Metrics, Analytics and Knowledge A Monthly Update from and about IMTVolume 3, Issue 18

May, 2010

Analytics

Cloud Computing Could Democratize IT

Mainstreaming Cloud Computing

Our Analytics Newsletter from February 2009, “Theforecast calls for Clouds” drew attention to CloudComputing. Now, just a little more than a year later,the industry has very much embraced Cloud Computingas a fact of life. This is also illustrated by the USadministration's 2010 budget request published March11th, 2010. It states that Cloud computing will play amajor role in modernizing the federal government’stechnology infrastructure.

Looking Ahead

Surely, the Bank will in the not too distance futureovercome the perceived hurdles, work out the legalconcerns such as WBG immunity and gear up in earnestfor the clouds as well. When that day comes, weneed to be prepared to leverage the momentum thecloud environment will bring. We should not just bankon lower and less fixed infrastructure cost, even thoughthe business will demand that savings to be passed onto them. More important is the momentum thisapproach will bring as it aligns with our otherwisestated business goals of agility and cost effectiveness.

I. The Organizational Structure Needs To Accommodate A Democratized Approach To

Application Development

Application Development is the next generation ofbusiness solutions that will be embraced by thebusiness, just like web publishing becamedemocratized a decade ago. The current IMTproposal of organizing IT around centers ofexcellence is clearly a step into this direction. It isenvisaged that the proposed vertical centers wouldbe focused around business solutions for particularbusiness areas, while the horizontal centers wouldfocus on enterprise wide or institutional businessareas.Of course the devil is in the details, and the details inthis case are the alignment of incentives, the fine-tuned and well calibrated interaction betweenvertical and horizontal centers and the ability of allof us, the business and IT to embrace in dialoguethat is more open minded, yet structured to befocused and forward looking. See our analytics onBusiness Architecture from March, 2010.

Following Are Five Areas To Consider:

Democratize Application Development

In the context of application development agility - orrestated - to bringing solutions to our business areasfaster and cheaper, by allowing a certain level ofdemocratization of the entire applicationdevelopment process, wewill need to be consciousand organized becausethe future will includeapplications in the cloud. Ademocratized environmentimplies that we operate bya set of agreed to rules, astrong governance process,budget and accountabilityalignments.

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Democratized IT Needs Good Governance

Business Architecture

Usually Finds

The Sweet Spot…

Data Sources:

Nielson OnlineHarvard Business Review

Edited by:

Michael Stumpf

Special thanks:Julius Mberiley Wamey

Debora Ridner

Available online:

IMT

II. Standards Based Approach To Minimize Cost And To Reduce Risk

To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, designfor the ability to integrate applications and tofocus our energy towards productive use andreuse of previous investment, we need to agreeto standards. Leveraging what we have solvedbefore not only shortens the time to market; itlowers cost and reduces risk.This is not to say that we don’t have space forinnovation, just not for the sake of innovationalone and hopefully not in an ad hoc anduncoordinated manner. Innovation must happen,but how we view innovation and how wemainstream its results will be the core question.

IV. Create Portable And Consistent Application To The Cloud

Can we afford many one-off solutions or do we need tobegin to make our solution portable, re-usable and userfriendly? The days of one-off solution sets may havecome to an end – not only from the technologyperspective, but certainly from the businessperspective. Difference, if not for competitiveadvantage is too expensive, as it is not scalable. Weneed a repository or marketplace of solutions,accessible by all, portable to different platforms(desktop, mobile, cloud, staff, partners and clients).Portability must also mean evolve-ability. We shouldconsider an approach of evolving our applicationsrather than renewing them cyclically with the big bangapproach which is expensive and risky.

V. Better Understanding of Local vs. Enterprise Solutions; Standards , Responsibility and

Accountability

We need to ensure that we decentralize responsibilitywhile not sacrificing or diluting accountability.Therefore, a more conscious approach that begins witha clearer understanding about what is enterprise leveland what is not will help us to determine how muchand what type of engagement and agreement will berequired. By now it is clear that we have standards forenterprise level solutions in many areas, but we willhave something that feels like standards in noneenterprise areas as well. We all will need to be literateabout the domain we operate in. The era of integrationdemands more and more enterprise engagement andenterprise ready applications or components. Thesemay be local today, but they will be less and less so inthe future. The “Global Bank” will have needs thatseem to be local at first glance, but on a second viewmay prove to be the same in Turkey, South Africa andin Vietnam. After all, the Bank is essentially solvingthe same problems in many locations. Our solutionsneed to be scalable to meet these needs.

III. Rapid Development By Utilization Of Dynamic Programming Languages And Iterative (Agile) Project Management

Approaches

An era of modernized programming languages isupon us and must be explored. The “what” andthe “how” will have to be decided upon but willevolve. The need to integrate into our enterpriselevel is crucial and will become more important inthe future.

How do we measure and view performance,what are the trade-offs in terms of usability anduser experience? These are no longer internal“shop talk” items of concern. The business willquestion poor usability and performance just asmuch as time to market questions and cost - andthen demand more! How much agility we needwill drive the vertical business areas into adoptingand modifying iterative development approaches.

The only approach we willnot be able to afford anylonger is any approach thatis not identified, stated,followed and measured.There may even be multipleapproaches across theenterprise to maximizeproductivity and to managerisk.