The Process Tempo Cloudification Series

https://www.processtempo.com/post/cloudification-series-introduction

Cloudification Series Introduction

The more things Change the More they seem to stay the same

Remembering back to the 1960’s when my Aunt Delores had given us kids some white plastic playful spinning tops with a Blue paper insert, emblazoned with the letters; I B M. I can remember her telling us how she got these from her workplace at the Savings Bank of Utica and how she was working with something called a Mainframe. At the time people had no idea what a mainframe really is and while today most people know its a computer, they lack any intimate detailed knowledge of how a mainframe works. As the fastest growing “dying platform” in the IT industry, Mainframe has an allure to many of us, the mainframe and the process wrapped around it were our roots for; innovation, structured operations and technical history.

Thinking back to that time, the computer power of one mainframe pales to the computer power of today's $1000 cell phone. As a mainframe programmer my Aunt earned $55 per week or about $1.37 an hour. (Todays’ mainframe programmer earns between $120,610 and $151,340 a year plus benefits.) And nobody really understood what she did, maybe that is why she ultimately became a teacher.

Back in the day a a typical 1960’s IBM 7090 mainframe leased in the range of $63,500 a month of course, that did not include any additional capital cost, electricity or people to run it. Today we purchase cloud subscriptions that entitle us to run certain number operations per second for a monthly rate.

We often like to boast (or complain) about how quickly the Computer Industry changes. Indeed technologically this is true. We have a lot of new programming languages since Cobal, we can process more information, faster, as well as transmit, store and manage staggering amounts of data. Mainframes started as building sized machines, privately operated on-premise in specialized rooms or buildings isolated to one location. Data Centers house thousands of physical machines that host millions of virtual systems and billions of callable functions and lambda’s.

Through phases of interconnected distributed systems, services to be consumed on a per use basis housed in even larger specialized data centers that host multiple clients from a mesh of centers interconnected around the globe.

as much as the technology has changed, many challenges have not

Looking back, as much as the technology has changed, many challenges have not. Furthermore the deep understanding, structured process and methodical approaches have given way to agile, minimally viable software product development approach has lead to some challenges becoming more significant.

In the cloudification challenge series we will be looking at real world examples of these challenges and will explore strategies for reducing the risk and costs associated with these challenges.

See more at https://www.processtempo.com/post/cloudification-series-introduction

Business Continuity Planning in the Covid19 Era

Have you checked out my series of 6 weekly blog posts on CoVID19 Business Continuity ? 

The data required for this type of planning is often sourced from dozens of different solutions. Data on people and process. Data on applications. Data on systems, equipment, customers, suppliers. A mechanism capable of bringing this data together to create composite views is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity.

The Need For Adaptive Recovery - If a company isn’t agile enough, it will fail. Even if it survives the “first wave”, there’s no guarantee that it will survive the potential next, as conditions may be completely different. Adaptive Recovery is about enabling organizations to use data to adapt to the "new normal" and whatever new normal the world throws at us in the future.

Assembling Critical Information For Decision-Making   -  Listen to and understand what the insights are saying, and communicate how triaged efforts were focused. Partnerships between the BOD, CXO Suite and the Analytics team depend upon transparency during this critical time. 

Succession Planning in the CoVID19 Era - How transparent is your organization's succession plan? Are your data and systems actively working to help formalize this process? 

People Impact Analysis -  Leading your company through this crisis isn't just about adjusting to new work from home routines or laying plans for sanitizing your facilities. It will also be about leading people through significant cultural shifts.

Prioritizing Policies and Procedures - How well are you able to track compliance with procedures in your organization? Are the actions of your employees in line with the companies values? How robust is your business continuity plan? 

Innovation, Disruption, Innovation - What changes will your organization need to consider and implement to stay abreast of the social changes from this pandemic to maintain a viable Business Continuity Plan? How will you communicate these transparently and openly? How well are you able to associate the interactive impacts your BCP plan within your organization?