IT's Evolutionary Transition

Over the past year, I’ve observed a concerning trend about workloads. It seems that with the advent of cloud computing, the idea of a workload has been confused a bit. The fundamental concern is a misguided view that all workloads are the same or similar. Specifically, I’ve heard general IT professionals making decisions around cloud computing by following those of Netflix, Zynga, Facebook and Google. This makes some very large and flawed assumptions that are fundamentally based in a misunderstanding of the business drivers and workload requirements.

What is a Workload?

First, let’s start with what a workload is. A workload is a characterization of the work that applications perform. This includes the applications, systems, storage and network infrastructure. It’s a holistic view of the type of “work” being performed with the entire system. The nature of the work is the load being placed on the infrastructure systems. The work being performed is governed by the application, systems, configurations and specific use of the applications or services. At a macro level, this is fairly unique to each company. There are exceptions, which I will discuss in a minute…read on.

Workload Modeling

For well over 20 years, organizations have modeled their workloads to better understand performance characteristics of systems. Others may refer to it as Web Testing, Software Testing, Load Testing and the like. When I was at InfoWorld in the early 90’s, I participated with BAPCO to model performance of systems based on the 10 most popular applications at the time. At the time, we used scripts to perform functions in each app similar to popular actions taken by typical users. It was very cool for the time. The idea was to create a “typical” load by characterizing typical application use on systems, storage and networking devices. Today, the level of sophistication of workload modeling has increased significantly. And many tools like TPC target a specific application or service. I’ve listed a number of more popular ones in the references section.

Two Fundamental Types of Workloads

At a high level, when you consider the different types of workloads, there are two fundamental categories. One is the monolithic application/ service while the other is more generalized. These are very different.

Monolithic Applications

The monolithic application is often a single-purpose custom-built application (or application suite) and runs at scale. In addition, it’s commonly a dedicated application separate from general business IT functions. Examples would be Zynga’s gaming platform or Google’s search platform. Both Zynga and Google’s environments also run at an extreme scale. Because of the scale, it’s even more important to understand nuances around workload characterization that are less critical (and harder to pin down) with mixed workloads. For example, Google can fine-tune the different aspects of their search platform to decrease the time to present results. In addition, they can create custom infrastructure components, architectures and configurations. Why? Because they clearly understand the myriad of possible tweaks to the application and their impact. In addition, applications at scale bring a whole host of unique challenges on their own. This is a very different environment from their internal core business applications that run their business. It is also very uncommon for most businesses to have this type of workload with the exception being the aforementioned or possibly a Line of Business (LOB) application. Arguably, one might consider Google, Facebook, Netflix or Zynga’s apps the company’s LOB application.

Mixed Workloads

The second type of workload is a mixed workload that combines a variety of core business applications. Internal core business applications are great examples of a mixed workload (email, ERP, HR, Financials, custom applications, etc). Each company will have a different combination of applications. They may also be a combination of off the shelf and custom applications. And each application does not typically run at a very large scale. These are classic IT workloads and found in just about every organization. The amount of effort to characterize and tweak this workload at a granular level vs. the value gained is often hard to justify.

Comparing Apples and Oranges

It’s important to clearly understand the type of workload you are comparing. Comparing what Zynga does with your own decisions is not the wisest of choices. Meaning, the demands and specifics of a monolithic workload are very different from a mixed workload. In addition, this does not taken into account the business factors that each type of workload brings to the forefront. All of these should be considered in the decision making process.

Following, Learning and Thinking

So, simply following Zynga, Google or Facebook’s decisions with cloud computing should not be happening without further consideration. Unfortunately, it is. Yet even Netflix and Zynga have taken very different paths for their applications/ services. Can we all learn from these industry leaders in the cloud computing space? Absolutely! But we need to consider what factors and aspects compare with our own needs. Getting to the answer is more complex than simply saying “Facebook went right, we should go right too!”. It means we need to think more and understand our own needs.

And as if understanding your own workload is not complex enough, comparing workloads across companies is very challenging. There are so many variables to consider that the value may not be worth the effort. For most it will still be an apples to oranges comparison. The best advice is to understand the factors that go into your decision-making process and compare common attributes across workloads. That way, you can learn from others while making good decisions about understanding your own workload.

Leveraging the appropriate tools can also assist in the decision making process.

References:

TPC Benchmarks: Transaction Processing Performance Council (http://www.tpc.org/)

SYSmark/ MobileMark/ WebMark Benchmarks: BAPCO (http://www.bapco.com/)

Cloud Testing: SOASTA (http://www.soasta.com/)

HP LoadRunner (http://www8.hp.com/us/en/software/software-product.html?compURI=tcm:245-935779)

As a frequent flyer that booked over 150,000 actual flown miles last year, I like to travel light. In that vein, I prefer to travel with only an iPad and no laptop. Sure, I do have a MacBook Air that I could bring. These days, I find that flying with the iPad solo fits the bill.

As a diehard iPad user, I’m often asked about the applications I use and why. That brings me to this list. There are many different applications that I (and others) have used and find useful. However, I find that I come back to these applications more than others. As a bonus, I’ve added a few honorable mentions to the end.

Top 5 Most Used Business Apps

1. Pages/ Keynote: Pages is Apple’s version of a word processing application. It lacks more complex features like reviewing found in Microsoft’s Word. But it is great to for taking notes and creating documents. And you’re able to export to PDF and Word formats. Keynote is Apple’s version of a presentation application. I do find creating presentations in Keynote cumbersome. So, I create the presentations in PowerPoint on my laptop then transfer them into Keynote. Using the iPad video adapter, I am able to present right off the iPad. One tip: make sure to test your presentations after conversation to Keynote. Some of the more complex features don’t translate cleanly. But with trial and error, I have found what works and doesn’t work.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pages/id361309726?mt=8

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/keynote/id361285480?mt=8

2. iThoughtsHD: A stellar mindmapping tool which is a great way to collect thoughts, move them around and organize them. Using the iPad Video Adapter, your mindmap is displayed on a projector which is a great way to collaborate with others. And there are plenty of ways to export your mindmap…or just email it to folks.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ithoughtshd-mindmapping/id369020033?mt=8

3. Penultimate: The toolset would not be complete without a freehand drawing tool. It is a great tool for drawing charts and pictures of your thoughts. While you can use your finger to draw, I find a stylus more functional and precise. And again, like iThoughtsHD, you can display to an external projector using the iPad Video Adapter. In addition, you can export or email diagrams around too.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/penultimate/id354098826?mt=8

4. Box: I’ve used iDisk, DropBox, Box and iCloud. iCloud is great for sharing between Apple applications and devices. However, I found that Box provided better usability between platforms and applications. In addition, Box gives you the ability to select “favorites” of files or folders to access offline. That’s great for use on an airplane. In addition, a increasing number of apps support the WebDAV standard allowing files to be saved directly to Box. Conversely, files can be opened by specific applications instead of simply using the Box file viewer.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/box-for-iphone-and-ipad/id290853822?mt=8

5. Kayak: This is a new entry to my list. I used to be a TripIt Pro user. However, I have found that Kayak now provides updates to trip (flight changes, gate changes, etc)…but without the subscription feel that TripIt Pro requires. Don’t get me wrong. TripIt Pro is a great application. The only reason I dropped them for Kayak was the fee. And I was already using Kayak for other purposes too.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kayak-mobile/id305204535?mt=8

Honorable Mentions:

1. Twitter: Call me a purist, but I fancy the classic application. There are others that work well too.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8

2. Skype: Calls from overseas can be pricey. So, I tend to rely more on Skype. I also use Skype if I’m in a location with spotty cell coverage…but good Wi-Fi. Convention centers and hotels come to mind.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skype-for-ipad/id442012681?mt=8

3. United Airlines: The new(er) United app is really an app for iPhone. Aside from the graphics, it works well on the iPad for looking up details about your trip and alternative flights.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/united-airlines/id449945214?mt=8

4. WordPress: It’s a decent way to make posts to your blog, change pages and check stats.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wordpress/id335703880?mt=8

5. LinkedIn: Similar to the United app, this one is designed for the iPhone too. But I still find it more useful than pulling up a browser to search, make connections and send notes.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/linkedin/id288429040?mt=8

Necessary Hardware:

1. Apple VGA Adapter: This is one of the most used cables in the bag. It connects between the iPad’s 30-pin connector and a VGA port. Sure, there is an HDMI version. But I have yet to find a place that has a projector or display with HDMI over VGA.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC552ZM/B?fnode=MTc0MjU4NjE

2. Apple Wireless Keyboard: Over time, I’ve become very proficient with the iPad’s on-screen keyboard. But there are times when the external Bluetooth keyboard is called for. And it’s a very light addition to the bag.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC184LL/B?fnode=MTc0MjU4OTY

3. Incase Origami Workstation: This is a great case for the Apple Bluetooth keyboard. Before getting it, I kept having trouble with the keyboard constantly turning on when I threw it in my bag. Then it would drain the batteries in the keyboard and the iPad. The Origami case provides enough protection for the power button on the side. In addition, it serves as a great stand for your iPad making it into a pseudo laptop.

http://goincase.com/products/detail/origami-workstation-cl57934

4. iPad 10w Power Adapter: The power adapter that comes with the iPad is great. But you never know when you will need a bit more extension to the cable. Or run into a plug that won’t fit the iPad’s power brick. That’s where this cable comes in handy. And it works for your iPhone too.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC359LL/A?fnode=MTc0MjU4NjA

I hope you find this list useful. Enjoy!

Building data centers in specific areas is nothing new. Data centers are large consumers of power. That’s not news either. Typically, data centers are located near sources of low-cost (and hopefully renewable) energy. Energy is a large portion of the overall data center operational costs.

But power isn’t everything. Two other major considerations are connectivity to a variety of major backbone providers and people. Yes, people. How many skilled workers are willing to take the risk and relocate to a rural area? If the job doesn’t work out, where do they go? There is a premium to relocate people, which factors against the power savings.

Two ways to address the people issue are 1) locate the data center in close proximity to other data centers and 2) architect for a truly lights-out operation to limit staffing requirements. It seems that both are not only possible today, but also being encouraged.

Major companies such as VMware, Intuit, Microsoft, Yahoo, Dell along with commercial providers have build data centers in the Wenatchee/ Quincy area of Central Washington State. The combined data centers comprise more than two million square feet of data center space. That’s quite a large footprint for such a rural area. More recently, Facebook located and Apple is locating a data center in the Prineville, Oregon area.

If your company does not have the scale for large data centers, there are still options. Commercial data center providers are locating data centers in the Wenatchee/ Quincy area. There is also a growing trend in the creation of data center “parks”. These are locations that are specifically built to take advantage of power, cooling, tax implications and connectivity options. In addition, they’re close enough to metro areas to attract the talent required for operations.

Reno, Nevada

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2010/11/15/large-reno-project-to-generate-its-own-power/

Colorado

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/03/09/energy-park-proposed-at-nexus-of-fiber-power/

I would expect to see an increase in data centers popping up in these data center parks and away from metropolitan areas where rent and power is expensive. In addition, cloud computing will only increase the movement of data center functions away from traditional approaches to commercial offerings in remote areas.

There is quite a bit of confusion between CoIT (Consumerization of IT) and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). While these two subjects are related, they are not the same. To make things more confusing, the two terms are often interchanged. Yet, they have very different contexts and definitions. And the impact for IT organizations is significant. Read on…

Consumerization of IT (CoIT)

The consumerization of IT refers to a fundamental change in ‘how’ people use technology. It does not specifically refer to the devices they use, but rather how they work.

As people become more familiar with technology, they tend to use it in everyday life. The reciprocal is true too. Two common examples CoIT are Mobile and Social. In the mobile space, just about everyone has a mobile device. It could be a cell phone, tablet or laptop. Over the past 10 years alone, the number of mobile devices has increased astronomically. Today, there are over 5 billion mobile phones in the world and more than 80% of the world’s population has a mobile phone. Two factors contribute to this change: 1) The cost of the device has reached a point where many more people can afford to own them. 2) Devices are much easier to use. In the past, an IT person would need to configure the device and perform training for the user. No longer is that the case. Even a 4-year-old can operate a device today. In the social space, everyone is using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Users do not need an instruction manual to reach the site or operate the service. In fact, Facebook has over 800 million users today. It would take a large army of IT professionals to train 800 million users using the traditional model.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

On the other hand, BYOD is all about the device. Everyday users are more likely to use these devices (smartphone, tablet, laptop) today. The combination of price drops and ease of use contribute to the change. Due to the familiarity with these devices, users prefer to use them in their everyday work environment. The trend to use personal devices in a corporate environment started several years ago with the mobile phone. People preferred to use their own mobile phone rather than carry one for personal and one for work. With the advent of smartphones that evolved to checking email, surfing the web and the plethora of other applications available today. Tablets and laptops followed in the wake of smartphones.

Today, some corporate entities have fully embraced the concept by providing employees a stipend for their device(s) rather than issue a company-owned device. In other cases, companies pay the bill for the smartphone voice and data plans. The expectation is that the user is checking the device more frequently than they would a company issued device.

From the CIO perspective, I wrote about BYOD in: What the CIO Needs to Know About BYOD

http://timcrawford.org/2012/01/10/what-the-cio-needs-to-know-about-byod/

Changes in How We Work

There is another factor that directly affects this evolutionary change. The organizations and people that belong to them are changing. There are two fundamental drivers: 1) The new workforce and 2) Changes in the technology solutions. By new workforce, I mean the employees that are entering the workplace today. Employees entering the workplace in the past couple of years are the first ones that grew up with a computer from birth to adult. Prior generations picked up computing somewhere along their upbringing or career. That single change provides a workforce that is far more comfortable with computers and electronic devices. They are much more adept at technology change and evolutionary shifts than prior generations too. This milestone is not one to underestimate.

Changes to the IT Paradigm

The general user base is not the only group that is changing. With the changes to CoIT and BYOD, the IT Paradigm needs a significant overhaul. The days of ‘command and control’ are over. The technology paradigm has reached a point where it can no longer be ‘controlled’. But it can be managed! That is where the paradigm changes. Today’s technology world is about setting boundaries, guidelines and frameworks. It is less important to create walls and fortresses. This applies to both the culture we set within the organization and the technology solutions we put in place. One example might be how to protect data rather than the device itself. If you can’t control the device, what are you going to do? You can’t just throw your hands up and give up. There are solutions.

Interestingly, this fundamental change to the way IT operates has significant ramifications beyond just CoIT and BYOD. Yes, making the shift is hard. We have spent 30 years building the methodologies and paradigms we work within today. Change is hard and takes time. But the opportunities for those that make the change are significant.

Bottom Line: CoIT and BYOD are different, but related. Both require changes to the fundamental operations of the IT organization. Those changes, while challenging, can provide significant value moving forward.

Could they? Could it be out of Vogue to operate your own data center? Current developments in Corporate Social Responsibility and a maturing data center marketplace are starting to drive these changes.

For many, this could be a discussion about the pink elephant in the room. Data centers have been, and continue to be a requirement for businesses around the world. We rely more heavily every day on systems and the applications they run. Those applications run on servers and use storage subsystems; all of which are connected with networking devices. Collectively, we call this the “IT Load” for a data center.

The root question is not whether a data center is required. The obvious answer is: Yes! The real question is: Do I need to operate my own data center? But we will get to answer that question in a minute.

Data Center Energy Consumption

Data centers are consuming a larger percentage of the world’s energy every day. Our growing appetite will continue to take a toll on natural resources. In 2007, the EPA issued (for some) an eye-opening report on data center consumption and potential areas of efficiency.

http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/prod_development/downloads/EPA_Datacenter_Report_Congress_Final1.pdf

While the report is a bit dated (2007), the core data still holds true today. The majority of the report is focused on projections and potential areas of efficiency. In 2011, Jonathan Koomey issued an updated report on the findings.

http://www.analyticspress.com/datacenters.html/

In his report, he noted that data center power consumption did not grow as strongly as the EPA projected. By 2010, global data center energy consumption hit 1.3% while in the US that number rose to 2%. Those are still very significant numbers.

What is Missing?

To add more fuel to the figures, a significant number of “facilities” are missing. Most notably missing from these findings is the energy consumption by the myriad of smaller “data centers”. While many would not call them data centers, they still serve the same purpose of housing servers, storage and networking equipment. These are smaller closets, rooms and labs. It may be as small as a server and switch under a desk to a rack or two of gear in a closet to a 1,000 sqft room. It is much harder to pin down the power consumed by each of these smaller locations. If you consider that these are the common solution for Small and Medium Businesses (SMB), the aggregate consumption is significant.

Potential Impact

Increasing the efficiency of the physical data center is a great start. There are many opportunities to improve the efficiency of power and cooling systems. People have focused on increasing the efficiency of power and cooling systems for years. Many of the solutions are simple to implement and make a significant impact. While others take quite a bit of work, expertise and money. And there are many brilliant minds around the world that are currently working on this very challenge.

However, the largest potential impact may come from the IT load itself. For the majority of IT loads, the equipment is not used efficiently. Server, storage and network utilization figures are much lower than they could be. Servers are designed (from an energy perspective) for high utilization. One look at the power supply power curve for a server supports this. On the server, processor utilization rates commonly peak at 20-30% with average utilization in the 5-10% range. In addition, the current implementation rates for virtualization are still relatively low. The latest figures suggest that as many as 50% of servers are virtualized. Anecdotally, that figure still seems high. Regardless, pushing the implementation of virtualization to 80%+ would significantly reduce the overall power consumption…for the same IT workload.

Imagine reducing the US power consumption by a full 1%. The impact could be that significant.

Strategic and World-Class Expertise

Now back to the root question: Do you need to have your own data center? Before answering, two other questions will shed light on the answer. Is your organization in a position to operate your data center (100,000 sqft facility, 5,000 sqft room, closet, lab, etc) at a world-class level? Asked a different way: Is your organization willing to make the investment of installing a team of people to operate a world-class facility where it is their whole job, not just a line in the job description? Second, is operation of a data center strategic to your organization? We already covered that data centers are vitally important. So is electricity. Are you willing to make the investment in operating a data center that is unique and provides an advantage from your competition? Or are there alternatives that better fit the strategic direction of the organization?

The Solution

If you set personal beliefs, cultural norms and inertia aside, for most, the answer to these questions is no. There are viable alternatives today that offer the economics, flexibility and responsiveness. And the alternative data center providers do employ teams to ensure their facilities are world-class. Only those few with large-scale requirements or the uncommon corner case will still need to operate their own data center.

Cloud computing is just one of many ways to accomplish these objectives. Startups and others are already heading down this path unencumbered by cultural norms and inertia. The challenge for established organizations is how to effectively turn the corner.

Bottom Line: Most organizations are not in a position to efficiently operate a world-class data center and should look at alternative solutions. The data center provider market is mature and competitors are already heading down this path.

Cloud Computing is still a hot topic in 2012. For the Small and Medium Business (SMB) community, it is a game changer. Unlike the days of past, cloud computing offers leverage previously only available to enterprise class companies. In essence, cloud computing levels the playing field for SMBs. I wrote about this back in June 2010:

Leveling the Playing Field for the Startup and SMB

http://timcrawford.org/2010/06/05/leveling-the-playing-field-for-the-startup-and-smb/

Roughly 18 months later, that article still holds true. The opportunities are numerous and within reach today. Many focus on the financial benefits first and foremost. Unfortunately, that is where most stop. What has changed in the past 18 months are the number of solutions available and the accessibility to those solutions.

Look for upcoming posts to address both the opportunities and challenges that cloud presents for SMB. Those are not the same for many corporate environments and need to be well understood.

If you are like me, you spend quite a bit of time sitting on an airplane. Over the years, the amount of flight-time has increased too. At the same time our professional and personal lives are becoming “always on”. Meaning, that we have a growing need to stay connected…digitally. It could be to respond to email, check the latest updates from Facebook, follow a Twitter feed or surf the Internet. The direct solution appears to be in-flight Wi-Fi connectivity. Sure, in-flight phone service has existed for many years now. And, in the days of dialup Internet access, one could use the in-flight phone to connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and download email. However, the in-flight Wi-Fi service, and phone service to some degree, has hit a bit of turbulence along the way. Let me explain.

History

Airfone (air-to-ground phone service) was originally developed in the 1970’s. In the 1980’s, planes offered the service to paying customers. It was simple to use. Just swipe your credit card in the built-in reader on the handset and make the call. The service, however, was very expensive. Of late, calls could cost as much as $5.00 per minute!

In the 1990’s you would see people using the phones every once in a while. But it was not frequent. In the past decade, service declined even further. In the past few years, the service has been sold to a LiveTV, an affiliate of JetBlue. While several carriers still have handsets installed, US Airways and Delta have removed the phones from their planes.

Wi-Fi Enabled Planes

Fast forward to 2012. Communications moved from voice to data. People rely on email as much as they did voice calls. In response, in-flight Wi-Fi services made their entrance onto everyday flights. Over time, more and more flights are including Wi-Fi service in the air. That is, the ability to connect your smartphone, tablet or laptop to the Internet via the plane’s Wi-Fi connectivity. Even though many planes have added this functionality, Wi-Fi equipped planes are not ubiquitous. Airlines have committed to adding Wi-Fi capabilities to more planes over the coming years. The two main providers are Gogo (http://www.gogoair.com/) and Row 44 (http://www.row44.com/). Row 44 is equipping Southwest Airline’s planes while Gogo is the provider for many of the other carriers providing in-flight Wi-Fi service.

In an age where most major carriers have filed for bankruptcy, additional services bring potential revenue streams and additional expenses. It is a risky gamble for airlines where every nickel, dime and dollar is scrutinized for operational efficiencies. But is simply installing the service enough?

Service Costs

The expenses to equip planes are one thing. Recovering those costs from paying customers is another. Over the 30 years that in-flight phone service was available, the costs continued to increase. At the same time, demand for in-flight phone service decreased. Costs going up and demand going down is a sure recipe for failure.

Currently, costs to use in-flight Wi-Fi can range from $5-$15 per flight depending on distance, carrier and service. That may not seem like a lot if your company is willing to reimburse the expense. It may also make sense if you consider the productive time while connected. But it depends on “what” you are using the connectivity for. If you are only surfing the web, checking Facebook or Tweeting about each cloud and city you pass, the cost may not be warranted.

In-flight phone service was more of a novelty or critical use-case that warranted the use. Current data shows in-flight Wi-Fi may be taking a similar path. While many may not be swayed to pay the $5-15 per flight, it is enough to keep most at bay. There are monthly service plans for frequent flyers. In the past year, providers did offer a promotion for free service over the holidays. But again, is it worth it? And will it be enough to offset the costs to the carrier/ provider? Or are we reliving in-flight phone service all over again without learning from the lesson?

Usage Statistics

It begs the question: Just how many people are actually taking advantage of the service? Recent reports show that use is still relatively low. It is probable that “how” the service is used coupled with service costs contribute directly to the actual usage. If the costs (to the consumer) were lower,

If those reports are correct, will service providers turn a profit and keep the service intact? Below, is an infographic from Gogo based on research they conducted during the first half of 2011. It is one perspective on how people are using in-flight Wi-Fi and with which devices.

Related Items

It would be amiss not to mention the related issues with in-flight Wi-Fi. One of the key issues is power. Unless you’re using a tablet or laptop with long battery life (and a fully charged battery), you are going to run out of juice. Having a power outlet available is not just a handy item, but necessary for most to fully take advantage of in-flight Wi-Fi for the entire flight. Unfortunately, not all planes include power ports. The ones who do offer power ports typically only offer them in Business Class or First Class. Of those that offer power in Economy Class, it may be every other row, only certain sections of Economy Class or every other seat. In addition, the type of connection may vary between proprietary EmPower outlets, 12v cigarette lighter style plugs or regular 110v US plugs.

Bottom Line: In-flight Wi-Fi has not hit the “sweet-spot” for price point vs. service use vs. availability. Until it reaches closer to that point, it will fail to gain significant altitude.

For further reading:

USA Today: Wi-Fi Service Slow to Take Off

http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2012-01-16/Wi-Fi-use-in-the-air-is-slow-to-take-off/52601856/1

Economist: Continued Unpopularity of In-Flight Wi-Fi

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/12/flight-wi-fi

Verizon Cancelling In-Flight Phone Service

http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jun/27/business/fi-briefs27.3

JetBlue LiveTV to Buy Verizon’s Airfone Network

http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/06/09/us-jetblue-verizon-idUSN0944090420080609

I have worked in many environments from very large global companies to small startups. During that time, I have seen my share of different work ethics. And motivation plays a closely related part. Think of it as the finely tuned engine in a car is the work ethic and the fuel is the motivation. Navigating the myriad of paths to success requires both a healthy dose of motivation and a strong work ethic. Can you get away with less of either? Sure. But the results are directly related.

Motivation

Finding what type of “fuel” you need is important. Not everyone is the same. As a manager it is important to determine what fuel your team needs…both as a team and each member individually. Not everyone is programmed the same and uses the same fuel. The same goes for you. What motivates you? What drives you and gets you going? What type of fuel do you need?

Inc.: 14 Easy Ways to Get Insanely Motivated

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/how-to-motivate-yourself-14-easy-ways.html

I found the best motivation in finding what you are passionate about. For some, they spend their entire career not knowing or understanding what they are passionate about. For others, it is clear as day and serves as a clear beacon in an otherwise foggy career path. It is this passion that often leads to success. Passion is another topic I could write volumes about. But alas will leave for another post.

Work Ethic

Passion is often a heavy influencer of work ethic. Part of a good work ethic is in understanding your objectives. What are you working toward? What is your purpose and direction? And then there is one attribute that, in today’s life, can be hard to come by: Focus. Yes, focus. Recent discussions have suggested that multi-tasking is actually less productive than working on a single task at a time. For example, while writing this post, should I be checking email, listening to music, watching my Twitter feed? Or should I shut down the other information streams and just bang out a few lines of text. Personally, music motivates me. But the others can be distractions to many.

Beyond work environment, perspective plays a role too. How do you look at the job you do? Do you believe your job is more/ less important than your colleagues? How do you see your role with that of your team members? As a manager, I have felt it important to be “part of the team”. We all have a role to play from the most junior person to the most senior. But the bottom line is that we are all part of the same team. Jim Harbaugh (former Stanford University Football coach and current SF 49er NFL Football coach) gave a short pep talk that I believe highlights this point.

Jim Harbaugh on Work Ethics

http://youtu.be/3aenoEbKmQo

As the world evolves, the role of leaders changes too. Historically, the manager or leader of the company carried quite a bit of power and control. In today’s world, that leverage is subsiding to the power of the team. It is the team that ultimately leads to success.

Economist: The Shackled Boss

http://www.economist.com/node/21543117

Whether you are the President of the United States or the most junior manager, it does not matter. The role of a leader is much bigger than any one position. And the most junior person on the team is just as important as the most senior. Plus, do not forget that we were all the junior person on the team at one point. It was a leader that helped us grow and get to where we are today.

In my various conversations and presentations last year, I was starting to hear a concerning theme. I’ll get to why it is concerning in a bit. The theme was around what I called “cloud fatigue”. That is, people were starting to get tired of talking about cloud computing. The reason was that the term had been over-hyped with little substance to the true value cloud computing would bring. In addition, people were having a hard time figuring out how to setup clouds.

This hype happened over the prior couple of years. One way to track the cycle is through Gartner’s annual cloud computing Hype Cycle. Here is the updated version from 2011:

To provide some empirical data to support my theory, I took a look at the search stats around the term “cloud computing”. Last year, I penned a blog entry with details on my findings.

http://timcrawford.org/2011/04/17/cloud-computing-search-trends-show-growth-and-plateau/

2012 Update

Today, I re-ran the reports to determine if the theory played out over 2011. Indeed it did. The subject, while discussed widely, has plateaued in search results. The global results show a marked flattening of the results.

International cities continue drive the top results with the United States falling from #7 in April 2011 to #10 in January 2012.

Within the United States, the results are similar to last year.

If interest in cloud computing was acutally decreasing, that would be a concern. Cloud computing presents a significant opportunity for most organizations both technically and organizationally. The business value it brings is not to be missed. While I don’t have empirical data to support my new theory, I suspect the change has more to do with depth of understanding. Today, many folks have heard about cloud computing and understand what it is (generally speaking). Now the conversation has moved into specific details of how to use it within a specific use case.

I would expect to see the general term of cloud computing continue to plateau and possibly decrease. This is natural and signifies a maturity of the term. In addition, new subjects will continue to fill in the cloud’s wake.

As the economy starts to improve, the movement of executives from one organization to another starts. This movement is not relegated to the upper ranks either. The lieutenants of a CIO and their rank-and-file are just as, if not more, prone to movement. Over the past few years, the volume of movement has waned…for good reason. Folks were happy to have a job and did not want to risk moving to a new role. In addition, the number of openings shrunk in relation to the economy.

IT Executive Movement

Now that the economy is improving, IT executives are willing to take risks and make changes. In the past few days alone, two articles from the St. Louis Business Journal and CIO Magazine touched on this issue (links below).

This is good news for a couple of reasons. First, it signals a change in economic conditions. Organizations and individuals are feeling more secure in taking risks. Second, it provides an opportunity for change for the new company, old company and individual. With the change in technology and business direction, changes in IT leadership are a welcome sight. With some regularity and planning, it is a good thing to mix up the gene pool.

However, as an IT executive, moving to a new company is risky. How do you know it is a good move? There are a number of factors that the individual and executive recruiter can assist with in this process. Several executive recruiters I know have very good processes to ensuring a good fit. The process goes way beyond responsibilities, objectives and corporate culture. Just like a company looking to acquire another company, the IT executive must do their own research on the role, the company, the leadership team and their staff. Even so, there is only so much due diligence you can do.

All that being said, change is a good thing and something that should be embraced. The IT function is evolving and the IT leadership needs to evolve to lead that effort.

IT Rank and File Movement

Change is not restricted to only IT executives. Probably more so than IT executives, the rank and file individual contributors have been a restless bunch. We can expect to see more movement within the individual contributors in the coming year. This is a good thing and will cross-pollinate methodologies and technologies. With newer methodologies like cloud computing and big data, this becomes increasing imperative.

It is equally important that individuals keep up with the trends. In the coming years, the rate of change will only increase. Falling behind can have serious negative repercussions to a career.

Compensation and Engagement

It is important to compensate employees fairly. If you take the approach of compensating employees poorly because of the economy, you can expect increased movement. I have often said that under-compensating an employee encourages them to stay long enough to find a different job where they are fairly compensated.

However, compensation is not everything. Sure, money is a strong factor for many people. But the nature of the work is just as important. It is important to ensure that employees are challenged and growing. Otherwise, it may cause further movement within the organization. Working with older technologies and systems is less interesting than the new and upcoming methodologies. That needs to be factored in when making strategic IT decisions.

Recent Articles:

CEO Turnover Is Good News For Economy

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/2012/01/ceo-turnover-is-good-news-for-economy.html

Fortune 500 CIO Activity

http://blogs.cio.com/careers/16733/fortune-500-cio-activity

Bottom Line: Expect for more movement of employees as economic conditions improve. There is a direct relationship between the two.