Friday 30 December 2011

Quality IT

Ok...THIS will be my last post...sorry.

Next week I will publish my post about good IT were I will quote a colleague at TeleComputing:

"Compared to buying cheap you only cry once when you buy quality!"

Happy New Year!

Thursday 29 December 2011

2012. How about my predictions?!

On Sunday morning 2012 hits us. A lot of lists and posts prevail about predictions in and about IT, cloud, Internet and more. I will give you some of my thoughts. They are based on my experience, things I read and hear off. The text itself is based on my trend notes written in TeleComputing’s Q4 newsletter and is now translated and in some places modified. I’m focusing more on some short basic to think about’s and reminders more than specifics like cloud, Big Data, Eco systems, BYO or social networking. Mine last longer than 2012 and point especially to service providers and the C-series.

A lot of things happening on the IT-market; what’s present, will increase and evolve in the future? Service provider’s needs to better listen and understand its customers core business and the C-series needs to better understand IT and how it can support the companies’ core business. We all have to be better prepared and plan for the future in time.

It’s very important that techniques to deliver IT as a service is secure, reliable and available because the service should be ditto. It also has to be modular, scalable and flexible to be able to support services from different ISV and sources, also through different techniques to different type of devices because of the consumerization trend BYO (Bring Your Own). Though; techniques are ”secondary”, don’t misunderstand me. Techniques are very important for the IT-department, the service provider (Cloud or not). To the customer it is the support to core business, functionality and availability that is important. This creates demand on the actors on the service provider market and IT departments; simple, functional and reasonable invoicing processes have to exist, and most important; the soft services like Service Desk, change management, perceptiveness, coordination and governance have to be excellent. The Orchestrator role is so important. It’s in these areas the settlement of being an actor on the service providing market or not.

Bullets;

The actor is either a service provider or an IT manager/-department. As a CxO; use it like a check list.

  • The actor must be able to describe how a service brings benefits for the customer and how it kills the customers’ pains. Customer: “What’s in it for us?”
  • The actor must be able to describe and motivate why underlying old techniques need to be upgraded or replaced to meet the future.
  • The CIO role is more business- than technique oriented. The technique is the actors pleasant ”concern”, and it should be transformed to the CIO as business.
  • The actor should be the customers’ market listener and whisperer. The actor should be a part of and contribute to increase the customers’ efficiency and productivity.
  • CxO, not only CIO; you have to understand what IT can do for your business. You have to understand; availability and service hours are not for free.
  • The actor should support the customer to be an attractive employer. People, especially young people, now a days looks of what the employer can do for them to succeed. Without good employees you as an employer won’t succeed in the future. Providing an attractive IT environment and policy is an important ingredient to attract the best.
  • The actor should be the trusted adviser. Some might say it’s a buzz word but partnership between the customer and the actor is a very important key to successful IT as a Service. But never forget, it happens to often and the service provider wakes up with a horse head in the bed; it really takes two to tango!
  • Standard becomes customized, customized becomes standard.
    My prediction is that standard services will increase and customized decrease. Because of economic and integration reasons this change will come, it is too expensive and complex to customize. Companies will customize their organization to the service opposite to the reverse, it’s a change but it has to be done. At the same time the standardized services become more customizable with standardized interface to integrate two or more systems /services.

This is my last post 2011 and I will be back 2012.

May your service provider be good to you next year too.
 
Happy New Year!

Friday 23 December 2011

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and have a great holiday.

I'll be back with new posts before 2012!

/Max

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Trendspan (in Swedish)

Min artikel om trender som publicerades i TeleComputing News nr 4 2011. Några ankor och flowproblem märkte jag vilka jag ber djupt djupt om ursäkt för. ;)

Vad som är på gång

I takt med att marknaden för IT-tjänster och outsourcing av IT-funktioner förändras så förändras även kraven på aktörerna inom outsourcing. Sedan en längre tid tillbaka har förändringen skett från att tillhandahålla co-location och sourcingtjänster till att tillhandahålla managerade tjänster - sourcing providern har blivit en managed service provider (MSP). I denna artikel ska jag lista och försöka beskriva de trender det talas om mest på marknaden.

Generellt finns det som vanligt en tendens att det är många nya benämningar på saker som egentligen funnits sen en tid tillbaka. Det som är tydligt är att gränserna är rätt suddiga och man kan alltid peka på att ingen har fel och alla har rätt.

 

Moln, SaaS online

Sedan ett par år har online- och molntjänster samt SaaS, med alla dess underkategorier, starkt avancerat på marknaden och det finns idag inget som säger att det kommer att avta. Vissa tjänster kommer exempelvis inte vara tillgängliga för lokal installationer utan endast vara tillgängliga i molnet som en SaaS. Internet är en utmärkt bärare för tjänster, varför skulle man inte nyttja den här tekniken? Däremot kommer hypen avta, det kommer bli en mer gängse standard och vissa cloudwashers/wishclouds kommer att försvinna. Det är helt enkelt många som söker lyckan. Något man inte ska glömma är att många system och funktioner kommer att behöva vara kvar lokalt hos företagen eller husera i privata moln hos MSP:s, allt kan inte flytta till molnet, hybriderna är ett faktum.
  • Hybrider Tänk en hybridbil, mix av ex el och etanol. Hybrid IT är mix av moln (ex privata eller publika), system lokalt på företaget och tjänster från en MSP. Hybrider kommer bestå länge, kanske för alltid.
  • On-demand Behoven på flexibla betalningsmodeller och att avropa tjänster vid behov (On-demand) har ökat för att tillfredsställa krav på kostnadseffektivitet. Det här är väl egentligen ingen ny trend men den fortsätter att öka i efterfrågan.
  • IT Ecosystem Hett, men i grund och botten handlar det om att leverera produkter som tjänster och att produktleverantörerna (mjukvara) team:ar upp sig med solution providers, som ex TeleComputing, för att leverera produkten som en tjänst. Från ax till limpa och tillbaka till ax…få det att gå runt. Inte så knepigt som det låter flashigt.

 

Standard blir anpassat, anpassat blir standard

Jag uppfattar, eller kanske snarare förutspår, att det finns en tendens att standardiserade tjänster ökar och att kundanpassade avtar. Alltså det unika avtar medan det ”fyrkantiga” blir mer anpassningsbart. Av ekonomiska och integrationsmässiga skäl sker denna svängning, det är för dyrt och komplext att specialanpassa. Man behöver anpassa organisationen mot tjänsten istället för tvärtom, det är en omställning men den behöver göras. Samtidigt så blir de standardiserade tjänsterna mer anpassningsbara med tydliga gränssnitt för att integrera två eller flera system.

Virtuella klienter

Sist men inte minst vill jag slå ett slag för virtuella klienter. Och nej, det är absolut inte för att jag arbetar på TeleComputing. Virtuella klienter har ett oförtjänt dåligt rykte, ett rykte som inte på något sätt är aktuellt på marknaden idag, kort sagt ingen pratar om de dåliga ryktena för de finns inte. Ryktena baserar sig på användande av gamla versioner med gammal funktionalitet, dåliga installationer och konfigurationer, dåliga kommunikationslänkar mm. Kommunikationslänkar är inte längre ett problem, bandbredd finns både i marken och i luften och det till mycket rimliga priser. I o m molntrenden så är det naturligt att även köra virtuella klienter över internet. Citrix, VMware, Microsoft och andra leverantörers produkter som finns idag är inte samma sak som det som fanns 2005. Installationer och konfigurationer går att göra rätt. Virtuella klienter är hett och kommer att öka. Det finns egentligen ingen anledning att tro något annat – det fungerar riktigt bra! Sen; vare sig man gillar BYOD så är virtuella klienter, enligt mig, i princip ett måste. Kom förbi och testa nya OnDemand om jag inte lyckats övertyga.

Det här är bara några av sakerna som rör sig på marknaden. Det pratas mycket om moln men det gäller att koka ner vad som är viktigt för just ditt företag. Det är det ex TeleComputing ska vara ett stöd i, en rådgivare och partner.

Ökade krav på outsourcingleverantören

Alla saker som händer på marknaden, vad som är aktuellt nu och kommer att öka i framtiden ställer som tidigare nämnts krav på aktörerna. MSP:n behöver bättre förstå behoven företagets core business ställer och hur de tillfredsställs rätt och effektivt.

Tekniken för att leverera IT som tjänst är oerhört viktig att den är säker och stabil. Den behöver även vara modulär och flexibel för att kunna hantera tjänster från olika leverantörer och källor samt genom olika tekniker men även till olika typer av enheter i och med consumerization-trenden BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Tekniken är dock ”sekundär”, missförstå mig rätt. Tekniken är oerhört viktig för IT-avdelningen, MSP:n och molnleverantören. För företaget är det funktionen och tillgängligheten som är det viktiga. Detta ställer krav på aktörerna att ha bra enkla och förnuftiga fakturerings- och beställningsfunktioner samt framför allt de mjuka tjänsterna såsom Service Desk, ändringshantering, samordning och samverkan. Det är inom dessa områden avgöranden kommer att stå om att fortsätta att vara en aktör på outsourcingmarkanden eller ej. Kortfattat;
  • Aktören måste kunna beskriva hur en tjänst bringar nytta och ”killing pains” för kunden. K: ” What’s in it for us?”
  • Aktören måste kunna beskriva och motivera varför en bakomliggande föråldrad teknik är nödvändig att uppgradera för att möta framtiden bäst.
  • CIO:n på företagen går mot att vara mer affärs- än teknikinriktad. Tekniken är aktörens angenäma ”bekymmer”, och den ska förvandlas i business för CIO:n.
  • Aktören ska vara företagets öra mot marknaden samt vara en del i och bidra till företagets ökade effektivitet och produktivitet.
  • Aktören ska hjälpa kunden att vara en attraktiv arbetsgivare. Människor, och framför allt unga människor, ser mycket på vad företagen kan göra för dem. En attraktiv IT-miljö är en viktig del av den.
  • Aktören ska vara den betrodda rådgivaren. Partnerskap mellan företaget och aktören är absolut avgörande för en lyckad IT as a Service. Glöm inte; it takes two to tango.

TeleComputing News No 4 2011 (in Swedish)

TeleComputings News No 4 2011 (in Swedish) is out!

Posts by and about me.

Enjoy!

Another one of thoose nice cloud graphics

This one from Dell.

Full post "The History and Future of Cloud Computing" by Ana Cantu, Dell.


Full size

Friday 16 December 2011

#CloudWisdom 11

Read a post on HP Blogs 'Cloud washed by wrong information' by Christian Verstraete (@christianve)

I don't like WishClouds or Cloud washed services, because I can't see the point, but try not to nitty gritty review others cloud services.

My #CloudWisdom 11;

If you want to spend time judging clouds; prefer acquit before condemn. And ask yourself: what is a pure cloud service?

Thursday 15 December 2011

Major incidents - not good for any ones business

A couple of weeks ago a large Swedish service provider had a major incident on their storage solution. Slightly speaking; there was big BIG trouble for a lot of companies for a couple of days.

First you might think; “oh…not good…for them. But good for my business! Yes! $$$” Quoting Microsoft Word’s spell check; consider reverse. It’s definitely not good for the stroked provider, neither it’s good for the general cloud-, outsourcing- and SP business. People and companies will start to think they should withdraw from their provider or might stop a process to move to a provider. So, no; major incidents at other providers are not good for your business either.

One certain direct effect is that customer will closely check your process and most probably claim for higher penalties and indemnities. Note! I don’t say it’s bad to be reviewed or show how well prepared you are. But it will cost you in longer processes and time consumed to be reviewed. So, again; major incidents at other providers are not good for your business either.

One positive effect is that providers who can’t solve incidents fast and correct will drop off. That’s good for customers and the general business, somehow in a bad way because of bad publicity for providers in general and the actual loss for the customer.

We will always have incidents, regardless of on-premise, at an SP or in the cloud. The most important things are how you best avoid most of them, are well prepared and solve them fast and correct when they appear – ITIL service management at a glance.

Tip of the day! If you think it’s fun with other providers major incidents; laugh quiet and nice at home. In some way it will affect your business too. Tune your processes and security policies. Test and validate. Be well prepared, it might be your major incident the next time.

To all who says “keep it on-premise”;

If I return to my earlier blog post Don’t blame the cloud; what if the storage solution resided on-premise at the customer? I would say scary. If you even will be able to restore the data it probably will cost a lot to fix the problem. And the most important thing on top of this; the loss, including reputation, of doing business caused by the stop.

If as a service from a service provider, cloud or not, you have;

- SLA, normally* with penalties

- Normally* high level supporting services and agreements
- Normally* incident management included in the service
- Normally* indemnities for both direct and indirect loss
*Normally = serious and reliable service provider

Agree/disagree? Are major incidents at another provider good or bad for your business, in the long term?

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Feeling honored 2

A couple of weeks ago Parallels Cloud (@ParallelsCloud) put me on their top 10 list of cloud twitter accounts to follow. Me feeling honored? Yes!

Sad thing; they had to pull the post down. Reason unknown...

Tuesday 13 December 2011

BYOD 2 – A possibility for "the cool guys"

In the first part (BYOD 1 – What is, why trend) I wrote about some basics about what BYOD is and why it has become a trend. We also got some information about what vendors, analysts and journalists say and think about it. Now let's look into for whom is BYOD good for: BYOD 2 - a possibillity for the cool guys.

First; I won’t further discuss this but employers who are having a policy which says “here you have some money, go by your own” is to me a employer who don’t have an attractive device policy. They are just struggling to be an attractive employer and have a weak policy and management level, which is controlled by the employees. It will only create an administrative mess. Just think about simple thing like if the employer buys a device not good enough, who’s responsible to return or upgrade it? And when someone ends their employment after 1 month or 1 year, before the depreciation time ends, should the employer give the “so personal” device to someone else? Just skip this way of BYO, its buy your own and it’s not good for anyone more than the hardware vendor. Let’s focus on the BRING your own.

For vendors of pads and smartphones it’s definitely worth pushing BYOD. But this market will increase whether or not BYOD-model will be implemented by the employer.

For vendors of virtual desktops it will be a continued golden era. My opinion is that virtual desktops (VD) have a, undeserved, bad reputation, this because of bad tradition of lazy communication links and old versions of VD’s. Virtual desktops are a really good way to connect to the employer’s palette of services. With the newer versions from Citrix, VMware, Microsoft and all the others you can get a really nice employer and employee user experience. I will get back to VD’s in a later post.

For vendors of management software the development have to proceed with or without the BYOD. The market of pads and smartphones + the market of VD’s increases and companies have to orchestrate and provide desktops/apps to many different devices.

Fine, the business seems to grow for the main segment of vendors to BYOD solutions…with or without BYOD.

But – if you look at the BYOD trend in general, not on pads, VD’s and management systems, how big is this market and for whom is it for? Sorry, but I think we expect too much of BYOD. I am not going to tear every good reason of freedom down. I am sure I have more than 10 killer reasons why not BYOD. Neither I will embrace why you should allow and implement BYOD. I will focus on some basic reasons why it might be complicated for BYOD to grow and become a legacy standard in delivering IT. Also, and probably the main reason, why it will be difficult to see wins for both employees and employers.

People, by nature, will try to save money so they will try this, they will claim it is a working tool. And - who wouldn’t?! In Sweden and many other countries you do a yearly income declaration. In some cases you are able to withdraw private costs for clothes and tools you need to use in your work. How will tax authorities handle this? I’m quite sure the tax authority will say no no pointing “your employee agreement doesn’t say you should bring your own and we expect your employer should provide you with the device you need.”

Some industries will never ever support own devices. Banks, defense, audit, research in medical and technique etc. Just think about the rigorous security programs and policies companies have to secure their business from attacks, industrial espionage etc. The effort to achieve a secure BYOD-program is too high both from a risk and a cost perspective.

In the first part I talked about Apple being the guys to thank for BYOD. Windows still has a devastating majority of all the professional desktops around the world. But many employers now more do allow, or start to implement, Mac in their standard device portfolio. And when this is implemented at a reasonable level many Mac users most probably want a client the employer pays for instead of bringing their own.

The reason I started to think about BYOD was for this reason; who are the BYOD targeted people and what happens when the bringing becomes an employer demand? I will talk about the employer demand in part 3, so first; who are the targeted people? The people I think about works in areas like IT, market and sales. Not seldom talented with creative skills. Not seldom young. Not seldom with a quite nice salary. The privileged people, the cool guys. How about all the others? Where the absolute mass of people reside = where the margin and all the easy money resides. Note! I haven’t done any research. I am struggling to find other users but it’s difficult, and don’t think I haven’t thought about this. How many are there in industries like industry, health care, general offices – all the “normal” people, the mass, the money? No, they won’t bring their own devices to work – they won’t. If a nurse was allowed to use his/her iPad to read journals on the round he/she wouldn’t – it’s in the walls.

To me BYOD is something for the cool guys. Success stories should include easy money, easy money won’t be found at the cool guys’ level– they are far too few to give big business. Save the BYOD campaign money to something better.

Until part 3 remember; if you bring your own you own it and are responsible for it!

"2012 Threat Predictions: An Industry Roundup" by Infosecurity

Read a great article from Infosecurity. A must read for CIO's, IT guys and all others. You should be informed and up to date with this. Read the full article: "2012 Threat Predictions: An Industry Roundup"

Breakout:
"We asked more than 20 security companies and security experts for their threat predictions for 2012. The intent? To find what the security industry in general expects to see next year. The results are not scientific, but certainly indicative of what business can expect in 2012.

We should start with a caveat: Many of these threats should be combined. For example, social engineering threats will often be focused on social media; the ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) threat is closely linked to the mobile threat; infrastructure attacks will likely use APTs, and so on. Nevertheless, the overall picture is a pretty good overview of the evolving threat landscape for 2012.
|
1: Mobile Malware
|
2: The APT
|
3: Social Engineering
|
Finally...
One last comment. Despite all the threats and warnings and predictions you’ll come across over the next month, remember this: it will be the threat that you didn’t expect that gets you."

Overview:

















All from Infosecurity

Fallin'

I see a lot of negative articles about Facebook. Is it a joined lobbying "attack" or has a star actually start to fall? Again; if falling, who is the successor? Or are we getting tired of the Facebook way of socializing?

Also: Will the "Facebook era" end?

Always remember; Facebook is a company, not a ww sponsored service like the Internet.

Friday 9 December 2011

Dizzy

Don't ask about the dizzy photo...don't know what happened.... Will look into it soon.

Back in blog business?!

Yes, at last I feel I can concentrate on the blog. I have been working in a customer agreement project which has been taking all my time.

First I will finish my BYOD part 2 and 3 (do you even remember the 1st?! ;)) then I will “attack” the subjects: virtual desktops, major incidents and the equableness of good IT and quality interior design.

Wish you all a great weekend!

Until, forever and as always I check off my activity list:

Saturday 26 November 2011

Next week

Looking forward to attend to the Swedish TUG next week (30th Nov to 1st Dec) at Djurönäset conference. Always feels like a sheep in wolf's clothing when cruising with the tech guys. ;)

http://www.tugsweden.se/

Key notes by Citrix, VMware and Microsoft.

Always nice and I will send a lot of posts and even more tweets; hopefully with a deep deep underlying virtual touch!

Friday 18 November 2011

Opinions about pads

Tweeted a quite aggressive article from ZDNET called 'Who really needs a stinking tablet, anyway?' by James Kendrick.

Short version: he says he love his pad, he won’t give it up but thinks he wouldn't miss it if it disappeared.

Result from the tweet:

- 1 RT with the comment 'interesting'.
- 1 disagreement saying the article is more or less rubbish. (As I read it)

I love my "real" keyboard and laptop and would definitely not survive writing without it. No, I can't use a pad to write long stories. Many people love pads and can write long stories. And - it's ok. Taste of the day: vanilla. It's ok.

I would say the main reason was to create debates. You got to have some courage to question tablets now days. I encourage people who dare to tell their opinion or question things.

So, no, the article was according to me not rubbish. And the opinion that it was rubbish wasn't rubbish either.

The author created at least one to me known discussion and probably many more. So the author accomplished his mission; to tell he loves tablets and probably to get more people to use tablets.

Successful lobbying?!

The art of writing.

Quite fun "fog attack"

A driven and strong article about cloud by Brian Katz: 'Cloud Schmoud – Why no one really cares'. Quite fun too. ;)

Break out:

"People are talking about cloud as the next big thing that will solve all your problems. You need to save money, use the cloud, you need to secure your data, use the cloud, you want to make it easy to access your data use the cloud. It’s all bullshit. If you use cloud for any of these reasons and you don’t understand your fundamental business problems that you are trying to solve then all you’re doing is spinning wheels.

It’s time to start focusing on what you are trying to accomplish and less on whether you have the latest greatest thing. No, that doesn’t mean that cloud computing is irrelevant; on the contrary, it has a huge intrinsic value if it is used properly. But as a good friend of mine, George Reese, recently pointed out on Twitter, let’s stop calling it cloud computing and just call it computing. Does it really matter where it takes place in the grand scheme of things? Let’s spend a little less time waxing philosophical about Cloud or Big Data or whatever comes next and start looking at the best tools to allow you to solve your business problems and all the issues that accompany them."

Sorry but I really love when people cut the crap. :)

I don't totally agree with all this but it kind of gets to the point and the important thing; kill customer pains!

At least; do care about the customer and enjoy your weekend!

Thursday 17 November 2011

"10 steps for dealing with criticism"

'10 steps for dealing with criticism', a really good article about dealing with criticism by Alan Norton.

Break out:

"I am not going to tell you that dealing with criticism is easy. On the contrary. Analytical thinkers are convinced that their way is the only way. I have seen it all too often in my own family when a discussion amongst the analytical thinkers soon becomes contentious. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Follow these 10 steps to get a better grip on the unwanted and unsolicited critical words hurled in your direction."

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-steps-for-dealing-with-criticism/2834

Wish I followed some of them sometimes... ;)

Wednesday 16 November 2011

#CloudWisdom 10

Virtualization will continue to emerge and will be the key to UI cloud services.

#CloudWisdom 9

Services and systems integrate. Ask yourself: can you or your provided service handle integrations or know how to answer if you/it can't?

Thursday 10 November 2011

BYOD 1 – What is, why trend

Can BYOD be all things good? I would say; yes for the individual hip young guys but in general; no.

I have been thinking a couple of weeks about BYOD. Right now I cannot really say; yes, I like it and it’s the future – hurrah!

First; this article will be more on a philosophy and maybe even on a political level. Some might even call me bad things. It is based on how society’s and employment works and I know it differs a lot between countries, definitely Sweden versus the US. Since being Swedish I’m more familiar with the Swedish society and if I fail trying to put this on an international level I apologize. The main purpose is to look at BYOD from another perspective and not to discuss societies and country rules and laws. Neither will I focus on technique nor how software works. It is about the trend BYOD.

The article is build up in three parts. In the first part I will focus on what BYOD is and why it has become a trend. The second part will be about for whom the trend is available for and has a relevancy in a 1-5 years perspective. Third and last part will be about when the possibility becomes a demand and have a relevancy in a 5-15 years perspective, maybe even less.

What is

Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is what it says; you can bring your own device and this to your work. It started with BYOC (bring your own computer) but today we have pads, smart phones and computers so Device wraps it up better. The own device can be your true own device and it can be sponsored or loaned from your employer. When sponsored the employer gives you x amount of money to buy the computer equipment you want and need. When loaned the employer loans you x amount of money to buy the computer equipment you want and need. Beware of; who owns the device if you end your employment; taxes if your government counts it like benefits above your salary. BYOD is about to use the computer/device you want and fits your needs best.

For the employer BYOD means they have to solve compatibility issues and license agreement rules when delivering the IT services to different communication links, operating systems and devices, owned by other than the company. Some functions and systems to be considered:

- Storage and security solutions to store company and user data
- Security to be sure connecting devices and users are the correct ones. Attacks might increase because of BYOD
- Virtual desktop solutions to provide IT services to multiple device standards
- Orchestrator-tool to support and manage all the different devices

And they all have to be excellent.

The trend

Well, is it a trend? Yes, definitely.

I really don’t know why BYOD has become a trend and why people really want to bring their own device to work. Is it only the choice of freedom that calls or is it an underlying lobby organization making the call. Well, in some way it is true but the “organization behind” spells consumerization and the explosion of tablets. Consumerization is when consumers bring trends and technique to business instead of the opposite. The BYOD trend should really be ascribed to Apple and as Victoria Barret says; “thanks Apple”.

Victoria Barret, Forbes, ‘Thanks Apple: The B.Y.O.D. Trend

“This might be what makes the B.Y.O.D. short-hand so apt. It is like a B.Y.O.B. dinner. Your IT department will supply the meat and potatoes (think chunky, salty ERP systems), but if you want to have a really good time, you’re left to your own devices.”

I would say the trend has evolved and emerged because of Apple and young people born in late 80’s and early 90’s. Young people who love the choice of freedom and who definitely love Apple, which many employers don’t, or haven’t implemented. Remember these users are the early adaptors and should really be handled with respect. They represent present and future users and leaders. If they continue loving the choice of freedom or gets “boring” when they grow older, like me, we will notice. But they are the influencers of BYOD and many things right now and next x0’s will probably inherit their strength. To the young people’s influence add social networking that are easy to use on pads and smart phones. Social networking you want to bring with you everywhere even to work. So thanks Apple for the BYOD trend, whether you like it or not.

My point

Personally I’m really not that keen bringing my own devices to work with. One of many reasons is because I’ve paid for it and no one has told me my salary should go to working equipment’s. But hey, I’m 41 years “young” so maybe I’m not the primary target. Anyway, some might say; “but you wearing your own clothes”. I am not going in to that discussion…

It might be like Victoria Barret says, or maybe; you might feel so. You want to use cooler or better devices than your employer can offer. Or maybe; you want to use Mac’s and almost every employer offers Windows PC’s. And maybe; you want to use a tablet or smartphones but your employer only uses PC’s and standard phones/mobiles.

As an employee you can always ask yourself; are you responsible for making meat and potatoes or making really good times?

As an employer you definitely should ask; how can we attract good people? Offer attractive devices or go for the BYOD? Should we give the employees really good times even if they only should make meat and potatoes?

What happens if employer offers more attractive devices i.e. iPad’s, Galaxy’s, iMac’s etc.; will the BYOD trend drop dead?

What happens when vendors only sell one hardware and one license instead of two; will the BYOD trend drop dead?

Reading articles

I have read about 10-15 different BYOD-articles the last couple of week, some of them sponsored. I would say all of them either praises or tell us “think about’s” about BYOD but no one questions the concept. Here are some examples.

Citrix BYO - www.citrix.com/byo

"Trying to cope with the flood of personal and non-traditional devices at work? You don’t need an IT floodgate. Embrace employee-owned devices. Rising employee expectations, virtual workstyles and limited IT budgets all require a radical shift in business processes.”

Basically Citrix virtual desktops/apps with a BYOD touch.

Gartner in there ‘Gartner Report BYOC checklist’ (you have to register)

“Key Findings
The benefits of an employee-owned notebook program include freedom of managing nonstrategic assets; more time for IT staff to focus on high-value, high ROI initiatives; a more attractive workplace to attract new hires; and increased user productivity.


Lots of embracing and great recommendations but…no critique. And Gartner is in contrast to Citrix an analytics company. Of course this is a guide so no real analyze about BYOD itself, and it is a really good guide everyone should read before even thinking about a BYOD roll out.

Charles Bess, Enterprise CIO Forum, ‘Are there 5 top reasons CIOs should allow a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy?

“I was reading a post from one of the security experts at HP titled: Top 5 Enterprise Security Challenges with "Bring Your Own Device." When it comes to allowing employees to use their own devices at work, there are some real support, data control and security issues, but the blog post made me wonder: Are there 5 top reasons CIOs should encourage a “bring your own device” policy?”

Bringing some issues up…but drops them a bit too easy.

Jeffrey Burt, eWeek, ‘HP Unveils Business Services for Mobile Applications

"HP and its rivals, including Cisco System and Juniper Networks, are rapidly rolling out solutions to help businesses deal with the growing BYOD trend, which has been fueled by the rising use of Apple iPhones and Google Android-based smartphones and, more recently, tablet PCs driven by the popularity of Apple’s iPads. The trend is toward greater use of mobile devices, and a greater demand by workers to use their own devices—rather than ones issued by employers—to access the corporate network.”And so it continues. Of course companies developing devices and management tools can’t speak negative – this is business. But I’m a bit confused about the general “fresh” attitude from journalists and analytics.

A good one about challenges with BYOD by Paul Schwartz, HP, which Charles Bess refers to: ‘Top 5 Enterprise Security Challenges with "Bring Your Own Device"’, here’s one of them:

5. Who pays? – enterprises need to decide who should pay for the mobile device, who pays for data charges, and who should pay for business related apps. Data charges while roaming abroad can be particularly significant.”

I will end up with a great debate between Ken Hess and Heather Clancy on ZDNET called ‘Reality vs Pipe dream

Ken Hess: “Almost everyone owns an advanced phone and a laptop, netbook or tablet, so why not allow employees to use those devices in corporate work environments? Bring your own device is a new strategy being used by or considered by corporate IT departments. It allows employees to use devices with which they're comfortable and at a lower overall expense to the employee's company. It's an intelligent change in the corporate landscape to lower the costs associated with acquiring, deploying and maintaining devices, to reduce the number of required support personnel, and to decrease the possibility of single vendor lock-in.”

Heather Clancy: “Be honest: Do you want someone telling you what you can and cannot do with your personal technology? BYOD seems like a great idea for productivity, until you try manage it.


So

Is BYOD the future? Might be but watch out for the possible consequences. Will it be available for more people than the young and “cool guys”? And what happens when the BYOD becomes an employer’s demand? Might be scary. Watch out for my upcoming posts about BYOD.

Meantime; if you consider a BYOD roll out program read Gartner’s ‘Gartner Report BYOC checklist’

Monday 7 November 2011

Working on the BYOD post

Currently I’m working on the BYOD post. It takes more time than I expected but I hope it will be worth reading.

The article will be build up in three parts. In the first part I will focus on what BYOD is and why it has become a trend. The second part will be about for whom the trend is available. Third and last part will be about when the possibility becomes a demand.

Friday 4 November 2011

#CloudWisdom 8

Embrace the hybrid, win in the cloud. Lobbying.

#CloudWisdom 7

"All in" versus "We're in and we are serious about it", gambler versus trusted?

"All in" is seldom the right approach in business. Trustworthiness is.

Rose & Born

If you visit Stockholm, Sweden, and are looking for real nice clothing for men; visit Rose & Born. Really stylish and with a people who know what they are doing and can help you, all this to a reasonable price.

Top notch!

I have a dream

Have you ever build your car or just for fun the car of your dreams with a web app? Several of the biggest company offers this service. I’ve tried several of them and the best one, according to me, is the one from Audi (build your car web app).

I have a dream;

What if someone could build an application that was able to put a complete IT outsourcing app? An app who could handle sourced private clouds, public clouds etc. Choosing Service B Service A becomes NA. Choosing Cloud service A “forces” you to choose Communication Service A, B or C where C might be the customers’ existing WAN. And so on… During the end of the configuration session you have to pass some questions; how about customer specific applications, options suitable for the solution etc. When finished you get an overview to verify. Click print and you have a proposal for your customer.

If the proposal gets accepted you open the solution again and choose to create an agreement.

I know this is complex but wouldn’t it be nice? This would be thee app for the Orchestrator.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Will the "Facebook era" end?

First; as a person I'm allergic to too hyped trends. That's why I try to not blow up things in general because it is a fact that when something gets to hyped and trendy it will fall down sooner than later. Important is that if you develop and exceed the user experience you might continue to attract the market for a longer time, but you have an EOL of products and services. Sometime you have to release a completely new product or your company will EOL… (see my earlier blog post The nib and the ballpoint) Here is some example on short and long EOL:

- Music and movie really can't be re-launched with new features etc. so it will be a hit for a short time. Music re-mixes isn't really a "new feature". After that you have to come up with a new song or movie. And you have no chance to bug fix after release.

- Cars can be a long time hit because cars have long life cycles and can be re-developed, but still; sooner or later a new model has to be launched. And you definitely compete with other brands. You have the possibility to bug fix, but probably because of really bad and unhealthy user feedback… So bugs will hurt your business badly.

- An IT product has to be developed all the time and normally have short EOL in its specific version. You can release a buggy version…it’s in some way ok… (weird). The product “model” can last quite long. Good example is Windows XP.

Have this cycle in mind; early adaptor individuals adopt new product > more individuals do > early adaptor companies do > more companies do > early adaptor individuals move to new product > more individuals move to new product.... and so on.

A company who is good at developing their product is Facebook. The product Facebook is more than a product, it’s a lifestyle too. I'm not a regular user of Facebook and not a freaky fan of it (maybe because I'm "old") but I do mean Facebook is a big success, phenomena and a milestone in the history, not just in the IT history. But as I mentioned products do have EOL sometime, even if they are more than a product because peoples mind changes, especially the young ones. I think Facebook have run out of good ideas in its current model (Note! Not version). They are struggling and act more and more like the Big Brother. But I’m too novice to tell when it might EOL.

To me Facebook is a tool developed by young driven people and is used by primarily three types of users:

- Young people who see it like a natural way to socialize with friends, work etc.

- "Old" people who try to make money out of it. With this I mean companies and innovators who say Facebook is the future for business. I think they’re only struggling to make money out of it acting like "wiseguys". Sorry, but I do.

- "Old" people who is struggling to find a way to socialize, but they don't do it as natural as it is for the young ones.

Since the young people use it like a natural way they most likely will feel it's natural to use another tool to socialize. And when you lose the young ones what will then happen to Facebook?


 
Therefor; I'm interested in how long the Facebook-phenomena will last and have a couple of questions I would love to have comments about. Note! I don’t want to discuss the general social media, it will continue in some way, this time I’m focused on Facebook as the leading socializer tool.

The questions;

- Who are the real competitors to Facebook? Will they succeed and how will they act to succeed?

- Will there be private Facebook clouds or will you not trust Facebook and others or maybe; don’t you care at all?

- Will people stop to "socialize" their private life in the future? Is it people’s mind who is the real competitor to Facebook?

- Will Facebook be more of a professional than a private thing in the future? And if a pro thing; will it survive then?

- Will all big software providers accept Facebook as a portal for their services and products?

- Will Facebook start to charge users?

- Will the "Facebook era" end? And if so; when?

How about Microsoft Windows and Office, they have been around for a couple of years now? I’m sure they will EOL sometime. But there are two big differences; they are, in the main versions, developed for business use and they are not free. Though the biggest difference is, and it’s based on the business track; they have never been hyped trends, successes and dominators but not hyped trends. The “more companies”, where the money is, seldom goes for hyped trends.

Praise or raze

We see it in politics, we see it in business and we see it in IT. Company A attacks and disgrace Company B. Company A gathers with Company C to get more power to harras Company B. Both Company A, B and C delivers X (something (or everything? ;) (see earlier blog post))) to similar level of price, quality.

Of course you have to defend yourself if getting attacked. But who do you think truly deliver the best X; the one who attacks or the one who tell their strength and what you can do with it? Who do you think is the best buddy to run your country or deliver IT services to you?

Attack is the best defense?! Sorry...so old.

Monday 31 October 2011

XaaS - now it became even more foggy up there

XaaS...well...what to say. Just say IT as a Service, and if delivered as cloud just tell. Everything as a Service just confuses even more and the sky gets even foggier. Everything is everything and for most of the people, who know what a service is, do definitely not connect everything with IT. Most of the people don't work with IT...

If you want to use the X make it X to tell it is in the XaaS-group / -family.

We are making it dizzy and to complicated.

Sunday 30 October 2011

A foggy sky

Recently and continuously a lot of tweets, articles and discussions circulates which are about or end up in the definition of cloud services and what differs them from other IT-services. Only last week I participated in two… I think we all could see this discussions coming sooner than later…

Reasons:
- Customers and even the customers with good knowledge of IT get confused – where do all the clouds come from?

- IT professionals haven’t decided, taken or know their position inside, outside or with the cloud.

- There are more clouds in the sky than it should be and some of them are not clouds.

…and the offer in the cloudy sky gets unreasonably foggy and drowned.

Almost everyone in the IT business try to use the definition cloud on their products and services with the goal to become a cloud service provider. One good example; At VMworld last week every single one of the about hundred exhibitors did have cloud written somewhere on their booth. Though many do it not everyone offer “pure” cloud services. Some of them most probably offer services for or to support clouds or they might even create wishclouds, either by labeling new or re-labeling existing non-cloud services and products.

Why?
Because we don’t know what we are talking about! But most possible; because of the almost insane focus from the big IT providers and media we think our business won’t survive if we don’t put a ‘cloud’ to the service or product offered. And that is so totally wrong.

Cloud itself is not hype but it’s definitely a media- and service provider’s hype. So you will survive even if delivering non cloud IT services. They are needed and will still be needed in the future.

To do:
- IT professionals have to focus to tell the true story. Don't add a cloud definition on the service if not it easily can be defined as a cloud service – don’t make wishclouds.

- There's no need to be ashamed of delivering IT services without “a cloud” or without a cloud definition. Explain how your service adds value for your customer.

Creating wishclouds; it’s bad for the cloud market and it’s bad for your own business. It’s like when you hear good music and it becomes a one hit wonder; you like it a couple more times but soon you get fed up.

Make a long lasting hit of your cloud service, the service supporting the cloud or the non-cloud service. But do it properly and correct; If it isn’t a cloud service don’t call it a cloud service. Then it will be much easier to keep offerings apart and the sky reasonably cloudy and we will not get fed up on the definition.

#WishCloud, my own tag and definition of IT services not to be defined as cloud. They only have a little ingredient of cloud but the provider wish and claim it to be cloud anyway.

Saturday 29 October 2011

Cloud music

In the beginning of the 90's I and my friends listened to The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds. Then I didn't know something called cloud would be some sort of...of...of - IT "thing". Now I know. I also know they can be quite fluffy...

Enjoy some really good amb (cloud) music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te4xeTKD7LM

Thursday 27 October 2011

Next "massive" post

Next "massive" post, which maybe should be published as a open discussion, will be about BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). In many point of views I think it's a positive trend but I have been thinking A LOT from another perspective; when the possibility becomes a demand...

Available in a couple of days.

Wednesday 26 October 2011

A beginners guide to blogging...

...might not be exactly what I am looking for because I generally know what I want to talk about and do talk about it even if it might be controversial. But please tell if there's improvement I should take on my blog. A couple a days ago I changed the domain and name which caused 'follow by email' not to work. I deleted it (sorry subscribers) and hopefully it works ok now. Today I noticed that you could leave comments if you are a member...but it didn't tell how to be a member. It's open for comments now even if I want to view them first (all related comments will be published, no glorifying censorship). So, please tell.

/the rookie

Apple - the rise and the fall?!

Short one:

When Apple started their crusade to win the device battle with the release of iPod, iPhone, iMac and iPad, with all the patents and license agreements connected to them, they also started their journey to lose more than they won. Not today, tomorrow or next year but I'm quite sure they not will dominate the market within a decade. When trying to rule the world with too many rules and no partners to team up with, you always end up short in a quite short time. It works when you go to a specific market but not when you go to the mass and the mass like it, the mass will always, sooner or later, start to like something else whether or not it is cheaper, more expensive, better or worse.

With the driven business mind Apple (and others) have; add teaming, openness and humbleness. Then success normally ends up good. Those three are far to underestimated.

Just a thought...in Max mind.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

#CloudWisdom 6

Private, public, hybrid, community and etc Clouds. On-prem, outsourced to an MSP or outsourced on-prem. Never forget; it is important for the one who delivers and puts it together but it is never important for the Management group - for them it should fulfill a need, unease a task and increase productivity with less spending. Habla deutsch - speak the same language as the customer.

Customer newsletters

A couple of days ago I read an excellent and easy post about customer newsletters named 'Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool - A Customer Newsletter' written by Tripp Braden (@TrippBraden). I so agree with the text (cut from the post) "Newsletters are cheap, they provide valuable information, and they keep your name in front of your customers, prospects, and former customers."

I think a customer newsletter is a really strong market tool because of the ease creating, writing and publish, also because of the low cost. Of course as long as it is in a friendly layout and with a good content. Unfortunately I see to many uninteresting newsletters which I delete immediately.

At TeleComputing we send out newsletters quarterly. It might be too seldom and that a monthly would be better but it how it is for the moment. We focus on writing basic general articles about new services, business, trends etc and have always as a start the MD-words and end it with an interview with one of our employees. We never do it too "selly", then the receivers for sure would delete it. They want good information from their service provider and not the feeling that they have to buy things, even if the main goal for the sender in the end always is to get more business and to be seen on the market.

I think the trick to get readers, and business, from your newsletter is to embrace quality before quantity, but of course with a high quantity of receivers.

I'm sure our cost isn't as low as Tripp says, 0.89$ the send out, but it's definitely less expensive than to do print outs, which appeal to Green IT and definitely to cloud because it can be read from any device any time.

Inspiration (in Swedish, but you can get a good idea of a successful layout and context): TeleComputing News

Sunday 23 October 2011

Office Web Apps

Yes, as many of you know I am a Microsoft fan, even if they do frustrating things from time to time.

One thing I love from Microsoft is Office Web Apps (read more about Office Web Apps). I think the apps are simple and "good enough" for a lot of tasks. They are available from SkyDrive (personal use), Office 365 (E2 and above plus K2) and if you install it on a SharePoint.

I think it would be great to let companies take part of Office Web Apps to a reasonable price / license by making them available on non-SharePoint web servers. It would be a way in to cloud, Office 365 and maybe SharePoint. It would also be a good way for companies who have "full users" using full Office and "field users" to give the "field users" the light Office (Web App), since they often is on the field and don't need more than light Office. It would solve a problem + it would keep companies from going to other free / cheaper and lighter web apps.

Just an idea!

Saturday 22 October 2011

The nib and the ballpoint

This is a true and personal related part of the history.

In the beginning of the 1920’s my grandpa moved from Germany to Sweden because of the trouble in making business in Germany after WWI. He saw better possibilities in Sweden and took it. 1924 he started his own company in Sweden and imported nibs from Germany, nibs to put in fountain pens. Because of the sad WWII the possibility to import radically stopped. To continue business he was forced to start his own production of nibs and the company ‘Nordiska Pennfabriken’ ((NPF) translated: Nordic Pen Factory) was born. The production was a success and they more or less controlled the Swedish market. My grandpa became Mercher Emil Büchler. For his family, my father’s family, it was a “golden era”.

Remember; this was in a time where we didn’t have the internet, not even faxes. Information was brought by post, newspapers, barely by phone and of course from people to people. Short travel times didn’t exist and a videoconference…no it did definitely not exist. Facebook and Twitter? Neee.

Then suddenly, in the end of the 40’s - big BANG! Stop of the “nib golden era”. The ballpoint entered the market. My grandpa struggled for a few more years but he couldn’t compete and win against “the future”. In the end of the 50’s ballpoint’s had a total domination of the market and NPF stopped its production of nibs – NPF became part of the history. My grandpa continued his business focusing on offering other office equipment’s but he never really recovered from the ballpoint chock.

In Sweden we also have another similar non success story: Facit. A company who made mechanic calculators and who couldn’t compete with the cheaper produced and priced Asian electronic calculators. And I am sure there are a lot more similar stories around the world.

It is no excuse but no I can’t blame my grandpa for not monitoring the market well enough. Of course he in some way had heard about the ballpoint but he misjudged it. We can all learn from this that you never can take a laid back position. You have to find your tools to monitor your market. I haven’t really talked to my grandpa about this; he sadly passed away before I was old enough to do that. But I’m absolutely sure; with all the tools our generation has access to for communicating and monitoring trends and the market. If they would have been available for him and if not misjudging it he would have done the right steps to meet the upcoming possibility. He was an open minded and driven business man. His “golden nib era” wouldn’t have existed if he wasn’t.

Think;

- I might not lose my job. Maybe this is even more interesting, advanced and challenging to do.

- Can I widen my business? There might be other segments in the market to deliver to.

- How will this affect my business?

- Will my customer be faithful to me if I do or don’t do this?

- This might be the future. If not; be sure to tell why.

- I know my product is special and it have to exist and be produced like it is today. And I will tell and prove the market why.

- Is it a buzz? Do I do this already? Tell the market in the new terms. It’s very difficult to change the market if you are alone.

- Negative and positive. Be open minded but not unmindful.

I hope you all can translate nibs and ballpoints in to IT, and of course even into other areas. I don’t say cloud will give you a golden era. But - whether you’re an CIO, ISV, MSP, trusted advisor or IT-professional; you really have to take a look at cloud computing. You can’t afford to not know what it is + why you shouldn’t or when, how and why you should adopt it. You must know your position and why you took it. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to end up in a situation saying; Ooops, sorry owners... We were kind of “fat and happy”… Maybe we should have looked more into the future…sorry... You have to monitor the market, be responsive and ready for change - always! Ask yourself; is cloud “the ballpoint” for your business?

Wednesday 19 October 2011

TeleComputings nyhetsbrev 3-11 (in Swedish)

TeleComputing Sverige skickade tidigare idag ut sitt nyhetsbrev, nr 3 2011. Nyhetsbrevet är skriven på en grundläggande marknadsnivå.

Innehåller bl a artiklarna Office 365, Pads och UC samt den mycket glädjande nyheten att TeleComputing i Norden nu är ISO14001, alltså miljöcertifierat.

Nyhetsbrevet hittar du på http://www.telecomputing.se/sv/TeleComputing-Sweden/Om-TeleComputing/TeleComputing-News/Telecomputing-News-3-11/

Kortis ur Office 365:

Tidigt i somras lanserade Microsoft Office 365 som TeleComputing är återförsäljare av. Microsoft Office 365 är Microsofts lösning för kommunikation, samarbete, webbmöten och produktivitet – i molnet. Med Office 365 kan man enkelt dela dokument och samarbeta med hjälp av snabbmeddelanden, samarbetsportaler, webbkonferenser. Man har även senaste versionen av kontorsprogramvaran Office, dokument, kontakter, kalender och e-post lätt tillgängliga via närmaste dator eller mobiltelefon med webbläsare.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

#CloudWisdom 1-5

#CloudWisdom is my own hash tag on Twitter and, from now, her on my blog. The purpose is to share my basic thoughts and ideas about easing up the Cloud in a short and easy and, never the less, important way. They shall give the novice basic “aha’s” and “don’t be afraid-info”. They should trigger the experienced to ask themselves; do I tell my story easy enough? They shall give you wisdom about the Cloud.

To get better tracking, following and attention I will from now on publish them on both Twitter and here on the blog.

Published #CloudWisdoms at Twitter:

  1. Those who understand the customers´ pains and needs and who can act the organizer to meet these have an excellent position.
  2. Know your position and become the trusted advisor.
  3. On-premise solutions are not all things bad; they are important and sometimes indispensable - integrate them with the Cloud.
  4. A service in the Cloud is a service like any other service; don't make it difficult when explaining for the non-enlightened.
  5. Cloud is not a prefix to “everything”. Misuse will kill the good and correct use. The market will get tired before adopting.

Hopefully – please feel a bit wiser.

/wiseguy ;)

TeleComputing vCloud Powered partner

I'm glad to inform that TeleComputing now, as the first Swedish and Norwegian, is a vCloud Powered partner and listed on VMware's vCloud site: http://vcloud.vmware.com/vcloud-ecosystem.

The full pressrelease will be available in a few days at: http://www.telecomputing.com/, http://www.telecomputing.no/ and http://www.telecomputing.se/.

To read more about vCloud and vCloud Director please visit: http://www.vmware.com/products/vcloud/overview.html and http://www.vmware.com/products/vcloud-director/overview.html

VMware vCloud Powered will expand TeleComputing's IT as a Service offer and to strengthen their position as a leading Managed Service Provider in the Nordic region. The service will debut during Q1 2012, in order to provide existing customers and new customer segments with a modern IaaS service as a part of TeleComputing’s IT as a Service offer.

Thursday 13 October 2011

Fjällbacka

Tomorrow morning I'm heading towards lovely Fjällbacka for a nice weekend with my family and friends. On Monday morning off to Copenhagen and VMworld.

So...no promise to deliver posts until Monday...but most probably I will.

Wish you all a great weekend.

Energy consumption

There are a lot of articles and tweets about how cloud computing will cut energy consumption and costs in the future. One example is a report from Pike Research which says “that the adoption of cloud computing will lead to a reduction of data center energy consumption of 31% from 2010 to 2020.”

The report also quotes senior analyst Eric Woods who says “Cloud computing revenue will grow strongly over the next decade, with a CAGR of almost 29%. But the reduction in energy consumption will be even more significant. Massive investments in new data center technologies and computing clouds are leading to unprecedented efficiencies."
CAGR - Compound Annual Growth Rate

You can find a lot more to read about this on the web.

It is important that we can increase our productivity and efficiency by adopting cloud computing. It is also important putting on-premise solutions in modern data centers (with modern hardware), whether or not outsourced. Unfortunately many of the on-premise solutions are not that modern and won’t be upgraded that often like an MSP’s. Green IT might be a buzz word but never underestimate the importance of energy consumption; it will save money and definitely save our environment and the earth. A earth with limited resources.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

TeleComputing and I at VMworld Copenhagen

Next week I will blog and twitter from VMworld in Copenhagen.

TeleComputing and I will be at booth 97A. Right in the middle with an excellent position next to NetApp and HP and close to the host themselves VMware. It will be great.

Please stop by and talk cloud, outsourcing, orchestration, services and of course vSphere, vCloud and virtualization with my colleagues and me. Among others my colleagues Kjell Tore Espeseth (CTO), Björn Andersson (@diversetips, diverstips.se), Hackim El Yahiaoui (VM Expert) and Lars Jansson (Manager Operations) will be there.

Did you know TeleComputing has one of the largest VM platforms in northern Europe? We do. It serves, among other environments, our top-notch multi-tenant On-demand platform.

I am very excited and looking forward to this event. Come visit us.

+ We will also have a special announcement. Follow me and I tell.

Monday 10 October 2011

Nice stats

In about 2½ half week my blog have reached about 600 views. According to me a really nice number since it really is a jungle of sites, blogs etc out here + really no experience in blogs and twitter, I just love to write.

I want to thank you all for visiting, reading and for giving me the confidence to tell you my stories - thank you. I will continue to tell you my point of views in a hopefully nice, trusted and, sometimes, "twisted" way.

Saturday 8 October 2011

Feeling honored

I am feeling truly honored by the mentioning and FF from @whymicrosoft on Twitter.











Big THANK YOU.

May the weekend be good with all of you

Friday 7 October 2011

Upcoming post: The importance of monitoring the market

Upcoming article (long post) will be a true personal related (hi)story of the importance of monitoring the market well and what happens if you don't.

Prel Monday 10th of October.

Thursday 6 October 2011

DaaS, Part 2 (3 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?

Recap, Part 2 (1 + 2 of 3): As an MSP you have to use licenses from the SPLA Program if you want to offer solutions based on Microsoft software which also includes licenses. Windows 7 Enterprise is definitely the OS you want to provide your complete managed DaaS.

The Issue
When working with managed services and SCCM, as the “manager”, you cannot use OEM-versions as OS-license because you can’t control the license, it belongs to one specific computer, and you cannot handle one image for every PC. Neither can you use non VL-licenses, like the Windows 7 Ultimate, because they use traditional Microsoft licensing servers and not KMS or MAK (read more). You are stacked to use either licenses from VL or SPLA.

Check the picture in chapter 2 again which says; “The Windows 7 Enterprise operating system (OS) is available to Microsoft Software Assurance customers”. This means you can find the Windows 7 Enterprise version in the VL Programs, if you signed up for SA. This is a fact and I won’t go in to that discussion even if I think you should be able to buy it without SA. So this is fine if you as an MSP want to offer a managed DaaS where the customer is responsible for the licenses.

A complete managed DaaS where the license is included should then use Windows OS license from the SPLA program. Here is the big problem; Microsoft only offers Professional in the SPLA Program! According to Microsoft; Windows 7 Enterprise is an SA benefit. According to me; SPLA is in a way SA too, you have the right to run the latest version; SPLA is the way to offer services including the license; Windows Enterprise is the version for companies; why isn’t it available in SPLA? MSP doesn’t need the other SA-benefits but we need the Enterprise version and I really think we’re paying for it.

Going back to the DaaS, part 1; as a MSP you will not be able to fulfill 100% because if you want to give enterprises enterprise options customers have to buy or subscript their own licenses from a VL agreement. Today there is no way to deliver a complete managed DaaS. Microsoft; please do check this out; you are making a mistake here. I’ve talked to a lot of people at Microsoft about this; both on Nordic, EMEA and Corp level but no one really understand or can explain why it isn’t available in SPLA. My intention was to discuss this on the DaaS round table at Microsoft Hosting Summit 2011. Unfortunately all the talk was about VD’s, AppV and other V-things – yes, “the other” DaaS…

Microsoft, you haven’t done your homework in this matter. Adjust to the market like you did with the excellent License Mobility. Make the Windows Client Enterprise SKU available in SPLA Program. It really can’t be that difficult.

Don’t misunderstand me, I love Windows 7 Enterprise and we want to offer it in our services, but we can’t.

The end of DaaS, Part 2 – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS? Thank you for reading the whole story.

All articles in my special DaaS story:
DaaS, Part 1 – do we all mean the same thing?
DaaS, Part 2 (1 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?
DaaS, Part 2 (2 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?
DaaS, Part 2 (3 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?

If you want to engage me or discuss this further; please contact me.

DaaS, Part 2 (2 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?

Recap DaaS, Part 2 (1 of 3) : As an MSP you have to use licenses from the SPLA Program if you want to offer solutions based on Microsoft software which also includes licenses.

Windows 7 Enterprise
As a MSP you want to offer services and solutions which bring the best value to the customer and the best business for the MSP. Best value to a customer (small, SME/-B or Ent) is offering Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise as the OS in a complete managed DaaS. It offers features lower versions don’t. This is a breakout from a Microsoft website about Windows 7 Enterprise:


As you can see Microsoft says “unique technology for enterprise customers” and “with Windows 7 Enterprise, you can take advantage of the following features that are not available in Windows 7 Professional”. Note! “…not available in Windows 7 Professional”.

A true complete managed DaaS should be based on Windows 7 Enterprise and not on Professional. You have the great and professional features listed above where I want to highlight especially DirectAcess but also the BranchCache, Federated Search, BitLocker + TG and AppLocker…and then why not mention the other two great VDI opt and Multilingual UI. They are all features companies should take part of. But they cannot...in a complet managed DaaS.

Tomorrow: DaaS, Part 2 (3 of 3 ) -‘The issue’

All articles in my special DaaS story:
DaaS, Part 1 – do we all mean the same thing?
DaaS, Part 2 (1 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?
DaaS, Part 2 (2 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?
DaaS, Part 2 (3 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?

DaaS, Part 2 (1 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?

This is really not the biggest issue in the cloud and XaaS-world but I feel significant enough to highlight. Never the less it is one of these issues that players on the cloud market have to adjust to make the cloud work ok. I know it is a long story, but it has to be said. I have divided the Part 2 into three parts to make it easier to read.

If I could get 10 people at Microsoft to read and understand this… It could be a “small step for Microsoft, a giant leap for “DaaS-kind””. ;)

Recap DaaS, Part 1: There are two types of DaaS: the traditional virtual desktop and the growing complete managed DaaS which includes desktop (vd or not), hardware and the complete management. But it’s difficult when you as an MSP want to include the license.

Last spring I was invited to Microsoft in Sweden to discuss the possibility to sell complete managed DaaS including Win OS and Office 2010. Note! This meeting wasn’t initiated by me. But since I’m really in to this type of services I started to check this out and soon the idea ran into trouble…

License basics
As an MSP delivering services based on Microsoft software you should use the SPLA Program. You are not allowed to lease any other type of licenses. You can use SPLA as long as you have control of the equipment, this means either MSP- or customer owned equipment in a datacenter or MSP owned equipment on-premise at the customer. But you can never use it on customer owned equipment on-premise at the customer.

In some cases (private clouds and systems which can be a part of License Mobility) the customer can use their own licenses and they can be bought or subscribed from Microsoft, but it is a business between the customer, a LAR (Large Account Reseller) and Microsoft.

License basic is; you should have a license to have the right to install (and use) the software and you should have control of the equipment where the software is installed so you can uninstall it when the right to have it installed ends. That’s why an OEM-license comes with the computer, not the user.

This is quite clear by Microsoft. As an MSP you know quite well what you can and cannot do. But this is also where Microsoft stops the evolution of a complete managed DaaS.

Mr Jobs, thank you.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Royal Copenhagen

This morning posting my latest blog post DaaS, Part 1... I copied the link and tweeted it...then to get more readers I tweeted it again with mention to followers who helps me spreading my posts and tweets + hopefully enjoys them too. The problem was...during my big cup of morning coffee, trying to wake up, I looked at some really nice china from Royal Copenhagen. So I copied the latest link and tweeted the china... :o Exactly like @johnlkinsella said: "pebkac". :)

So what to do? Well, let's go to royal Copenhagen and check the Royal Copenhagen china out. When? Monday the 17th - VMworld! Yes! :) I hope to meet you there.

And of course - the china: http://www.royalcopenhagen.com/shop/shop-series/1/dinnerware/136/flora Think about this; one of each. Lovely top notch kitsch on the coffee table!

DaaS, Part 1 – do we all mean the same thing?

When talking DaaS (Desktop as a Service) I often get confused; what do you/I/we mean? One type is the traditional virtual desktop accessed by i.e. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services Client (formerly known as Terminal Services Client) with or without a Citrix Desktop Receiver. I think this is a SaaS, maybe a bit advanced but still a SaaS and a SaaS only. This type is according to me far the most common DaaS on the WW market. The other is as I see it most frequent on the Nordic market but please tell me if I lack in this.

Another type of DaaS, the one I usually think about is a complete managed DaaS. A DaaS including the basic infrastructure, platform, directory, file and print services which all will be accessed from a thin client, pad or a traditional pc, no matter the OS. The physical client itself should be included in the service, a physical client which of course contains a complete and environmental certificated (green) DLM (Desktop Lifecycle Management). Responsible for managing the physical client and the OS are the MSP, i.e. with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) and the physical support handled by IMAC-D routines. The customer should only have to call for 1 piece of DaaS to fulfill one users need during agreed time and price.

What about the license? Yes, it should be included but it isn’t that easy if we want to use the most common operating system – Microsoft Windows. I will get back to this issue in: DaaS, Part 2 – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS? which will be available in a couple of days.

To the DaaS customers should be able to add their typical applications and services (cloud or not). Whether this software and licenses can be included is more a LA (License Agreement), logistic and policy thing. If you as a MSP can lease it and make money out of it – why shouldn’t you?

I really can’t say which one of them is "true" DaaS but customers and MSP’s must be able to differentiate them from each other. Should you rather call the complete managed DaaS a WaaS, (Workplace as a Service) instead? Maybe, but it might confuse more than explain and it really gets a bit frustrating with all the different XaaS’s meaning different and same things.

I think the complete managed DaaS-market will increase. It’s part of the Orchestrator mind set. Customers have to focus on the core business. Customers have to buy complete IT, not one or more XaaS’s who fulfill 25, 50 or 75%. Do remember; the customers’ internal IT department can be the Orchestrator.

All articles in my special DaaS story:
DaaS, Part 1 – do we all mean the same thing?
DaaS, Part 2 (1 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?
DaaS, Part 2 (2 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?
DaaS, Part 2 (3 of 3) – what happens when you provide it with a Microsoft OS?

Thursday 29 September 2011

So, what will the next post be about?

Tonight I will start writing a post about DaaS – Desktop as a Service. According to me there are two types of DaaS, I will try to sort them out and at the same time give Microsoft a remark about available operating systems in SPLA vs VL and/with SA.

"Making Sense of ‘The Cloud’" by Extrinsica Global

Great reading: "Making Sense of 'The Cloud'" by Extrinsica Global.

The Exec sum from the article:

"The term ‘cloud’ is currently being used to describe a wide range of IT-based services that are delivered or consumed via the Internet. Unfortunately, the simplicity of the term and plethora of ‘cloud services’ already available in the market causes confusion in the minds of potential customers. This non-technical white paper is designed to enable business owners and leaders to understand the options when it comes to ‘the cloud’; to understand the range of cloud services available and which types of services are likely to be most suitable for their businesses.

The paper first segments cloud services into logical groupings and then describes, in general terms, each type of service. It also examines the applicability and the pros and cons of each service for small (25 – 250 employees) and mid-market (250 – 2000 employees) businesses. Finally, the paper addresses objectively some common concerns about the cloud approach and cloud service providers.

The paper demonstrates that there is a wide variety of services in the marketplace but, by segmenting the services and examining each segment in turn, it is possible for non-technical business leaders to make sense of ‘the cloud’ and get a good feel for the type of cloud services that would be appropriate for their business. It also shows that, while businesses should be cautious, the cloud approach to consuming IT functionality is a viable and practical proposition even at current levels of Internet bandwidths available to businesses. Nevertheless, because it is an emerging market, there is variability in the quality of vendors' offerings and companies should choose their service providers with care."

Register and download the complete article from: http://blog.extrinsicaglobal.com/extrinsica-global-white-paper-making-sense-of-the-cloud/

Tuesday 27 September 2011

the Orchestrator

Orchestration is one of my favorite topics to preach. I will come back to it many times.

The cloud market increases. Public boxed clouds will continue to emerge and some systems will not be available for local installations. There will be systems and services that never will be able to put in the sky. So hybrids already exist and will continue to exist. Customers, on-premise and/or outsourced, will need help in this matters. I mean it is not possible for customers to have the competence to organize hybrids without a strong IT department or together with a partner. Here MSP and SP and IT departments have an opportunity and an important role to take because I think customers really need help with this. We need to bring best possible value to the customers; IT will be far too complicated for the customers and the Cloud to scary.



The role to take is the Orchestrator role.

Orchestration: an arrangement of events that attempts to achieve a maximum effect

First; know and/or take your position. Then, even if you’re an internal IT department; take the key role as a trusted advisor and organizer. Know how to combine on-premise (or outsourced) systems with public boxed and private cloud services - become a unified service provider, be thee partner. Customers should have only one contact in all IT related matters; evolve the SPOC to SPoSP – Single Point of Service Provider. You should be the primary contact to all of your customers systems and services. One should also know which services the market offer, you should be able to propose new and other services that will affect the customers IT in a positive way. Know well known issues, advantages and disadvantages of services – know the Cloud.

Become the Orchestrator!

Orchestration by TeleComputing

Premium is to be able to integrate several services and their provisioning systems in to a single provisioning system with a friendly user interface which also the customer can use.

One issue that might cause trouble is that the end customer has to sign the agreement with the service provider, even in the cloud. This might cause legal and invoicing issues. Microsoft has the syndication program but it’s only available for really large SP’s. The market, including Microsoft and other large ISV’s have to dig in to this, it has to become easier.

Please engage me if you want to know more about how I reason.

Sunday 25 September 2011

Bad "wrapping"!

I'm definitely positive to evolution and development. I’m definitely positive offering services who “wraps” a customer (i.e) to you. But the offer, add on or “the wrapper” should always add something positive for the customer in saving money, unease activities etc. I really can’t see how all these updates on Facebook do add something positive. It’s all about market, advertisement, lobby and keeping the developers busy – pipe dreams. I really getting tired of Facebook and Google trying to rule the world wrapping everything in and trying to make business in everything, in the end it might hit back. It all feels desperate.
This post is the comment I did on yet another idea from Facebook posted and great commented by Devin Tonhaeusers blog post 'Dude, You're not helping' http://devintonhaeuser.com/2011/09/24/dude-youre-not-helping/#comment-22

Friday 23 September 2011

Great Reading: "The Cloud Diagnosed By IT. And It Isn't Pretty" by Brad Peters

To connect to my latest blog post Don't blame the cloud I would like to mention Brad Peters article about people running anti-cloud campaigns.

Short breakout where Brad Peters says:

"As the long-anticipated backlash against cloud computing begins, I want to thank technology journalist and IT consultant Frank J. Ohlhorst for making the strongest case yet for the anti-cloud camp… and in the process making the case for the cloud stronger than ever.

Recently, in a thoughtful and well-written blog essay, Ohlhorst sets out all of the arguments to make against companies adopting the cloud model over an in-house IT operation. He makes some very good points; but with a little scrutiny it quickly becomes apparent that the topics Ohlhorst doesn’t address are even more important – and telling – than the ones he does.

Here, in brief summary, are Ohlhorst’s arguments why companies should probably steer clear of the “hype” surrounding cloud computing these days. I’ll list each of his points in turn, then add my counter-argument:..."

Read the full article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bradpeters/2011/09/23/66/?feed=rss_home

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Don’t blame the cloud

I often read articles which say something like:

- ”Don’t go to the cloud, it’s not safe”
- “Office 365 down for several hours – what did I tell you”
- “Datacenter on Ireland knocked out by thunderstorm – keep it on-premise”
- “Companies will move back IT on-premise in the future, away from the service providers”

And that often said by trusted IT advisors and renowned journalists. This makes me a bit confused and irritated. I also ask myself: how trustworthy is it to diss the evolution?

Of course; we have to and should review all small as big service providers. If they deliver in time, to agreed service levels, established penalties and so on. Cloud computing and service providers should be reviewed, no doubt.

But, and that’s a big BUT, what if keeping all in-house/on-premise; what will happen when the thunderstorm comes to you, you get hacked or firewalls and gateways start to loop? How will this affect the core business? Can you afford to keep all necessary knowledge in-house or having support agreements with very short response time? Can you afford to have or buy HA-environments in-house? Does your IT have established SLA's (or OLA's) and will you get paid from the IT-department if they don’t meet them? If you say yes to all of this then you are lucky and are most probably one of a few + your owner or the management isn’t informed or don’t understand the actual cost.

Conclusion:
Don’t ever go to a restaurant. It’s awful and scary to meet new people, order a nice meal to a known price, to have a pro chef cook your hopefully excellent meal. It’s also unnecessary to have the possibility to complain if something doesn’t taste like it should or if the table doesn’t meet your preferences of a good table. And that you definitely can leave and go to another restaurant isn’t your style. Stay at home and cook, it might be cheaper buying but it will most probably cost some time to cook and if you burn it…. then you most probably not will have the dinner you planned for. Who to blame then? Not me! “Bah! A nice dinner is overrated…” And don’t even think about looking up or reserve table on the Internet…it’s a cloud service.

Note:
I don’t say cloud services are perfect all the time in every way. And as I say in my article ‘Cloud – by TeleComputing’ I don’t say you should or can put everything in the cloud; X-ray equipment’s will never be sourced in a datacenter on Ireland, the software might be but not the equipment. Laws will say you can’t store some data outside the organization or country. Hybrids exist and will keep on existing.

For sure:
When there is a power outage, a thunder storm, services stops or lack in quality or whatever similar else happens at a service provider, the service provider will do everything they can to solve the incident. Why? Because service levels will start to tick, penalties will cost and reputation will start to drop. Being a service provider means being a pro of delivering services. Service providers will do everything to deliver a secure, available service – it’s a mindset.

The affect will of course be extensive if an incident hits a multicustomer service provider. And it will be written and read about. But what about all outage on-premise solutions, have they been counted, how much do they cost and what frustration does it cause the organization?

Please:
Stop this “retrogressive nonsense” that cloud is all things bad. A trusted advisor should advise the best for its customer, and cloud is for sure a good part of a solution. Stop blame the evolution of IT, blame yourself for not telling the big picture. Stop blame the cloud. Then, and only then, you will be a trusted advisor.