April 2009

When IT is a critical driver of business growth, the fundamental infrastructure has to be sound. Whether your strategy focuses on data center consolidation, virtualization, SOA or business intelligence, here is a recap of the key advice to follow and resources that will keep your data center in top form.

Tim Habermann, Principal, Booz & Company

Paolo Lasagni, Principal, Booz & Company

1. Be pragmatic with SOA. A "big-bang approach to implementing SOA" may not be feasible at this time, "but the opposite is a big mistake as well, because a very limited implementation will not allow SOA to play out its benefits [such as] simpler integration," according to Tim Habermann and Paolo Lasagni, Principals at consulting firm Booz & Company and two of the co-authors of a recent report, "A Pragmatic, Business-Focused Approach to SOA." They recommend that CIOs "identify projects of manageable scope" that have all the characteristics — such as the potential for increased flexibility and reduced time to market — to benefit from the SOA implementation. Then, "focus on the business impact and how a service approach will deliver higher value to the business." For the full Q&A, see March 09 Smart Insights.

2. Watch for bottlenecks. Managing application performance in a virtualized environment can be complex. Aberdeen Group offers advice on ways that best-in-class organizations minimize downtime and improve response times by integrating management of physical and virtual servers on a single platform. The report also recommends adopting tools that identify automated performance bottlenecks and tools that can predict problems by emulating the network. Read the summary.

3. Attend a boot camp. As organizations and customers rely on 24x7 IT services, it's important that those who design, implement and operate data centers are up to date on global certifications in order to manage the services without breaching security. Service-Oriented Enterprise Professional (CSOEP) certification training is being offered in Europe and Asia this spring at several boot camps held by Boardgroup's Globeron Pte Ltd. Among the upcoming programs are: Malaysia, April 13-17; and Geneva, May 11-14.

4. Go back to basics. Asset management can improve IT utilization markedly. At Martin Marietta Materials, for instance, a careful, controlled IT-asset management program implemented a year ago has lowered hardware costs as well as software-rollout expenses. It's also ensuring information security. Even as equipment proliferates, a "robust asset-management system allows us to detect all devices on our network," said Chuck Musciano, Vice President and CIO at the $2 billion producer of construction materials. For more on infrastructure optimization, see January 09 Smart Practices.

5. Test new models. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a $22.4 billion drug manufacturer, uses on-demand storage capacity to respond more quickly to business needs. The on-demand model also helps the company rein in hardware and software costs by placing a "per-unit" cost on business changes such as the IT costs associated with provisioning new staff, according to Jeff Keisling, Vice President, Corporate Information Services and CIO at Wyeth. Vincent Melvin, Vice President and CIO at Arrow Electronics, also is testing out new models. The $16 billion electronic components distributor and supply-channel partner dynamically provisions workloads and software test environments so that IT responds faster to business units' needs. Melvin says the ability to quickly "clone" an environment is very helpful. "We can move databases and large amounts of data very quickly," he says, which is useful when trying to test a mission-critical application without taking it live. See January 09 Smart Practices.

6. Build a strong business case. Panelists at our Online Smart Enterprise Exchange in February said that automation is critical, but a business case based on clear ROI has to be established. According to Michael O'Dell, CIO at Pacific Coast Companies, automation can help the business prioritize product development by implementing inventory-balancing engines and analytics tools. In a quick poll of online attendees, 42.8 percent said they are continuing to automate business processes this year. You can hear the full podcast here.

Chris O'Malley, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Mainframe Business Unit, CA

7. Rethink mainframes. At a time when maintenance costs and support resources are adding to the total cost of ownership, increased use of centralized mainframes is a clear strategy to follow, according to Chris O'Malley, Executive Vice President and General Manager for CA's Mainframe Business Unit. He told attendees at our recent Smart Enterprise Exchange event in the Washington, D.C., area that long-standing mainframe benefits such as scalability, simplicity and price/performance still hold. Moreover, mainframes have been enhanced by new Z operating systems and application software. In tough economic times, O'Malley said, centralized computing can: Reduce TCO; cut maintenance costs and therefore fund innovation; enable highly cost-effective scalability of services, and ease security, compliance and 'green' objectives. Download the CA white papers.

8. Fine-tune your network. "Now is the time to make incremental investments in productivity-enhancing solutions that can provide immediate payback; and network automation tools fit the bill," according to a recent report issued by Computer Economics. In many cases, IT organizations can find the resources in their operating budgets for these tools, the firm says. "By making ongoing, incremental improvements to automating systems, businesses should realize productivity gains that free up resources for further investments." Read the executive summary.

Mykolas Rambus, CIO, Forbes Media

9. Agility counts. Len Greendyk, CIO, Tiffany & Co., and Mykolas Rambus, CIO, Forbes Media, both see better understanding among their business peers about ways that IT agility helps the whole business move ahead. In our recent Online Smart Enterprise Exchange, Greendyk said that more-efficient IT means a faster response to customer needs and better productivity. Listen to the podcast here.

10. Secure your security budget. IT security budgets are holding up well in early 2009 for most organizations, but caution is warranted as economic outlooks stay weak, according to a new report from the Burton Group. "Increasing threats and business changes join budget constraints to challenge security managers to improve and adapt." Senior Vice President and Principal Analyst Dan Blum, recommends setting security priorities, cutting costs and preparing for an eventual economic rebound. Read the executive summary.