IT Strategy to deliver cloud computing values.

Cloud Computing is a new computing model for most enterprises. The forward thinking CxOs are welcoming this new model of computing, because this model can support their business objectives efficiently. It is a commodity based model and it is also scalable. It delivers services dynamically anywhere you want and access your information from any place. It is always available. It supports end-users demand, automatically scalable and elastic in nature. Moreover, it is a self-service computing model. To enable cloud computing model in any enterprise, Systems Management and Infrastructure are the two key areas need to be focused along with application and information services. Success of a cloud computing will depend heavily on how an enterprise design these two components.

CIOs need to prioritize their IT initiatives appropriately to build a successful cloud computing model. Systems Management, Infrastructure Services, Applications, and Information services need to be transformed simultaneously and at the same space.

As services oriented architecture is in the core of cloud computing, therefore, enterprise need to adopt a strategy to transform their enterprise architecture slowly into service oriented architecture and this is a major challenge to an IT organization.

Now the question is do we really need to transform an EA into SOA to implement cloud computing? Many enterprises have enabled their Web Services in a legacy environment. It is true, enterprise can adopt right approach and techniques to make their existing environment into cloud computing. However, enterprise should have a strategy to transform their EA into SOA to get full benefits of cloud computing. Only a right IT Strategy can deliver all the values of a cloud computing that:

• can help to align IT with business easily,
• can sustain change and innovation,
• can make an IT operating environment more flexible and adaptable,
• can support growth and profitability,
• can increase reliability and the operating environment can be more resilient,

and many more values.

In my next article I will focus on what should be our approach to enable cloud computing in an enterprise and deliver these values,

http://nandiamit.blogspot.com/2010/09/in-my-earlier-article-it-strategy-to_30.html

Business Drivers for today's IT

Based on various studies and surveys like, IBM, McKinsey, and various news items, we can conclude: CxOs are facing tremendous challenges. I am trying to analyze the situation in this posting. We should not confuse business drivers with goals, objectives, critical success factors and/or capabilities. Items such as these in the strategic direction are usually "driven" from the external Business Drivers or strength and weakness analysis of internal required capabilities. Normally, drivers are fairly broad statements of the business needs, which must be satisfied by an appropriate Enterprise Architecture. We see..

CEO Needs:
1. Revenue growth with cost containment
2. Responsiveness to business conditions
3. Agility to pursue new market opportunities
4. Tighter partner/customer collaboration/integration

CFO Wants:
1. Partnering with the enterprise to enhance growth insight – In keeping with Finance’s shift from a historical to a more predictive focus.
2. Optimizing decision support to enhance performance insight – These organizations integrates transparent, role-based metrics and exception reporting while fully cascading these metrics consistently throughout the enterprise.
3. Driving beyond compliance to enhance risk insight – These organizations expand risk management to enterprise wide views of risk and use performance dashboards and analytical tools that are focused on risk/reward planning for decision making.

To satisfy CEO and CFO’s demand CIO’s are challenged to:
1. Aligning IT and business goals to grow and contain costs
2. Building responsiveness and agility into organization through IT.
3. Helping IT enable people and teams to be more effective

In other words enterprise needs to create an IT organization that establishes an operating environment which must have all these above defined capabilities to satisfy CEO, CFO and CIO’s needs.

Strategy for 2009 and CIO challanges

According to recent McKinsey Quarterly Survey report....

"Executives are concerned that a new focus on near-term challenges may cause this year’s planning process to overlook long-term trends or preexisting strategies, according to the results of a McKinsey Quarterly survey on strategic planning."

As we all know IT projects are driven by the business needs. Business Drivers are key to IT projects. CIO/CTO will have tremendous challenge in aligning IT with the enterprise's business strategy under the current scenario. Architect's challenge will be establishing tactical plan and adjusting it with the strategic vision and plan. Enterprise will start thinking about or revisit their SOA and agile IT infrastructure thought, if they have not yet started.

McKinsey Link: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Strategic_planning_Three_tips_for_2009_2340?pagenum=2