The "con" in convergence

Well, we all know that voice and data convergence can bring enormous benefits, don't we? And of course, that's true as long as we plan things properly. With a VoIP implementation, we can just sit back and be happy about the reduced costs, can't we?

Well, it's often not as simple as that. Sometimes we import latent problems with our voice implementations into our data networks. Maybe, even worse, we create new problems that we didn't have before.

Some simple pointers:

• Work out what your bandwidth requirements are: voice traffic places a significant load on your network which has to be satisfied in real time. A delay in a data transaction is a nuisance; a delay in speech traffic renders the conversation unintelligible.
• Pay attention to your resilience and DR requirements. Traditional voice is still a lot more reliable than data and it's a shock for users to switch to a new, less reliable transmission medium.
• Sort out backup arrangements for your data networks. It's no use asking your users to phone in when there's a problem if the phones don't work either.
• Put in place robust support arrangements with agreed SLAs.

It's not rocket science, so by all means go ahead with convergence - but do it with your eyes open and make sure you have a robust solution in place with good fallback arrangements.

The "con" in convergence: don't think you can do it on the cheap without making proper arrangements for support and recovery.

The Revolutionary Road

What is the Revolutionary Road?

"Knowing what you've got, knowing what you need, knowing what you can do without - that's inventory control." So muses Leonardo DiCaprio in the Sam Mendes film, Revolutionary Road. But maybe he has a point that we ought to consider when delivering IT services

Knowing what you've got
How many CIOs are certain that they have a good handle on what they've got? It's important to know what basic items are there, but also how they are connected and configured. Time and time again I have heard: "I don't know what that is" or "I didn't realise we had that". Robust IT Asset management is the foundation for knowing what you really have and how it works.

Knowing what you need
When you know what you have got, the next challenge is knowing how much of that stuff you really need. Over time, IT services move from machine to machine; new network connections are made; old ones are removed. So, is all the stuff you have really necessary to deliver the services you provide? That's not an easy question to answer in most cases. A good service catalogue mapped to infrastructure and network diagrams that are up to date and comprehensively annotated will help you here. Do you feel confident that you are in control?

Knowing what you can do without
OK, this is the killer point. If you want to save costs in your IT operation, it makes sense to cut out what you can do without. Why continue to pay for what is not necessary? But what if your cut takes out an essential business service as well? To switch metaphors, can you cut out your pound of flesh without touching any bone, blood, sinew or ligament? Only if you have a good picture of your IT estate and how it contributes to business services will you be able to make these cuts which are really "what you can do without".

Revolutionary?
So, is this all rather revolutionary? I don't think so. The discipline of managing your IT assets well, understanding your inventory, keeping things up to date, is hardly rocket science. And maintaining an up to date service catalogue, mapping services across your IT infrastructure so you understand which components are necessary for delivering each IT service, is not much newer as an idea. The revolutionary thing is that in spite of us all knowing that we should do this, hardly any of us actually bother to do it. It's too hard, too tedious, there's alway another emergency, the business isn't interested, there are other priorities. But if you want to ensure your survival and that of your business, maybe you should be a revolutionary.

In summary
Knowing what you've got - IT Asset Management is vital to understand properly what's really out there and what it's costing you.
Knowing what you need - make sure you have mapped your delivered services across your infrastructure and network. A well-managed IT Service Catalogue is essential here.
Knowing what you can do without - when you know what you've got and what you need, you will understand what you can do without. You can cut out unnecessary equipment, licences, maintenance, development while feeling confident you will continue to deliver vital IT services to the business.
So, start taking the Revolutionary Road today - don't wait for someone else to start the revolution.

Green IT - any colour as long as it's in the black

In these rather challenging times, can we afford to forget about the need for Green IT and sustainability? No, of course we can't, but it's worth while reminding ourselves what is likely to succeed. If a Green IT initiative is proposed as a way of spending money to look good, but without clearly identified savings for the business, it doesn't stand much of a chance in today's climate.

Fortunately, there are plenty of Green IT initiatives which also produce cost savings, leaving the business "in the black". Many of us are already aware of the possibilities in the data centre: server consolidation to increase utilisation way above the industry average of 15%; virtualisation to increase effective capacity for application loads; cold aisle containment to optimise airflow and reduce cooling costs.

On the laptop and desktop side, why not review replacement and refurbishment policies to identify savings? Many of these policies have not changed in years and implementing a policy change is one of the easiest ways of making a step change in Green IT.

Best of all, why not consider the wider context of how Green IT can be Green for the business? It's estimated that around 2% of emissions for a typical company relate to IT; the other 98% are not IT-related. Proactive involvement of IT in Green business issues has enormous potential.

Some thoughts about how IT can help:

• Web 2.0 technology to reduce employees' travel needs
• In some places, there are still employees printing material so they can type it back into other systems or applications. This really ought to stop and appropriate IT support can make sure it does.
• Better interaction of purchasing and invoicing systems with suppliers and customers can reduce paper usage, reduce delay times, give competitive advantage

But these are just a few possibilities - there are plenty more. So, I suggest you get going with your Green IT that's in the black.

Mean IT - what's it mean?

Well, it means cutting your costs of course: mean to save money; parsimonious so as to butter parsnips; careful to cut costs; extreme endeavours to even out expenditure.

But we need to be careful when we're playing Scrooge. He himself went through a number of different experiences before he got the point. The Ghost of Christmas Past wasn't enough; the Ghost of Christmas Present wasn't enough; it was only with the visitation of the Ghost of Christmas Future that he finally realised what he needed to do.

What's the parallel with the current day hard-pressed CIO? Well, it's all too easy to look at only one way of saving money: cut the budget - that will work; reduce TCO - that will make me look good; eliminate development - we can make do with the applications we have and no-one will notice.

This is slash and burn thinking. It's not Mean IT, it's Silly IT.

We need to think again - to look at the problem from a number of different angles - to examine things through a number of different lenses. So, we can think of various viewpoints that we might optimise:

• Total cost of ownership


• Finance


• Service portfolio


• Service levels


• Service improvement


• Innovation

It's the power of thinking through all of these different views, these "lenses", that means that Mean IT will deliver dividends.

The Ghosts of Christmas had a point: if Mean IT is to mean anything, we need to think of cutting costs from a number of different points of view.

Are you considering these points of view - right now?

Lean 2 - shed the waste

So, what are the benefits of implementing Lean IT?

Many and various is the answer.

First of all, shed the waste of carrying out all those convoluted and inefficient processes. At a client I visited recently, we found that a travel request for an IT expert to fix an urgent problem went through six layers of management in order to gain full authorisation. Lean experts would smell an obvious opportunity here to do better.

A more subtle thing is that by shedding inefficient processes, the IT department becomes more flexible and agile. This makes the CIO better able to respond to business needs. In turn, this makes the IT department more likely to be able to deliver business requirements in a better, more responsive fashion.

That's not all. Let's think about:

• Managing suppliers better with leaner processes
• Delivering projects faster and more consistently
• More control over the Programme portfolio
• Service level agreements that are end-to-end and reflect real business needs

The list goes on - and you can add your own thoughts.

My main point is that the benefits of implementing Lean IT are enormous.

Don't be left behind. Work out what you need to do and go for it.

Collaborators will not be shot

In fact collaboration is vitally important for the CIO today.

We need to work smarter. We need to cope with losing experienced personnel as they retire or move on to other posts. We need to fire up the incoming generation who are used to using their computers and the web to interact, share, learn.

We need to collaborate.

Lean IT: which way to lean?

I'll be talking a lot more about Lean IT in future, but meanwhile, how are you supposed to start? And what is Lean IT anyway? Many of you will be aware of the concept of Lean: eliminating waste from processes. It started in the automotive manufacturing industry, but has since been applied to other industries and now to services as well as manufacturing.

That's all fine and the idea of eliminating waste from IT Service Delivery (Lean IT) seems like a good idea. But how should you tackle this? Do you need specialists? Should you do it all at once or a bit at a time? In short: which way should you lean?

In these difficult times, my view is that a long-winded drains-up approach is not what is needed. Instead, it is better to focus on the main areas of waste - and pain - in order to see some improvements fast. When I am asked to help a CIO, I carry out a rapid healthcheck to identify the areas that would benefit from immediate attention. Within a few days, we know where to focus attention.

Then there's the question of what meaningful improvements Lean IT delivers. That's something I will expand upon in the days to come.

Introduction

It's a tough life whether you are a CIO yourself or whether you are advising one. So many things to do, so many options to consider. This blog aims to act as your friend, reminding you of things you can do and, maybe, giving you inspiration to do some new things too. It's good to share experience, both give and take.

And occasionally, we'll be light hearted. There's no harm in going to work with a smile on your face, feeling cheerful.

Let's see what we can blog.