Areas I believe will have a big impact and start to increase in adoption and topic which are developing but still need to go further.
Cloud or (Infrastructure 3.0 / Services)
This was such a controversial subject. It was amazing the number of legal experts in the IT market space in this topic. Its a pity that many were quoting a friend of a friend, or something they read. Bottom line I think the Australian Government Chief Information Officer: Glenn Archer best said it at a FutureGov Summit in Perth in 2011. Was classify your systems, programs and data, get over it and get on it. The whole topic really is that the Cloud is not a silver bullet that it is horses for courses, Its all around risk. Until we know what we have and what our risk appetite is we are not in a position to determine what cloud services and what data can go where.I believe that the important part about Cloud is the architecture. Building an infrastructure that is based around a consumption model. Having the ability to consume services, CPU, Storage and Network resource and when they are not needed returning them back to a pool. Building our infrastructure to have that ability and when and if we want to consume cloud services its a matter of pointing to the location and consuming the service.
One of the things I try to do in this area of conversation is not even to mention the word cloud, as it clouds the issue. I refer to different services. It tends to reduce the religious conversations on peoples beliefs and returns the conversation to facts, risks and costs. Because cloud does not necessarily reduce costs, the services can be higher. But sometimes the increase in cost is due to something that might work better. Like all systems, cost can be low due to the system being flaky and the system not being used with work-a-rounds being the order of the day. But when a service works and people become productive they then consume more so cost increase also can be a reflection of increased productivity.
I find at time with the disconnect of IT from the business, you will hear the complaint of IT costing too much. This I believe is a classic case of Business not owning their IT to provide their business outcomes and IT driving decisions based on their view of the world which is not reflective of the business.
There are three questions to qualify technology decisions and they are the same that business uses for the rest of the business.
- Is this technology going to save the business MONEY?
- Is this technology going to improve my business PROCESSES?, or
- Is this technology going to do both, Save me Money and improve my processes?
It is that simple. Because why else would you take on the technology? I then get comments that its future proofing, well that can be shown to be saving money. IT and business need to step back and look further than just this day or month. This is where having an understanding of the business strategy and where it is wanting to go and the working to provide systems and software to provide the outcomes the business need or organisation needs to provide its services. It IT and business talk together and at the same time when they are looking to the future it is amazing what can be achieved.
Multi-Cloud
Another area that is about to hit is the Multi-Cloud. As businesses start to consume these services managing the different services from different providers will become a challenge. Security, Access, Data Protection, Disaster Recovery and Backup all will present their own challenges.
Cloud Transference
Once you have selected your services and have been consuming them you may reach a point where you find that the service is not what you want, or there has been a change or the services needed are not provided. In the mean time you have built a large quantity of data. Picking up that data and moving it will present some of the challenges in the future. This is being addressed in some part with the NBN in Australia but if the service is not in Australia how do you transport and validate your data. That traffic is also a cost and the time involved could create its own issues. The other side is can you access your data? in what format is that data? can it be processed to be imported into a new service. These are really things that need to be considered before taking on a service.
Consumerization and our Business Technology
As time has moved on the technology between work and home has blurred. The lines between work and home again have blurred. This is creating considerable challenges to business and how they delivery their technology to the business consumer.
There is an expectation that business technology is either old or complex and the business consumer is wanting to only do their job and not be a technology specialist. They know that their technology at home can be far more complex and sophisticated but it is simple to use and consume. There is an expectation that business should work the same and they keep asking why it is not. We have gone through BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), COD(Corporate Own Devices) and now we are getting BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) which has grown wider and wider each day. Its not just a matter of device management as more and more the device will not belong to the business. What business is needing to do is create their services so it can be consumed the same and what people are use to with their own personal technology. What the business does need to do is manage their data. Who has it, where is it and who is responsible and how can they retrieve or delete their data which is their property.
Wearable Technology
The next exciting area is wearable technology and all you need to do is to see what was presented at the CES2014 (Consumer Electronic Show). Glasses, Kiwimove (Movement Activity Sensor), Myo Band (Gesture Control), GlassUp, Smart Glasses M100, Epson Wearable Screens, LG Lifeband, Fitbit, Watches (Pebble - Carbon Steel), Niki Fuel Band, Jawbone activity band, Eye Tracking technology (Tobii) many more will appear this year. These are just a few and more are on their way.
One of the technologies I have purchased is Leap Motion and their proximity sensor. similar to the Kinect from Microsoft the main difference with the Leap Motion device is the cost US$79 and accuracy and size.
Social Media / Web and Policy
This is becoming a bigger topic this year. It is fascinating how many organisation consider this a technology issue when in reality it is a HR (Human Resources) issue. At this point in time there are some 300+ and possibly more sites which are considered social. When looking around to get and understanding of what is social there are many examples.
Wikipedia: Social media refers to interaction among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.
Dictionary.com: social media
noun ( usually used with a plural verb ) Digital Technology .
websites and other online means of communication that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts
Oxforddictionaries.com: websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
A simple example is, you have a photo and you either email it or put it online and point people to it or make available to other to see. That picture is considered social media. Basically and area online where people interact. Very much like the physical world but done in a virtual environment.
What is important to business is the conduct of staff and their use of Social Media which:
- is likely to cause serious damage to the employment relationship; or
- the conduct damages the employer's interests; or
- the conduct is incompatible with the employee's duty as an employee
So as you can see locking access to Facebook does nothing. As it is the outcomes of their actions when they are using the different social media sites that a business should be focused on. The use and over use of any particular site or service should be determined based on management of staff and what they do and how they utilise the technology and services within a business. More importantly than just having a social media policy is showing that you the business have educated your staff on the topic. A great example produced for NSW DEC social media policy explained is a really good example.
Tablets Computing Technology
Many time this discussion resorts to a religious debate, especially with users of apple technology. But at the end of the day it is the tool that fits the need. For apple users that is their 'i' series of technology with pads, phones and computers.
Again as with all technology it is horses for courses. The right tool for the right purpose.
iOS - iPads / iPhones
This will continue and provide many people a very easy to use device to consume services. Email, Digital Magazines, Browse the Internet, watch movies and take video and picture. Great consumer tool, and I hear the people say it also provides for the enterprise. I agree to a point. That is if you develop the apps to interface with your applications within the enterprise this works very well and there are some exceptional business cases to show that. BUT, and that is a big BUT, you have to do the development. The i-Series of technology does not seamlessly integrate into the most common business environment which love it or hate it, is Microsoft. There are better apps coming out but they end up being work-a-rounds and not seamless integration.
Apps we have millions
This is the next augment presented by the apple side, my augment is so what. I would say I am a bit of a geek and use my technology quite a bit more than most but all up I have 57 apps on my phone and might use 10 on a regular basis. I can't store millions of apps let alone use millions of apps. I have the basics covered, digital magazine, audio books, music, email, browsing, step counter, four squares, chat. Most of the different platforms have the basics covered and so the quantity of applications does not really matter. It is the quality and not the quantity, you need to be able to achieve the outcomes you want and if one platform does not meet that requirement they you choose another. I speak from the experience of having many of the different platforms and devices using them for what they are good at, as well as being aware of their pluses and negatives.
Big Data
To really understand this area of the technology space is to understand what it is. With big data there are a number of 'V' words that express what it is. They are:
- Volume - Scale of Data
- Velocity - analysis of streaming data
- Variety - different forms of data
- Veracity - Uncertainty of data
- Value - what is the value
When looking at data in these scales these V each present their own challenges and opportunities. The downfall especially with the Variety of data is knowing how to make use of these different sources of data to get a meaning full return and value out of the data. This area of expertise is hard to find.
An example of Variety of data that once put together produce a value that no one had previously thought about. Take local council information about fruit bearing trees. This happen in Seattle where they get volunteers to harvest the fruit from public trees. This is time consuming and not all the fruit is picked. This leaves a clean up and is wasteful. An application was developed in Washington where you can enter your details of where you live, where you work and the fruit you might be interested in based on a list of seasonally available fruit from these public trees. The app will calculate your journey via these location to proved the most efficient trip and method to collect your fruit.
Another example a person collected all the public information about crime and murder. Then plotting it on a publicly available map showed the major crime areas and their crimes. This would be helpful you would think, but the effect on property prices was devastating. Because people were reviewing this information before buying a property. Good for the buyer not so good for the seller.
The challenge in the Big Data space is the realisation of the value and have the skill and resources to be able to analysis the information to return that value.
As the title of this blog states these are my rants and raves and my view of what is for 2014.
