Enterprise Architecture, IT Strategy & Others

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  • Amazon cloud – A practical experience..

    Being a strategist, enterprise architect, chief architect and a leader, I do not believe in setting direction without knowing or approximating the n th step. In one way, it is very mathematical in the approach as similar to dynamic programming. As dynamic programming used computer programs like computer chess programs, estimating the n th step is based on probable choices using intuition and facts. The facts has the highest probability for success than intuition and I prefer to use the fact when fact can be searched and found. Use intuition only when the facts can not be found.

    Cloud computing is in every practical enterprise architect’s or IT strategist’s technology road map and the implementation of the cloud computing for any IT organization is the question of when. Cloud computing has enough cloud in the sky and in some area it is already drizzling and in some area it is more than drizzling. It is going to rain and as people say, when it rains, it pours. Same thing is applicable to cloud computing. It is going to rain all over and when it rains, it is going to pour.

    To be proactive for any future requirement for the organization (like I did with google apps on gmail), as an enterprise architect leader, I subscribed to the amazon cloud to set up an infrastructure for web hosting.

    I would like to summarize my findings in an executive level.

    1. Set up an elastic amazon cloud for a web site is very easy and designed for a non technical person. (Obviously, it is very very easy to set up for a technical person)
    2. Select the stack you would like to have in the cloud. There are numerous infrastructure stack already available and ready to use (like wordpress, LAMP, Identity management and etc). It is also easy to create a custom stack for your use or promote it your stack for a public use.
    3. Create an elastic IP address for the stack created.
    4. Login to the clone (or instance) using ssh and do the necessary configuration
    5. Load the application
    6. Map the domain address to the elastic IP address
    7. If the traffic to the site increases, increases the number of clones (or instances) associated to the dynamic IP address
    8. It cost me $2.18 and my 30 minutes time (cost for my 30 minute is priceless!)

    All the above steps were done in less than 30 minutes with out any prior training. The site was launched in 30 minutes. The above steps make me think, why an organization has to have an army of people to set up and support an infrastructure? CXO, if you are reading this blog, do not spend any more of your significant G&A budget on the infrastructure, ask your enterprise architect to look into cloud computing and save significant cost and divert your G&A into innovation, investment management and enterprise architecture!

  • Cloud Computing Architecture and its future..

    Cloud computing concept continue to receive acceptance and its adaption increases exponentially.

    I heard today from one of vendor representative that he grew up in the farm and growing up in the farm means he had to learn whatever required in no time to do farming. He confirmed my thoughts on how farm boys grow up in the farm. Cloud computing basically took the farm boy approach. Do whatever is required to do the job!

    Fifteen years ago, the PC support team use to install the operating system (windows 3.11,MS-DOS ) in each and every PCs and PC support cost use to be a significant cost in the IT shop. As repetitive mundane tasks mandates  innovation, solution like Norton Ghost solution were emerged and hence deployment made easy and drove the PC support cost down.

    Cloud computing took the Norton Ghost solution to the server environment.  Like me, I can imagine most of the IT members spent significant time in  building the development, testing, staging and production environment for each application and spent  time to ensure that all the environment were build alike and still had environment behaved differently for unknown reasons. Cloud computing solves all theses problems.

    Key components of cloud computing:

    Utilizing the external storage in the server environment has been in use for quite a while. In some cases, like manufacturing production databases, selecting the apt external storage platform including hardware, storage operating system, connectivity and raid types plays a vital role in the system architecture.  Likewise, in the cloud computing, the storage and processing unit are physically separated and logically connected as and when required. It includes the boot volume too.  To manage both processing units and storage units, an external operating system called cloud computing operating system is used. There are vendors like vmware sells cloud computing operating system like vmware vSphere and there are open source cloud computing operating system like eyeOS

    • Processing Units
    • Storage units
    • Cloud computing OS
    • Network units

    Architecture of cloud computing:

    For external users

    Have a OC3 or OC12 or OC48 internet link based on your requirement to connect to the internet for your data center. Have a cisco 7200 series and cisco ACE series for your first and second layers of your network. Have netcahce or ssl accelerator or intrusion prevention devices based on your requirements. Connect the internal vlan with blade server (HP) and storage units like EMC. Slice the EMC luns to have a preload images like Redhat, Windows with preloaded system software like application server, web server, domain name server, database server, director server and etc. Install the cloud computing operating system in the external boxes and link both processing and storage units. The cloud computing operating system manages both processing and storage units.

    If there are requirements to connect stand alone servers, it can be connected in the internal vlan.

    The architecture is straight forward and purposefully I’m not drawing it.

    For internal users:

    The same architecture expect OC3 internet link.

    Cloud Computing Future:

    The concept is very cost effective and efficient. Instead of building images for production servers with application server, web server, database server and etc.. the image will be elevated to more business unit image. Loan processing image, collection and customer service image, delinquency image, skip tracing image,  bankruptcy, treasury, securitization, point of sale and etc.  The technology cloud is in the phase of reaching maturity and business cloud is emerging. There is a huge potential for the players who get quickly into the business cloud.

    Think about for a minute, if you are bank, why do you want to spend time on building IT infrastructure to process loan. Banks JUST want to focus on getting good papers, good customers and not worry about how the assets are stored, retrieved and processed. Whoever get into business cloud will lead that market segment for a while!!


  • IT Waste Management..

    hmm.. Do you know what is being wasted in your IT organization?

    Nirvana (the highest level of maturity) is not reality in IT organization. It is a stretch goal. There are always room for improvement in any IT organization.

    Some time back, a set of projects were perceived as a high business value projects and in last few months the business climate or economical climate might have changed and the project could be in the brink of extinction.

    Some time back, a set of skills was perceived as a core competency for the future organization and due to the recent merger or acquisition or economical situation, the business strategy changed and hence the IT strategy. The core competency developed few years ago is not core any more in the current environment.

    Some time back, a set of tools bought to enable efficiency with in the organization is not really working out due to various reasons..

    What ever the situations may be, the past investment made in technology, people, process may not be currently required with in the organization.

    IT Waste Management must be part of IT finance management group and IT finance manager/director is responsible for IT waste management function.

    IT Waste Management Process:

    Trigger:
    Change in business strategy, IT strategy,executive leadership (end up by changing the IT strategy) or  merger, acquisition

    1. Clearly understand the current direction of company
    2. Clearly understand the change in direction due to the trigger
    3. Identify the gaps
    4. Assess the impact of directional change in terms of
      • Vendor Contract  – Hardware/software/Purchase service/Professional service
      • Intellectual  capital loss (work with HR and IT senior management )
      • System landscape  (work with Architecture team)
    5. Identify the retirement plan or reusable plan for all IT assets. Multiple teams like architecture, HR, procurement all need to work together to develop the above plans.
    6. Execute the plan. Realize and monitor the benefits
    7. Report the sun downed systems to IT controlling as IT impairment assessment. The IT intangible assets which are in the books can be adjusted and would bring tax benefits to the company.

    The systems which are sun downed or retired in the process must be reported to IT controlling as a IT asset impairment assessment to reflect the new IT intangible asset value in the books. It would bring tax saving to the company.

    The above steps are part of IT waste management process and must be performed every 3-6 months in every IT organization.  It will bring operational and cost efficiency to any IT organization.