 

Keep it positive!

Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net

Election Vote - Time For Change?

Ready for the big election this November?  Everyone needs to vote this year!  Not to get into the politics, my discussion is around the technology to vote.  With where we are today, online banking, shopping online, and the list goes on, why can't we vote online?  Do we really still need to go to a community location and vote with paper and marker? 

What would the voter turn out be if we could go to a government website, enter our credentials and cast our vote?  There would need to be significant security and checks, but it can be done.  We could also limit foreign IP address(s) and prevent site attacks.  Would the benefits out weigh the risks?  Interesting concept and worth having some discussion.

Let's take it a step farther - do we still need representation in Washington DC to vote on laws, or congressional issues?  Could we all vote on proposed laws on this same government website?  Would that give us the representation we want?  I want more of a say in the laws of this country - how about you?

Technology has been expanding and updating for elections in the broadcast media companies, but nothing in the actual voting process itself.  Why is that?  Government to slow?  To big?  To much money?  How about they partner with a technology leader to make this happen?  Really makes you think doesn't it.

This topic really would benefit from the individual owned Identity we discussed in this blog not to long ago.  If I owned my own digital identity and used it for banking, and voting, I am in control.  I am going to keep pushing for this opportunity.

Keep it positive!

Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charer.net