Changes in IT Delivery to Achieve Better Results

Facing change and accepting change was one of the most difficult challenges in the past year in the IT division. Changing the way of working was like transforming the common practice of the past two decades into an unfamiliar model which was not easily accepted and digested by many. The main challenge and resistance to changes was the fear of change and how it will affect individuals.

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. - H. P. Lovecraft

Many in the IT division desperately wanted change at work, and yet they were uncomfortable and worried when it occurred. But change in the IT division was inevitable and necessary for the division thrive and to move to the next level of effective information technology delivery

In order to successfully execute organizational transformations or other enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, companies must align five process capabilities, which are referred to as the 5-M's: meaning, mind-set, mobilization, measurement, and mechanisms for renewal.

The Ten Steps to Leading Enterprise-Wide Change Initiatives: 1. Communicate Urgency; 2. Clarify the Change Process; 3. Act Quickly and Decisively; 4. Focus Energy; 5. Commit Resources; 6. Develop Capabilities; 7. Realign Measures; 8. Reward New Behaviors; 9. Share Successes Broadly; 10. Embed Transformation. [Source: Douglas A. Ready -Leading Enterprise-Wide Change Initiatives]

In this article I will highlight a few of the changes that took place in 2015 to achieve better results in IT delivery.

Separation of Operations from development:

Bimodal IT (also known as "two-speed IT") describes an approach that answers an enterprise's need for both stable and agile IT systems. The term was created by IT consultancy Gartner Inc, which defines the two tiers as follows: "Mode 1 is traditional and sequential, emphasizing safety and accuracy. Mode 2 is exploratory and nonlinear, emphasizing agility and speed."

The CIO role is changing and is being affected by the need for two-speed IT. The IT division recognizes that using IT to compete in the digital domain may call for a different kind of expert; a "Digital CIO", from the person running day-to-day IT operations. Indeed, enterprises appear to be moving rapidly to a bimodal version of the top IT job. According to Gartner's 2015 CIO survey of about 2,800 IT leaders, 47% said they have a deputy CIO under them.

The separation of Operations from Projects activities was probably the most difficult change to accept during this year. The IT division had two aspects of work that existed, namely on-going operations and projects (including development initiatives). The philosophy behind the separation of Operations from development proposes that agile, innovative IT initiatives should be allows to move forward quickly without being hampered by the checks and balances that are needed to maintain business-critical IT operations. All work and/or efforts performed within the division was characterized as either operations or projects, and all of the costs of the division must be distributed to either operations or projects.

While CIOs might not be able to transform their existing IT department into a digital startup, they could turn it into a bi-modal IT organization. "Forty-five percent of CIOs state they currently have a fast mode of operation," said Sondergaard, "and we predict that 75 percent of IT organizations will be bi-modal in some way by 2017."[Source: Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of research]

This change has managed to empower both areas in order to effectively focus on issues required to maintain the highest level of operations and allowed the Projects and development initiatives to deliver the highest level of quality deliverables. The maturity level of this change is still in its initial stages but it is in the process of progressively evolving.

Meeting business unit's expectations:

In order to meet the business unit's expectations, the IT division needed to set limits and avoid to promise what cannot be delivered. Formalizing the delivery model of IT initiatives by introducing defined quarterly work plans that are approved and prioritized by the business unit representatives (what is internally called the steering committee) based on their needs and the capacity of the IT division. The required outputs proved to be successful as it delivered what the client expects and wants. This model worked more effectively than the previous process that took place in preceding years where the flow of requests from the business units was higher than the IT division's capacity to deliver the outputs.

The latest IT division reports have shown that 90% of successful delivery was achieved during the last quarter of 2015 with a high level of overall customer satisfaction.

Matrix management model:

The division historically operated in a very hierarchical, "Silo" based structure which resulted in lack of information flow between groups or parts of the division and limited the interactions between members of different branches of the division, thus leading to reduced productivity.

The IT division introduced a Matrix management model to provide a flexible management structure that allows the division to be more adaptive to change and uncertainty. It encouraged innovation and fast action through expediting information to the employees who need the information and know how to use it. Furthermore, matrix management allowed the IT division to leverage vast resources while remaining task/delivery orientated. The division gave the responsibility for the upper management level to work in a horizontal manner to ensure effective IT Operations; IT Project/development; IT Architecture; IT Service management; and IT Contracts management. In addition Quality assurance and Budget and Planning was included in the IT division's responsibility in a horizontal manner to be able to maximize the zero defect delivery through independent QA, and report on budget and planning through a horizontal non silo based vertical model.

The matrix structure broke the "silo" effect and lead to a high sense of personal empowerment. Managers of project groups and managers of functional groups have roughly equal authority within the division. Team leaders are now more likely to be involved in solving complex problems, meeting ambitious goals, and making key decisions.

Continuous Communication:

In order to avoid lack of information to be filled by rumours during a period of change, communication, communication, and communication was key to alleviate the fear of change. The management of the division setup bi-weekly meetings with all team leaders, staff and non-staff on a regular frequency to promote a continuous flow of two way communications. If employees are effectively communicating their fears to co-workers and leaders within the division the concerns can be addressed and calmed through more communications.

On a final note, the above was a small subset of the changes that took place during 2015 and there is much more work to be done in the near future. The change and progress introduced to date has been welcomed by many in the organization and should show more measurable results in the near future.

[References: http://www.cio.com/article/2947863/leadership-management/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-bi-modal-it.html http://www.cio.com/article/2875803/cio-role/what-gartner-s-bimodal-it-model-means-to-enterprise-cios.html ]

Author: Omar Hajjar (Senior IT officer)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Omar_Hajjar/2049716

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Survival of the Fittest Vs Surviving On-Demand

The colloquially known principle "Survival of the Fittest" proposed by Charles Darwin is a very noted theory based on natural selection, which states that species that acquire adaptations favourable for their environment will pass down those adaptations to the next generations. Only such species will survive and evolve through speciation. On the contrary, Leon C. Megginson, a Professor of Management and Marketing at Louisiana State University, beautifully quoted this theory in his own words.

"It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who can best manage the change."

Fast Growing On-Demand Movement

With the evolution in the cyber space and the ever-growing advancements, the theory of "Survival of the Fittest" has mutated itself to "Survival On-Demand". Today, organizations and online businesses are quickly adapting to the changing customer needs for their survival and ultimately massive success. But still many of them lose the game and declare their death. Why is it so? Well, the answer lies behind the fast growing on-demand movement.

According to a latest article posted by Simon Lee, iteration cycles have become so fast that there is no time to compete in the market. Something new and strong will come and you will have to adapt to it as soon as you can. This is so true.

The Journey of a Bookselling Store to the Best Bookseller

A bookselling store, located in Chelmsford, soon realized that its customer experience dropped drastically, because of its absence in the online market. So, the owner decided to have a website, where he can introduce his online library. After launching the website, he realized that market was already full of competitors who have been offering bestselling books online, at competitive rates.

So, he decided to release an open offer by providing books at discounted rates, assuming that it would help him attract more customers. However, the customers were already buying books at competitive rates. The owner finally decided to conduct a survey to realize, what actually his customers are looking for. After a successful survey, he launched some new features on the website including events, signed copies, staff picks, blogs, featured authors and other stuff. These features not only facilitated him to stay ahead of the competition, but also helped him in identifying the changing demands of the customers.

Today, providing a service or a product to customers with 100 percent customer satisfaction is not sufficient, you need an X-factor to survive the competition and achieve massive success. There were some crucial elements that separated Facebook from Orkut and Amazon from any local online book store. And the answer lies in how they choose to respond to the forthcoming challenges. An early mover always chooses to respond rapidly in the on-demand space and that is what decides its duration of survival.

If you have some suggestions to share about this article, please feel free to write @ charu.freelancer@gmail.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Charu_Mehta/629624

Can Your Car Get Hacked?

That's a question that most of us don't think about. Today hacking your car is possible, though it hasn't happened in the real world very often if ever. It has happened when researchers tested the electronics and communications in an auto.

When you sit back and think about this, the newer cars are Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capable. Most modern cars have key fobs that remotely lock and unlock the car; some even have a remote start. Some auto manufacturers install Telematics that will collect and transmit data from your vehicle to a central computer server. This transmission or in car data storage can be hacked. Let's list some of the items that might be hacked:

Telematics: As stated above this is the collection and transmission of your car data.

Door Locks: These are usually operated by using a key fob using an encrypted code that matches a code in your vehicle.

Smartphones: Most modern vehicles provide a way for you to connect your smartphone to your vehicle's entertainment system. This would be a way to introduce a virus by a contaminated App or a hacked MP3 audio file; a video file can also be hacked to transmit a virus.

Key Fob: As discussed above these are used to lock and unlock the vehicle; they can also be used to remotely start a vehicle. It sends an encrypted code that would be difficult for someone to hack and de-encrypt. However, this code could be intercepted as it goes from the fob to the vehicle.

Wi-Fi: Some autos have a built in W-Fi system. I think by now most people realize that a W-Fi system is susceptible to hacking.

Ignition: When we get into our new vehicles we push a button to start it. The key fob is usually in our pocket or purse which we rarely take out. The communication between the key fob and the vehicle is usually a Bluetooth communication. This would be an area that hackers might be able to control.

At each new model year auto manufacturers add more features to their vehicles, these features are usually additional electronics or computer controlled items. Both Apple and Microsoft are working hard to try and get into vehicles at the manufacturer's level.

The good news is that the auto manufacturers know all of this and are building in anti-hacking defenses. The manufacturers are building defenses into their auto computers and communications and so far it seems to be working.

George Uliano is a security professional with years of law enforcement and security experience. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and Business graduating with honors. George holds three U.S. patents on different locking principles. This combination gives George and His Company Locking Systems International Inc the unique ability to provide its customers with the correct security at an affordable price.

For additional information or to purchase Locks go to http://www.lsidepot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/George_Uliano/1500014

Machine to Machine - The Foundation of Internet of Things

Introduction

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) is a communication network built with several machines interconnected together. Machines not necessarily be computers, it could be any electronic device with rudimentary communication features. The established communication is either wired or wireless - not much emphasis is laid upon the medium of communication. M2M is the foundation for Internet-of-things (IoT), the next big thing that has arrived in the IT sector. Several applications are developed based on the M2M infrastructure in various domains such as logistics, inventory management, robotics, traffic control, supply chain management, fleet management, and healthcare. The success of M2M, or its derived technology IoT, is based on the successful adoption of IPv6 in the technological world, which brings in lot of IP addresses enough for all the devices present now and the ones coming in the future.

How does it Work?

Machines have been communicating with each other for quite some time now, but the scale of communication was limited between three or more machines (read computers) to achieve a certain specified task. M2M architecture takes this concept of communication, brings sensors that collect specific information into the picture, which in turn are connected to a remote management center. The communication present in M2M infrastructure is usually referred as "telemetric communication" which was developed way back in the 70s. Theodore G. Paraskevakos was the first person, who conceptualized the communication system and patented it in the US in 1973. The information is collected from the sensors associated with the devices and the data is fed to a remote management center for more analysis. The analysis reports help the grid to optimal utilization of the resources. For illustration, a wind power station is implemented with M2M setup, wherein each fan stores the vital information such as wind speed, rpm, and power generation per rotation. Alongside, it stores the vital information of its neighboring fans as well. M2M communication aids in communicating between the fans, through which they are aware of each other's state of health, power-generating capacity, scheduled maintenance etc. Now, all the data is fed to the remote monitoring center for monitoring and analysis. Imagine a situation wherein, a fan fails or is due for maintenance, it is quickly communicated to the neighboring fans. The other fans bump up the production by a slight amount and collectively help achieve the demand. Also, the technical team is well aware of the scheduled maintenance of the fans and preventive steps are taken, so as to avoid fluctuation in power production.

Application of M2M

M2M applications are spread across various industries and domains such as production, operations, logistics, supply chain, healthcare, robotics and more. Several large industries are implementing the M2M infrastructure to build a robust IoT setup, which is the currently most, sought after technology. Conglomerates like GE, BP, and Shell are reportedly investing massive amount in M2M and IoT. Wireless carriers are the natural market for M2M and Big Data solutions, as the business is data intensive primarily because of calling and data usage tracking. Also, healthcare is yet another industry that can be reliant on M2M and IoT services. Energy management as mentioned earlier is the biggest beneficiary of M2M infrastructure. It helps in building smart power grids that delivers key information such as peak demand and assists in creating actionable decisions that are carried

Auto Insurance is also the biggest beneficiary of M2M communication network as these sensors are pre-installed in each automobile that is insured. It will provide boundless information such as driving habit of the customer, the status of parts, fuel consumption etc. are fed to the remote management center that analyzes the behavior of individual automobile performance and help the insurance companies plan well ahead.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Praveen_Patil/2211084

Top Tips on Aligning IT With Business Objectives

IT has emerged as a central business function for many organisations in the recent years, and this holds true regardless of the industry that an organization caters to. Having said that, irrespective of the huge part that IT plays in reducing costs, standardizing processes, enhancing productivity and improving workflow and communications, its role in business planning is subservient to a large extent.

It is high time that establishments stop looking at IT as a mere implementation tool which does not have any role in shaping an organisation's business strategy. Today, technological developments pave the way for many business opportunities and IT can play a proactive and larger role in developing the long term business strategy of organizations.

Given below are some tips that would help your organization align its IT with its business objectives:

Understand your business and the nature of your organisation

Unless you understand the nature of your business and how it fits into the sector and economy, it is very difficult to come up with a serious IT plan that would actually work. You can start by gathering important information such as organization charts, roles and responsibilities and associated markets and products. Needless to mention, you must also possess a crystal clear understanding of your customers and their persona. Also, you must take time to analyse the structure and cultural ethos of your organization. Once you have a map of your corporate model and how it fits into the larger picture, you can start planning for the future. At this stage, it is also crucial that you start documenting all IT assets and applications.

Identify and understand the relationship between your core business and your IT assets

Understand your business' value chain and analyse its major components. You must have an in depth understanding of the factors that drive your business as these key scaling factors play a crucial role in planning IT strategy and alignment. At this stage, you must also duly collate information about internal as well as external factors.

Determine and set the change agenda

While setting the agenda, you must research and analyse your strategy several times; not only that, you must also ensure that there is a perfect balance between the cost, value and precedence of the IT estate and then identify the impact and implications of the IT alignment plan. Of course, you must also identify requirements, prioritise time frames and functionality, model and test the strategy well in advance to ensure that the final outcome is lucrative.

Once you have all the necessary information, chart out an IT plan that has business drive and is not extremely technology-centric

The most difficult hurdle that many organisations face while aligning IT with its business objectives is that most IT strategies lack business drive and are too technology-centric. This strategic variance can be counter-productive and can lead to overtly intricate IT infrastructures that are difficult to sustain and modify. In order to avoid such obstacles, it is recommended that organisations invest in strategic partnerships with IT Managed Service Providers who specialize in aligning IT with business objectives.

Allied Worldwide is global IT Outsourcing Company specializing in IT Managed Services, Remote IT support and IT consulting services. Our unique partnership approach can result in improved customer satisfaction, reduced costs and better ROIs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Ramy_Krish/1328308

HP LTO 5: Sometimes Your Data Storage Priorities Don't Matter

Each and every business has a certain set of priorities when setting up various operations. This also applies in data storage. However, such priorities might actually be in contravention or incompatible with existing regulatory requirements, at which point you would definitely have to revise your priorities.

Just as with many other business-related issues, such as building construction and financial management, most business environments have certain legal data management requirements that must be followed. In Australia, you would have to comply with the Privacy Amendment Act, which features several Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)

If you have a business with $3 million or more annual turnover, you need to be particularly keen on the APPs; otherwise, you face some steep penalties. These could be fines of as much as $1.7 million per infringement.

Sometimes Less Storage Capacity Is More

If you're thinking of the best data storage media, either for personal use or for your business/organization, you must consider a wide variety of aspects beyond the storage capacity. In fact, you might actually settle for a bit less storage capacity.

One of the most critical aspects that may actually override storage capacity is security. This aspect is particularly essential for information storage in organizations and involving highly sensitive material. Only a storage platform featuring strong encryption of data would be useful in securing your information. Without this, the integrity of your business operations might be at risk.

Fortunately LTO tapes, such as the HP LTO 5, do provide high level encryption capabilities for maximum security. Moreover, using such media, you would have the opportunity to store data offline; hence, making it less accessible to systemic attacks.

Efficiency in use of the storage media is also another critical factor. If you find that you're using up too much time and energy in setting up and maintaining your storage system, you would definitely have to reconsider your options. The cost of keeping such storage may end up being unsustainable.

In this regard, quite a number of organizations that have implemented LTO-based data storage systems have reported significant cost savings in maintaining such systems. This is definitely beneficial in curbing escalating costs of doing business.

No Single Data Storage Option Is Best For Everything

You might actually come across various storage media that some people claim to be the best option for all your data storage needs. However, the reality is that there isn't really a single data storage option for all types of data.

Apart from considering the dynamics of the type of data you want to store, you must also consider diversity in the storage systems you apply.

You might have some type of data that requires much more regular access, rather than having it stored for extended periods of time. Perhaps, it might also be data stored mainly for the purposes of backup. The LTO tape is uniquely suited to such backup storage.

On the aspect of diversity of data storage options, the security of your stored data would be greatly enhanced if you use different platforms. You might actually decide to complement your LTO storage platform with cloud storage. Such diversity in data storage is akin to backing up your back-up.

You would have the benefit for being guided by Richard Stutchbury, an expert in data storage media, who will help you in selecting the most suitable medium for your organization. Kindly just click this link for more details.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Richard_Stutchbury/2167479

Implications of Patents on Emerging Technologies Adoption

1. INTRODUCTION

As the U.S. market is maturing and competition is intensifying, IT service providers are adopting new measures to find additional sources of revenue. They have invested heavily in next generation technologies for developing digital platforms. Some of these are using SMC (Social, Mobile and Cloud) technologies, Analytics, IoT (Internet of Things), and Composite interfaces (combining gesture, movement, facial and voice recognition). The offerings using emerging technologies are highly commoditized and aggressively marketed. Therefore, these are accessible to competitive scrutiny. As few leaders are holding high amount of patents, other service providers are vulnerable to potential litigations. Most of the IT service providers seem to be oblivious to the impending threat looming due to strategic lacuna in intellectual property protection.

2. Patents, Hype and Adoption

The development and adoption of an emerging technology follows a hype cycle. First generation products build-on laboratory experiments. They create huge expectations and media hype. Currently, most of the patenting activities are focused on this stage of life-cycle. Service providers are rushing to secure IPs, without any significant initiative for commercial success. So, when the second and third-generation products are launched, they have to deal with a large number of existing patents awarded in their product domains.

3. Software Intellectual Property

Competitors can quickly launch an imitation, by copying the innovative design, technology, or application. There are various strategies adopted by early innovators to safeguard inventions. Currently some players in technology ecosystem have been trying to increase the entry-barrier for competition by resorting to IP protection with patenting.

In the following sections, we will examine patents issued in two emerging technologies domain. These patents are not only overlapping between themselves, but covering a wide genre of technology applications. In future, any commercial application leveraging these technologies can invite IP-violation legal notices.

4. Virtual Dressing Room

The concept relates to ability to try-on garments and other accessories, like jewelry, glasses, watches, purses, etc. without actually having them physically with the user. This application has high utility value for multi-store retail stores, where users can try a lot of options without store executives removing the items from shelves, helping in efficient inventory management, and enhanced customer experience. As first generation products are being launched, there are only a few examples of product adoption (mostly in pilot implementation stage). However, the patent activity is buzzing, with various vendors claiming to own IPs to multiple applications, across a wide range of business processes.

One of the earliest patents was assigned to Imaginarix Ltd., for virtual dressing over the internet. It is a method and a system for displaying garments over the Internet as though the garments were being draped over the body of a user. As media hype focused on novelty and utility aspect of technology, more vendors started exploring the virtual dressing skills in their technology innovation labs, and many of them have sought protection for their IPs of ideas or, first generation products related to a wide genre of applications, with little variations among them.

5. GEO-FENCING

The Geo-fencing concept relates to location tracking of individuals leveraging their mobile devices. When they are detected to be within a certain distance of a point-of-sale location, alerts are sent to their mobile devices. This feature is primarily used for digital marketing, to capitalize on human impulse to purchase for availing discount coupons.

Major vendors have availed following patents:

Where, Inc. can claim that all the above patents are building on its patent on location-based services.

The first patents in vehicle tracking, where the concept of geo-fencing originated, were filed during the earlier decade.

Passtime has secured a series of geo-fencing patents for GPS tracking and automated collection.

6. CONCLUSION

Clearly, competitive activity around emerging technologies has increased tremendously. In this scenario, the IP protection tactics has been used by few vendors to serve their short-term motives. But, this is detrimental to the growth of technology industry. Regulatory uncertainty has contributed to more confusion in this domain. In the collective interest, various players should come together and form an industry body to manage these issues. They can mutually agree to trade licenses for acquired patents, and ease of dealing in the IPs can reduce the cost of acquiring them substantially. This can reduce bottlenecks in product development, resulting in faster time-to-market. Additionally, the stakeholders across the value-chain can agree to stop filing patents for abstract ideas, at the early stages of development. Instead they can focus on developing the ideas with relevant applications in verticals, and seek protection for applications in specific usage scenarios, once the idea is development for implementation.

We recommend industry players to debate and come together as an industry body to frame common standards and have a congenial atmosphere for developing new service lines using emerging technologies.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Chandan_Agarwala/1657337