Confronting the Challenges of Complexity in the Enterprise Infrastructure

Overview

As major users of information technology we are responsible for the effective application of technology. From our perspective at the end of the IT solutions delivery chain (see Figure 1), we can see IT vendor investment directions that may create short-term advantages for the vendor but create unnecessary cost, delays, and complexities as we apply technology to solve enterprise business problems.

The cost, delays, and complexities frequently associated with IT products and services are:

·  new and/or relatively immature

·  offered by multiple vendors with competing approaches

·  a critical infrastructure component that many other applications and systems rely on

·  clearly going to converge on a unified approach once market leadership is established

The multiple approaches and uncertainty about which approach will become the generally accepted solution impacts the effective application of technology in two ways:

·  Unit costs are increased because applications within an enterprise may utilize multiple approaches and/or the enterprise may select a single approach that does not become the generally accepted solution and thus a subsequent migration effort is required.

·  Cycle times are increased because the uncertainty from multiple approaches delay implementation decisions at all levels and the delays can be significantly magnified when the competing approaches are for an infrastructure component far back in the solution delivery chain.

It is our belief that by proactively communicating enterprise requirements, values, capabilities, and the impact of not having these in a unified approach that we see from our perspective on the entire solution delivery chain, we can expedite convergence on a unified approach.

Mission

The IT Complexity Reduction group exists to reduce cycle time & lower unit costs for IT solutions through standards that narrow choices such that the solution delivered is optimized to the enterprise.

Objectives

ICR group objectives include:

·  To develop common views of enterprise requirements, values, and capabilities across the working group membership in areas where a unified approach to technology is desirable.

·   To communicate these requirements to vendors in the context of vendor advisory councils, vendor user groups, and/or standards organizations as needed to proactively communicate the enterprise requirements to IT vendors.

·  To increase the focus and awareness throughout the information systems/information technology (IT) industry of the problems and issues caused when vendors create information technology products which take competing approaches that only serve to increase the complexity of engineered solutions within our businesses.

·  To provide guidance to SIM member organizations (and other organizations who wish to participate) as they attempt to solve their IT infrastructure problems by offering insights into key issues, leading practices, and evolving standards.

·  To create a forum for sharing approaches, practices, and issues for dealing with problems related to non-unified approaches to IT solutions.

·   To attract new members.

Areas of Focus

The following are common problems to many different businesses:

·  Traditional systems are costly to build and support.

·   Business needs call for solutions quickly which then require continual evolution.

·   Industry regulatory changes are forcing fundamental changes in company structures sometimes beyond the means of IT to deliver a solution.

· Customers are demanding electronic access with industry-wide common look, feel, and functionality and are quick to take their business elsewhere when disappointed.

· Mass produced products and services are being replaced by custom solutions for smaller customer segments.

· Customer bases are expanding requiring solutions to be global in scope and capable of scaling to large sizes.

· There is high cost of offering secure transactions in an e-commerce environment.

Based on the common business problems described above and opportunities for the IT industry, the ICR group has initially targeted five areas where we believe a unified approach is required. The areas targeted at this time are:

· Client Interface Assumptions Requirements on what applications assume about clients to insure broad application accessibility

· Application Component Model Requirements for defining and accessing distributed application components

· Application Development Model Requirements for the languages and run-time platform used to build internet based applications

·Directory Services Requirements on services and interfaces for finding and trusting entities in an internet environment

· Inter-company Internet Security Services Requirements for interfaces and protocols for the secure exchange of information over the internet

Deliverables

Enterprise Requirements for Information Technology Vendors: We will develop common views of enterprise requirements, values, and capabilities in areas where a unified approach to technology is desirable. The ICR will focus only on high impact products and services that enable solutions delivery to the business. These common views will be documented in a white-paper format as the "Enterprise Requirements for Information Technology Vendors."

Best Practices Study on IT Standards and Compliance: A survey process will be used to study organizations and the ways they are dealing with their own internal IT standards and compliance to those standards (e.g., best practices). The results will be compiled and shared in a formal report as the "Best Practices Study on IT Standards and Compliance."

Benefits of Working Group Participation

Provides overarching context for the values which drive your technology decisions. Think of this as a complement to and extension of your technology planning competencies. Sharing and influencing best practices in the areas of common interest to working group participants. Having a stronger influence on the solutions delivery chain. Participation in a highly visible association with the high-profile activities and deliverables of the group. Contributing to formal, high-profile publications, presentations, and projects that have the potential for significant exposure in the industry. Working with a team that will make a major contribution to a very high-impact enterprise issue. Participating in the development of a support network of peers in other organizations that are facing the same challenges in developing complex IT business solution.

Approach

A small informal group of companies have developed an initial draft of working materials. These materials will be used as the starting point for broadening both the scope of issues addressed and the number of interested working group participants. The working group exists to effect desired changes in product standards and influence industry solutions. This requires a commitment to address these issues beyond the timeframe necessary to develop initial positions. Face-to-face meetings will be held four times a year. It is expected that hosting of meetings will rotate amongst the member companies. These meetings will be used to:

·  Approve position statements and associated deliverables.

·  Share common experiences/problems and review industry trends/issues.

· Prioritize technology of common interest and create plans to address each technology focus area in the next quarter.

Sometimes working group members will subdivide into smaller, more focused subgroups in order to concentrate on specific tasks and deliverables. IT practitioners (typically IT architects, for the most part) will be leading. Vendors will be encouraged to participate where appropriate to receive early requirements and provide feedback. A survey process will be used to study organizations and the ways they are dealing with their own internal IT standards and compliance to those standards (e.g., best practices).

Source : Society for Information Management