networking-info

I get this asked a lot – How do I calculate ROI of Enterprise 2.0? Bruce Schneier says , “Security is not an investment that provides a return, like a new factory or a financial instrument. It's an expense that, hopefully, pays for itself in cost savings. Security is about loss prevention, not about earnings. The term just doesn't make sense in this context.”. Similarly thinking of Enterprise 2.0 as an “investment” looking for a return does not make any sense. At best it is the cost of a lost opportunity. If you are a CIO looking for a detailed ROI metrics or a simple checklist for Enterprise 2.0 you are probably out of luck. However you could adopt a two-pronged approach. Convince the business that the organization needs Enterprise 2.0 by showing whatever resonates with them e.g. sharing files help reduce email quota, Wiki makes people productive by X percentage, giving them a copy of The Future of Management by Gary Hamel etc. Once you do get a green signal for Enterprise 2...

Earlier this week I had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to have a private meeting with Mr. Vivek Kundra. Although my time with him and Mr. Gary Washington (OMB/Egov &IT   Internal Efficiency and Effectiveness Portfolio Manager) was short, their focus and mission were perfectly clear.  Dominating Mr. Kundra's wall is a graphic showing the Federal IT spend for each agency. From my point of view, this was a statement that highlighted the Federal CIO's #1 goal - stop the practice of building silo’ed IT infrastructures in order to save money in the 2010 budget . After first peppering me with questions about my background and federal experience, Mr. Kundra asked me for recommendations on improving Federal IT procurement. My answers included the need to provide rewards for enhanced IT efficiency, agency incentives to reduce spending and of course, increased use of cloud computing.  On that point, I stressed the need for interoperability, portability and standards.  We also d...

A little over a week ago I put out a request to my readers to help me with my meeting with Vivek Kundra .  The response has been awesome!! thank you for your suggestions and recommendations, both public and private.  Below, in purely random order, are just some of the comments I've received. If you want to add your voice to the choir, I'll be taking comments through Tuesday evening, May 26th.  During my meeting, I will definitely highlight this dialog and will also leave a listing of all comments for Mr. Kundra's review. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lewis Shepherd: Let me just suggest a little thing I'd like Vivek to keep in mind as a guiding principle for open government: Choice. What do I mean? Government agencies, as they modernize to approach the agility and performance of great commercial IT shops, will be looking to cloud-solution (and other) providers for "business value and choice in a mixed...

My congratulations goes out to Roger Baker !  I first met Roger a little over a year ago when he interviewed me for my present job at Dataline . At that time he was the CEO and we both shared a vision of how information technology could be used to reduce cost and improve efficiency throughout the Federal government.  He later left Dataline and through ACT/IAC Transition Study Group and the Technology Innovation and Government Reform team went on to provide important input to President Obama's administration.  Good Luck Roger !!! Baker Sworn in as VA Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology — Roger Baker, a former chief executive officer in the information technology industry, took the oath of office yesterday as Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

I'm proud to announce two important coming events. The Information Resources Management (IRM) College and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration)/DOD CIO are co-hosting a symposia on cloud computing at the college’s campus on Fort Lesley J. McNair Washington DC waterfront), Wednesday, July 15, 2009. The event is open to government, private sector, academic, and international attendees. “ The Cloud Computing Symposium ” will examine the utility of cloud computing from many angles and offer government IT executives insight into its promise and challenges. The full-day agenda includes: A key-note speech by Vivek Kundra, the nation's first Federal CIO; and Presentations by executives from Google, Lockheed Martin, OSD, IBM, HP, Gartner, TIBCO, NSA, NDU, and DISA. I am also honored to be one of the presenters. This symposium will feature a vendor fair and several opportunities for interactive participation by attendees. Topics will incl...

A couple of weeks ago, I was offered a chance to meet Mr. Vivek Kundra at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in downtown Washington, DC. Needless to say, I was honored to be given the opportunity. Although I was clear on my own views of how the Federal government could use cloud computing, the Obama administration's plans were, at that time, anything but certain. What a difference a week makes !! As has been widely reported, the President's 2010 Budget submission has firmly set cloud computing as a "key tool for improving innovation, efficiency and effectiveness in Federal IT. The GSA has emphasized this edict by releasing a request for information (RFI) for Infrastructure as a Service offerings. This rapid and fairly decisive course change to the way Federal IT will be procured in the future can potentially change an entire industry. Looking at what has happened in the financial and automotive industries, this could also be seen as the administration flexing its ...

President Obama's 2010 Budget (pp. 157-158) has highlighted cloud computing as a key tool for improving innovation, efficiency and effectiveness in Federal IT. " Cloud-computing is a convenient, on-demand model for network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. The cloud element of cloud-computing derives from a metaphor used for the Internet, from the way it is often depicted in computer network diagrams. Conceptually it refers to a model of scalable, real-time, internet-based information technology services and resources, satisfying the computing needs of users, without the users incurring the costs of maintaining the underlying infrastructure. Examples in the private sector involve providing common business applications online, which are accessed from a web browser, with software and dat...

A recent cloud computing report from McKinsey stirred quite a controversy. TechCrunch called the report partly cloudy . Google responded to the report with the great details on why cloud is relevant . I appreciate the efforts that McKinsey put into this report. However I believe that they took a very narrow approach in their scope and analysis. An interaction designer, Chris Horn , from MAYA Design sent me a paper, The Wrong Cloud , which argues that the cloud computing is essentially an old wine in a new bottle and the big companies are fueling the hype. "Today’s “cloud computing” claims to be the next big thing, but in fact it’s the end of the line. Those corporate dirigibles painted to look like clouds are tied to a mooring mast at the very top of the old centralized-computing mountain that we conquered long ago." I appreciate that there are people out there who question the validity and relevance of cloud computing. This puts an extra onus on the shoulders of the cloud ...

As fellow blogger Reuven Cohen mentions in his post, Federal cloud computing is indeed heating up: Vivek Kundra held a US Federal Government Cloud Computing Summit yesterday The Federal CIO Council is officially studying effective uses of cloud computing According to Network World , an INPUT study places Federal spend on cloud services at $277M in 2008 growing to $793M by 2013 Patrick Stingley has been named as the CTO, Federal Cloud for GSA NIST has reveled their draft definition of cloud computing (see below) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Draft NIST Working Definition of Cloud Computing 4-24-09 Peter Mell and Tim Grance - National Institute of Standards and Technology, Information Technology Laboratory Note 1: Cloud computing is still an evolving paradigm. Its definitions, use cases, underlying technologies, issues, risks, and benefits will be refined in a spirited debate by the public and private sectors. These definition...

I was invited as a guest blogger to the Under The Radar conference organized by the Dealmaker media. This year's focus was to track early stage start-ups in cloud computing. The format was simple - each start-up gets six minutes to pitch their company and a panel listens to the pitch and provides feedback. It was a blast! The place was filled with the venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and curious bloggers. I would highly recommend to check out the conference blog , Twitter updates, and watch some of the pitches. I wish I could blog about all the companies that participated in the conference. I have picked few companies - Twilio , Boomi , Zuora , and Cloudkick - based on their potential to cause some serious disruption in the cloud computing space. At the conference, while interacting with several people, the cloud computing felt to be nascent space bursting with energy and enthusiasm. The venture capitalists were drooling for the leads. It felt 1999 all over again. Twilio comm...

Last weekend, USA.gov shifted to a cloud computing platform . This move is expected to reduce infrastructure expenses by 90% and drastically improve flexibility. "'We are flipping the switch tomorrow to the cloud computing platform, so this is a nervous day,' said Martha Dorris, acting associate administrator for the General Services Administration's (GSA) Office of Citizen Services and Communications, on Friday, May 1. The office operates USA.gov which receives more than 100 million visits per year. Dorris spoke at the 2009 mid-year conference of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO)." Ms Dorris also highlighted the fact that this was not a technology story, but represented the completion of a "difficult cultural shift for agency staff ". Provided by Terramark , this also provides an important proof point for government cloud computing.