Convergence of Cloud Social Mobile Final

7/24/2019 Convergence of Cloud Social Mobile Final

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ConvergenceofSocial,MobileandCloud:

7StepstoEnsureSuccess

June,2013


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Copyright2013CloudStandardsCustomerCouncil

Page 2

Contents

ExecutiveOverview....................................................................................................................................... 4

BusinessInnovation&Transformation ........................................................................................................5

Roadmapfor

Social,

Mobile

and

Cloud

Solutions......................................................................................... 7

Step1:AdoptanOpenITStrategy&Architecture ...................................................................................7

Step2:EstablishCloudastheCore......................................................................................................... 10

Step3:PrioritizeMobileAccess..............................................................................................................12

Step4:ExtendSocialInteraction ............................................................................................................16

Step5:LeverageAnalyticstoGainInsight..............................................................................................20

Step6:EstablishaDevOpsCapabilityforRapidDeliveryofInnovation ................................................25

Step7:AdoptaFlexibleIntegrationModel ............................................................................................31

References ..................................................................................................................................................33

2013CloudStandardsCustomerCouncil.

Allrightsreserved.Youmaydownload,store,displayonyourcomputer,view,print,andlinktothe

ConvergenceofSocial,Mobile&Cloud:7StepstoEnsureSuccesswhitepaperattheCloudStandards

CustomerCouncilWebsitesubjecttothefollowing:(a)thedocumentmaybeusedsolelyforyour

personal,informational,noncommercialuse;(b)thedocumentmaynotbemodifiedoralteredinany

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UnitedStatesCopyrightAct,providedthatyouattributetheportionstotheCloudStandardsCustomer

CouncilConvergenceofSocial,Mobile&Cloud:7StepstoEnsureSuccess(2013).


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Page 3

Acknowledgements

TheConvergenceofSocial,Mobile&Cloud:7StepstoEnsureSuccessisacollaborativeeffortthatbrings

togetherdiversecustomerfocusedexperiencesandperspectivesintoasingleguideforITandbusiness

leaderswhoareconsideringcloudadoption.Thefollowingparticipantshaveprovidedtheirexpertise

andtimetothiseffort.

WorkgroupLeaders

JohnMeegan,IBMCoChair&TechnicalEditor

RajSethi,EkarthaInc.CoChair

GurpreetSingh,EkarthaInc.TechnicalEditor

SectionAuthors

BusinessTransformation

and

Innovation

Gurpreet

Singh,

Ekartha;

Raj

Sethi

Ekartha

AdoptanOpenITStrategyandArchitecture(Step1)RajSethi,Ekartha;GurpreetSingh,Ekartha

EstablishCloudastheCore(Step2)MatthewWaldbusser,IBM;JohnMeegan,IBM;Gurpreet

Singh,Ekartha;RajSethi,Ekartha

PrioritizeMobileAccess(Step3) RobynGold,IBM

ExtendSocialInteraction(Step4)DonaldBuddenbaum,IBM

LeverageAnalyticstoGainInsight(Step5)JamesKobielus,IBM;GurpreetSingh,Ekartha;RajSethi,

Ekartha

EstablishaDevopsCapabilityforRapidDeliveryofInnovation(Step6)DanielBerg,IBM

AdoptaFlexibleIntegrationModel(Step7)WolfgangSchmidt,XINTEGRATESoftware&

Consulting

KeyContributors

Theworkgroupleaderswishtorecognizethefollowingindividualsfortheiroutstandingeffortsto

providecontent,sharetheirexpertiseandensurecompletenessofthewhitepaper:AsherBond

(Elastic

Provisioner,

Inc.),

Dave

Duggal

(EnterpriseWeb,

LLC),

Dwayne

Goldsmith

(PCC

Technology

Group),MarvinGoodman(IBM),MikuJha(IBM),andRolandDumas(PCCTechnologyGroup).


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Page 4

ExecutiveOverview

Astheadoptionofsocial,mobileandcloudcomputingcontinuestotransformindustries,organizations

increasinglyvaluehowthesetechnologiescanimprovecustomerengagement,forgenewpartnerships

anddrivecompetitiveadvantage. Althoughthesetechnologiesareinnovativeanddisruptiveontheir

own,together

they

are

revolutionizing

business

and

society,

disrupting

old

business

models

and

creating

newleaders.

TheAberdeenGrouppositionstheconvergedtechnologiesasfollows:cloudisthecore,mobileitsedge

andsocialtheconnectionsbetweenendpoints.Itplacesthedisruptivetechnologiesthatare

transformingbusinessesincontext,anddescribesthetechnicalandservicesinfrastructureneededto

providethatidealenduserexperiencewhereeveryone'sconnected(social),everywheretheygo

(mobile),andhaveaccesstodatawhentheyneedit(cloud).[1]

Gartnerassertsthattheseforcesareintertwinedtocreateauserdrivenecosystemofmodern

computing.Theindividualisempowered.Peopleexpectaccesstosimilarfunctionalityacrossalltheir

rolesandmakefewerdistinctionsbetweenworkandnonworkactivities.Peoplehavecometoexpect

andmakeuseofpresenceandlocationservices,contextualsearchresults,andspontaneousinteraction

withtheirsocialnetworkstoenhanceeverydayexperiences.Andtheyspreadthoseexperiencesacross

multipledevices,oftenatthesametime.[2]

Asgreatasthepromiseofconvergenceis,manyorganizationsarestillstrugglingtoreinventtheir

businessoperationsandkeeppacewiththeexplosionofmobilechannelsandvolumeofdatabeing

generated.

Theaimofthisguideistoprovideapracticalreferencetohelpenterpriseinformationtechnology(IT)

andbusiness

decision

makers

as

they

analyze

and

consider

the

implications

of

the

convergence

of

social,

mobileandcloudtechnologiesontheirbusiness. Thepaperincludesalistofsteps,alongwithguidance

andstrategies,designedtohelpdecisionmakersevaluateandcompareofferingsinkeyareasfrom

differentproviders.

Alongwiththebasetechnologiesofsocial,mobileandcloud,thepaperhighlightsanddiscussesthe

importanceofsupportingtechnologieslikeintegration,BigDataanalyticsandDevopsthatenhancethe

businessvalueofconvergence.

ThesectiontitledBusinessInnovation&Transformationprovidesanoverviewoftheimpactthat

convergenceofsocial,mobileandcloudtechnologieswillhaveonnewandexistingbusiness

processes.Thissectionprovidescrossindustryandindustryspecificusecasestoillustratebusiness

impact.

ThesectiontitledRoadmapforSocial,MobileandCloudSolutionsistheheartoftheguideand

includesthestepsthatcanbeusedasabasisforevaluationofvendorofferings.Itdetailsbothstrategic

andtacticalactivitiesfordecisionmakersimplementingconvergedsolutions,andprovidestheinsight

neededtomakeinformedITdecisionsontheirtreatment.


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BusinessInnovation&Transformation

Thesimultaneousadoptionofsocial,mobileandcloudishavingaprofoundimpactonbusinesses.Even

thougheachofthesetechnologiesprovidesadifferentvaluefororganizations,thesynergisticeffectof

allthreetechnologiesisbecomingmoreevident,andisprovidingnewwaysforbusinessestoinnovate

andcreatevalue.

Theconvergenceofthesetechnologieshasbeendrivenbothbymarketforceslikeconsumerizationof

technology,andcomplementarycapabilitiesofsocial,mobileandcloud.Inaveryshortamountoftime,

socialinteractionshavemigratedfromtraditionalonlinesocialwebsitestomobiledevices.Development

ofmobileapplicationsincludingsocialapplicationsformobilehavegrownatarapidpace,leadingto

growthofsocialmobilecommunitiesandencouragingubiquitoussharingandcollaboration.While

mobilehasemergedastheprimaryplatformforsocial,cloudinfrastructuresandcloudserviceshave

becomecriticalfortheseamlessdeliveryofcosteffectiveandscalablemobileandsocialsolutions.Itis

commonformobileapplicationstooffloadstorageandprocessingtothecloudthusremovingthe

limitationsofmobiledeviceswithrespecttostorageandcomputingcapabilities,andevensecurity.

Manyinterestingandvaluableusecasesarebeginningtoemergethathighlighttheconvergence

betweensocial,mobileandcloud.Forexample,inmedicinemanyhospitalsandphysiciansare

embracingsecuresocialnetworksruninthecloudtocollaborateoncomplexcases.Physicianscantake

picturesorvideoofphysicalsymptomsusingtheirmobiledevices,andsharethemimmediatelywith

otherphysicians.Therichnessoftheinteractionanddiscussionfacilitatedbythesemedicalsocial

networkscannotbereplicatedwithconventionaltechnologieslikeemail,textandvoice.Evenpatients

usingcertainmobileapplicationshavethecapabilitiestorecordbloodsugarslevels,logmigraine

headachesanddigitallysharedatawiththeirphysicians.Suddenlyphysicianshaveatemporalrecordof

physiologicalactivitywhichcanprovidebetterinsightandimprovepatientoutcomes.

Another,recentexampleoftheeffectiveconvergentuseofsocial,mobileandcloudwaswitnessedat

therecentBostonmarathonbombing.OneofthereasonstheFBIwasabletocapturethesuspects

within4dayswasbecauseoftheanalysisofmountainsofcellphonetowercalllogs,textmessages,

socialmediadata,tweets,photographsandvideosurveillancefootagetoquicklypinpointthesuspects.

Leveragingcloudinfrastructurewascriticalinanalyzingthedata,whichhadimmensevariety.

Specificallytoanalyzesocialdata,theFBIusedacloudtoolthathadindexedthesocialweb.

Furthermore,Bostonresidentsthemselvestooktoacloudbasedfilestoragesystem,andcreatedalist

ofthousandsofnames,addressedandphonenumbersofthoseofferingaidandsheltertothose

impactedbythebombings.1

Anotherkeyareaintheconvergenceofsocial,mobileandcloudistheincreasinguseofcontextual

information.Contextualinformationprovidesaricherviewoftheusersenvironmentandiscollectedby

mobiledevices. Contextualinformation(location,weather,mood,nearbypeople&devices,etc.)adds

1https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AoXVKFw1Uci5dFNpRGdWd2pXZTN4a3Fza0VhVTRVaGc&output

=html
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AoXVKFw1Uci5dFNpRGdWd2pXZTN4a3Fza0VhVTRVaGc&output=htmlhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AoXVKFw1Uci5dFNpRGdWd2pXZTN4a3Fza0VhVTRVaGc&output=htmlhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AoXVKFw1Uci5dFNpRGdWd2pXZTN4a3Fza0VhVTRVaGc&output=htmlhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AoXVKFw1Uci5dFNpRGdWd2pXZTN4a3Fza0VhVTRVaGc&output=htmlhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AoXVKFw1Uci5dFNpRGdWd2pXZTN4a3Fza0VhVTRVaGc&output=html


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significantrichnessandgreatervisibilityintothenatureofsocialinteractions,andindividualconsumer

behavior.Forexamplespecificadscanbeshowntoconsumersbasedontheircurrentlocation,weather,

theirmoodasexpressedonasocialnetwork,etc.Itisimportanttounderstandthateventhoughmobile

devicesarebeingusedtocollectthecontextdata,theprocessingofthedatatorunanalyticsorother

applicationprocessingisoffloadedtothecloud.Thecommonpatternisthatmobiledevicesbecomethe

frontend

platform,

social

provides

alayer

of

rich

information

about

the

customer

and

their

interactions,

andcloudprovidestheunderlyinginfrastructureforanalytics,processing,storageandothercompute

intensiveactivities.

Manyspecificareasandprocessesintheenterprisecanbenefitfromtheconvergenceofsocial,mobile

andcloud.Someofthekeysbenefitsinclude:

Newchannelsforreachingcustomers.Withtheincreasingpopularityofsocialmediaandmobile

devices,itisintheenterprisesbestinteresttointeractwithcustomersontheirpreferred

communicationchannels.Forexample,tosatisfycustomerdemand,financialinstitutionsare

doing

whatever

they

can

to

provide

secure

banking

applications

over

channels

like

mobile.

The

backendfortheseapplicationsrunatthebanksdatacenterorprivatecloud.Adoptionof

newerchannelslikesocialandmobileisaccelerating,andengagementthroughthesechannels

canbringrichrewardsforenterprises.

Deepercustomerinsight&customercare.Analysisofsocialmediainteractionsand

customerbehaviorcanhelpcompaniesdevelopricherinsightintocustomersandtheir

preferences.Socialnetworkscanalsoactasachannelforprovidingcustomercare,a

placewherecustomerscanpostquestionswhichcanbeansweredbyusersorby

customerservicereps thishelpsinfluencethebroadercommunity.

Innovativeapplicationsduetosensorsandcontext.Mobiledevicesarebecomingnearly

ubiquitous. Inaddition,mobilesmartphoneshavebeenenhancedwithavarietyofsensors,

suchasaccelerometers,microphones,cameras,medicalsensors,etc.Thesesensorsandtheir

capacitytocaptureusercontextcancontributetodevelopmentofnewanduniqueapplications.

Furthermore,useofcontextinformationcanprovidekeyinsightsintouserbehaviorthatcanbe

targetedbycompaniesinmyriadofways. Someofthecontextandsensorinformationthatcan

becapturedusingmobiledevicesincludeslocation,weather,currentactivity(walking,driving

etc.),biometrics(heartbeat,pulse),nearbyattractions,andmanymore.

Enhancedcollaboration.Socialnetworkshavebecomeuniquetouchpointstoengage

communities,initiate

conversations

and

develop

innovative

ideas.

Organizations

are

leveraging

socialtechnologiestobuildknowledgeecosystemswithcustomers,prospects,andemployees.

Companiesarerecognizing,thatindependentof location,employeesandpartnersusingmobile

andsocialtechnologiescanexchangeknowledgediscussnewideas,identifyexpertise,enhance

overallgroupdynamics,andincreaseoverallproductivity.


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Page 7

RoadmapforSocial,MobileandCloudSolutions

Thissectionprovidesaprescriptiveseriesofstepsthatshouldbetakenbyenduserstoensure

successfuldeploymentofcloudbasedsocialandmobilesolutions.Thefollowingstepsarediscussedin

detail:

1.

Adoptan

Open

IT

Strategy

and

Architecture

2. EstablishCloudastheCore

3. PrioritizeMobileAccess

4. ExtendSocialInteraction

5. LeverageAnalyticstoGainInsight

6. EstablishaDevOpsCapabilityforRapidDeliveryofInnovation

7. AdoptaFlexibleIntegrationModel

Requirementsandbestpracticesarehighlightedforeachstep.Inaddition,eachsteptakesintoaccount

therealitiesoftodayslandscapeandpostulateshowthisspaceislikelytoevolveinthefuture,including

theimportantrolethatopenstandardswillplay.

Step1:AdoptanOpenITStrategy&Architecture

Itiscriticalforbusinessleaderstorealizethatconvergenceofsocial,mobileandclouddoesnotstart

withtechnicalimplementationofdisparatetechnologies.Rathertheconvergencepresentsan

opportunitytoimprovebusinessprocessesacrossawholespectrumofactivities fromincreased

collaboration,improvedinnovation,bettercustomerinsightandsupport,etc.Expandingthisfurther,

consideranexampleofincreasedcollaborationinanorganization acommoninitiativeamongmany

companies.Enterprisesneedtorealizethatsuccessfulcollaborationoutcomeswillrequirecollaboration

strategies,architecturalsolutions,governanceandoverallITstrategythatareflexible.Thesestrategies

needtoaccountfortheuniquecommunicationandcollaborationneedsofinternalemployees,

customers,suppliers,

and

public

collaborators

in

this

new

social/mobile/cloud

environment.

Thepotentialdisruptionduetotheconvergenceofsocial,mobileandcloudwillimpactmanyfacetsof

businesses,thusmakingtheprocessofplanningITstrategyachallenge.Someoftheimportantstepsto

considerare:

Aligntobusinessobjectives.Assesscurrentcapabilitieswithrespecttoyourbusinessgoals,and

developanunderstandingofhowyourcurrentsocial,mobileandcloudcapabilitiescan

contributetotheachievementofyourbusinessobjectives. Conductaproperreviewtoidentify

wherecurrentITresourcesandprocessesmightbeabletosupportneworganizationalactivities,

andwherenewcapabilitiesmayberequired.Increasedcomplexityisacommonsideeffect

whenimplementing

new

technologies

and

social,

mobile

and

cloud

are

not

an

exception.

Thus,

itisimportanttoconductcarefulassessmentofwhetherthenewtechnologiesbeingadopted

willimproveachievementofbusinessobjectiveswithoutsignificantlyincreasingcosts,risksand

complexitythathavethepotentialtounderminetheexpectedgains.


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Identifyingexperts.Itiscommonfororganizationstolackexpertiseintheareasofsocial,mobile

andcloud.Enterprisesshouldidentifysubjectmatterexpertswithinoroutsidetheircompany

throughcollaborationwithtechnologypartners.

Measuresuccess.Theconvergenceofsocial,mobileandcloudcancontributetosignificant

businesstransformation,

and

it

is

critical

that

an

IT

strategy

include

the

capacity

for

organizationstodevelopandtrackkeymetricstomeasuretheimplementationandsuccessof

businessobjectives. Themetricsframeworkwillbedevelopedthroughacollaborativeeffort

betweenbusinessunitsandIT. Itisimportantthatorganizationsensurethatthemetrics

developedareusefulinmeasuringbusinessobjectives,andthattheyaretransparentand

precise.Forexample,measurementofcustomersupportduetoimplementationofsocial

technologiesmaybetrackedwithmetricslikenumberofserviceissuesaddressedinsocial

media,percentageofissuesescalatedandresolvedinside/outsidesocialmedia,numberof

positiveratingsandreviews,etc.InmeasuringrisksinvariousITimplementationprojects,key

riskmetricsshouldbedevelopedthathighlighttheseverityoftheITrisksandtheimpacton

individualbusiness

objectives.

AdaptITgovernance.ITgovernancemustadapttobetteraccommodatethenewtechnologies

ofsocial,mobileandcloud.Itiscommoninenterprisestoseemanyofthesenewsystemsunder

thecontrolofbusinessstakeholdersratherthanenterpriseIT.Butthesebusinessstakeholders

stilldependuponITforsupport,integration,etc. Sincetheprocurementofsocial,mobileand

cloudtechnologiescanbeeasilydonebyindividualbusinessunits,afragmentedITgovernance

modelcanimposerisksinanorganization. ItisimportantforITandbusinessunitsto

collaborateandviewtechnologygovernanceasacorepartofbusinessstrategy.ITcanassist

businessunitsincertifyingdifferentsocial,mobileandcloudtechnologies,ratherthanhavinga

directrole

in

the

technology

selection

itself.

The

democratization

of

technology

decision

making

canbringenormousproductivitygainstoanorganization,butrequiresparticipationof

stakeholdersthroughouttheorganizationandshiftingofresponsibilitiesforsuccesstothe

stakeholdersinindividualbusinessunits.

Architecture

Theconvergenceofsocial,mobileandcloudcanposechallengestocurrententerprisearchitectures.In

thisnewworld,organizationshavetodevelopscalable,agile,andfaulttolerantapplicationsthatuse

disparateservices/technologiesthatexistbothinsideandoutsidetheorganization.Thisrequires

enterprisestouseflexible,decoupledservicesarchitectureslikeanEventDrivenArchitecture(EDA)also

knownasEventDrivenSOA.

EventDrivenSOAisbuiltonapublishsubscribe(pub/sub)asynchronouspattern,whereeventsare

pushedtosubscribersthroughsomeintermediary(middleware),andthepublisheroftheeventdoes

notwaitforaresponse.ThemessagedrivenasynchronousnatureofEventDrivenSOAalongwithuseof

intermediariesforeventmanagement(middleware)providestheessentialingredientsforbuilding

highlydecoupled,highlyscalable,andfaulttolerantsystems.Incomparison,traditionalserviceoriented

architecture(SOA),acommonarchitectureinenterprisestoday,isprimarilybasedonasynchronous


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request/responsemodel.IntraditionalSOA,arequestingserviceneedstoknowexactlywhichservices

tocall,howtocallthem,andtheiravailabilityandthroughput.Thisleadstodependenciesbetween

serviceswhichimpactperformance,faulttoleranceandscalability.

ItisimportantthatenterprisesunderstandthatEventDrivenSOAisnotsuitableforallbusinessservices

andapplications.

The

general

rule

of

thumb

to

follow

is

that

asynchronous

request

driven

pattern,

as

usedintraditionalSOA,isappropriatewhentheclient(requestorofaservice)dependsontheresponse

fromaservicetocompleteitsexecution.Inordertoachievescalabilityandfaulttolerance,enterprises

cantrytomodeltraditionalSOAapplicationstoEventDrivenSOA.Thiswillrequiremodelingand

implementationofservicesthatareautonomous,anddonothavephysicalandlogicaldependencies.

AnotherareawhereEventDrivenSOAprovidesamajorbenefitisintheareaofComplexEvent

Processing(CEP). CEPiseventprocessingthatcombinesdatafrommultiplesourcestoinfereventsor

patternsthatsuggestmorecomplicatedcircumstances.Thegoalofcomplexeventprocessingisto

identifymeaningfuleventsandrespondtothemasquicklyaspossible.2Interpretationofsuch

meaningfulpatternscanprovideenterpriseswithhigherlevelsofbusinessvisibility,insightandagilityto

respondtonewbusinessscenarios.

OneexampleofCEPusageistheinvestigationofsocialmediasitesforearlywarningdetectionof

possiblediseaseoutbreaksbytheU.S.CentersforDiseaseControl(CDC)andseveralinternationalhealth

organizations.Mentionsofvarioussymptomsandsentimentsonsocialmediasitescanbeaggregated,

sortedandanalyzedbasedontimeandlocation.Thisinturncanhelpthesehealthorganizations

determinepossibleoutbreaksofdisease.AsimilarexamplewastherecentexperimentbyGooglewhich

providedgoodindicatorsforfluactivitybasedonaggregatedsearchdataovercertainsearchterms.

ItisextremelydifficulttoimplementEventDrivenSOAwithoutapropermiddlewaresolution. Event

DrivenSOA

middleware

should

provide

aproper

messaging

infrastructure

that

will

insure

durability,

QualityofService(QoS)guarantees,andmediationservicesthatproviderouting,transformation,data

integration,etc.foreventnotifications.Themiddlewareshouldalsoprovidemultipletypesofevents

processingincludingsimpleandcomplexeventprocessing.

Theriseofsocial,mobileandcloudhasimpactedotherareasofenterprisearchitecture.Thesignificant

increaseinunstructureddatarequiresorganizationstolookbeyondthetraditionalrelationaldatabase.

Unstructureddatatendstobehumangeneratedandpeopleorientedcontentthatdoesnotfitneatly

intodatabasetables.Forexample,tweets,blogs,customerreviews,etc.areweaklystructuredpiecesof

text,whileimagesandvideoarestructuredforstorageanddisplay,butnotforsemanticcontentand

search.

Organizations

should

explore

the

use

of

NOSQL

databases

to

store

unstructured

data.

Unlike

relationaldatabases,NOSQLdatabaseshandleunstructureddatasuchasemail,multimedia,andsocial

mediaefficiently.Transformingunstructuredcontentintoastructuredformatforanalysisisalsoamajor

challengeforenterprises.Step5belowonanalyticsprovidesfurtherdetailsondealingwithchallenges

relatedtotheriseofunstructureddata.

2Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_event_processingformoreinformation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_event_processinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_event_processing


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Additionally,manyofthenewbusinessservicesbeingdevelopedforsocial,mobileandcloudareusing

weaktransactionsemantics.Theseservicesmustsupportrequestswithlowlatency(tensof

milliseconds)tousersworldwideandmusthavehighthroughput(tensofthousandsofreadsandwrites

persecond).Weaktransactionalsemanticsbecomesanimportantarchitecturalchoiceforscalingand

reducedoperationalcosts.Weaktransactionalsemanticsdonotguaranteestrongconsistencyasin

ACID3style

transactions

and

are

not

appropriate

for

all

applications.

For

example,

abanking

application

mayneed strongconsistencyguarantees,butapplicationslikeTwittercanscalewithouthavingtoworry

aboutensuringeverysubscriberreceivesatextmessageinstantly.

Step2:EstablishCloudastheCore

Cloudprovidestheplatformthatsupportsthereach,speedandscalerequiredbytheriseofmobileand

socialapplications.PerGartner,Itisthemodelfordeliveryofwhatevercomputingresourcesare

neededandforactivitiesthatgrowoutofsuchdelivery.Withoutcloudcomputing,socialinteractions

wouldhavenoplacetohappenatscale,mobileaccesswouldfailtobeabletoconnecttoawidevariety

ofdataandfunctions,andinformationwouldbestillstuckinsideinternalsystems.[2]

Thecloudessentiallyprovidesaccesstopowerandcapabilitiesthatareotherwiseinaccessible.The

benefitsofcloudallcomedowntoaccessservicesandcapabilitiesplacedatthefingertipsofbusiness

andITusers.Whenthishappens,thewaypeoplework,aswellastherelationshipbetweenindividuals

andtheirenterprises,istransformed.

Withcloud,everythingshiftstothecultureoftheconsumerandtheexternalizedviewofcomputing

whichallowstheforcestoconvergeandthrive.Mobileindependentsoftwarevendorsusingcloud

serviceshavemoreoptionstoaccessinformationandprocessesthaneverbeforewithouthavingto

ownitall.Crowdsourcingcanbedonethroughmobilecommunitiesbecausethecloudallowsthemall

toexistinthesameworkspaceratherthanbeingisolatedinenterpriseorsinglePCenvironments.And,

thecloudisthecarrierecosystemforawidevarietyofdataforms,bothstructuredandunstructured.

Thisdatacanbegatheredfromcloudbasedcommunities,throughcloudservices,frommobile

endpoints,andallinaconsistentandgloballyavailableenvironment.[2]

Therearetwoprimaryreasonsformigratingexistingapplicationstothecloud:

Optimization.Deliveringthesamelevelofserviceforlesscost. Thesecostsavingsareoften

achievedthroughautomationorreductionofinfrastructurefootprint. Applicationsthatfallinto

thiscategoryareoftenstrategicandhavesignificantlaborbasedcostdrivers. Theselection

processforthismigrationisusuallyROIbased.Theapplicationismodernizedandincorporated

intoamobile

or

cloud

platform

for

this

purpose.

Innovationand BusinessModeldisruption.Whilenotmutuallyexclusivefromoptimization,this

kindofchangeisusuallydrivenbytheLineofBusinessratherthantheITorganization. Asthese

technologiesconverge,theLOBwilllooktoITtodelivernewandinnovativewaystointeract

3ACIDstandsforAtomicity,Consistency,Isolation,andDurability.


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Page 11

withcustomers. Forexample,anewmobileapplicationwilldriveelasticityrequirementsto

existingbackendsystems,whichmaynotbereadyforthiskindofusecase.

CloudcomputingoffersavaluepropositionthatisdifferentfromtraditionalenterpriseITenvironments.

Byprovidingawaytoexploitvirtualizationandaggregatecomputingresources,cloudcomputingcan

offereconomies

of

scale

that

would

otherwise

be

unavailable.

Because

virtual

instances

can

be

provisionedandterminatedatanytimeandtheuserorganizationpaysonlyforthecomputingresource

theyareemploying,costscanbelower. Inaddition,cloudcomputingincreasesbusinessagilityby

providingaccesstocomputingresourcesonanimmediatebasis,ratherthananeedtofirstinvesttime

andskilledresourcesindesigningandimplementinginfrastructure(hardwareandmiddleware)andthen

implementingandtestingit.Herearetheessentialcharacteristicsofcloudcomputingthatcontributeto

andenhancethereachandscaleofmobileandsocialapplications:

Ondemandselfservice.Aconsumercanprovisioncomputingcapabilities,suchasservertime

andnetworkstorage,asneededautomaticallywithoutrequiringhumaninteractionwitheach

servicesprovider.

Broadnetworkaccess.Capabilitiesareavailableoverthenetworkandaccessedthrough

standardmechanismsthatpromoteusebyheterogeneousthinorthickclientplatforms(e.g.,

mobilephones,laptops,andpersonaldigitalassistants(PDAs)).

Resourcepooling.Cloudcomputingpoolsaproviderscomputingresourcestoservemultiple

consumersusingamultitenantmodel,withdifferentphysicalandvirtualresourcesassigned

andreassignedaccordingtoconsumerdemand.Examplesofresourcesincludestorage,

processing,memory,networkbandwidth,andvirtualmachines.

Rapidelasticity.Resourcescanberapidlyandelasticallyprovisioned,sometimesautomatically,

toscaleoutquickly,andrapidlyreleasedtoscaleinquickly.Toconsumers,theresourcesoften

appeartobeunlimitedandcanbepurchasedinanyquantityatanytime.

MeasuredService.Cloudsystemsautomaticallycontrolandoptimizeresourceusebyleveraging

ameteringcapabilityatsomelevelofabstractionsuitabletothetypeofservice(e.g.,storage,

processing,bandwidth,andactiveuseraccounts).Providersandconsumerscanmonitor,

control,andreportonserviceswithtransparency,empoweringconsumerswiththeabilityto

preciselymatchexpensestoITdemand.

Toensure

asuccessful

cloud

deployment,

one

that

adequately

supports

the

specific

requirements

of

mobileandsocialbusinesssolutions,thefollowingcriticalrequirementsmustbetakeninto

consideration:deploymentandservicemodels,security&privacy,servicelevelagreements, governance,

legal&regulatoryrequirements,interoperability,andintegrationwithexistingsystems.Refertothe

followingCSCCwhitepapersforspecificinformationoneachoftheseareas:


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ThePracticalGuidetoCloudComputingprovidesasetofguidelinesandstrategiestohelp

decisionmakersaddresseachofthesekeyconsiderationsrelatedtoimplementingcloud

solutions.[3]

ThePracticalGuidetoCloudServiceLevelAgreementsprovidesspecificguidanceonwhatto

expectand

how

to

compare

cloud

SLAs.

[4]

TheSecurityforCloudComputing:10StepstoEnsureSuccesswhitepaperprovidesapractical

referencetohelpenterpriseinformationtechnology(IT)andbusinessdecisionmakersasthey

analyzeandconsiderthesecurityimplicationsofcloudcomputingontheirbusiness.[5]

Step3:PrioritizeMobileAccess

Mobileapplicationsarepowerfulassetsthatenterprisescanharnesstoengagewiththeircustomers,

businesspartnersandemployeesanytime,anywhereandonanydevice.Infact,mobileapplicationsare

atthefrontendofthenewsystemsofinteraction,whicharepeoplecentricasopposedtotraditional

systemsofrecord,whichareprocesscentric.

Customerscanengagedirectlywiththeenterprisebrandanytime,anywhereandtakethenextmost

likelyactionintheirimmediatecontextandintheirmomentsofneed;employeescancollaborateand

workeffectivelytoacceleratetheirbusinessdecisionsandtoincreasetheiroverallproductivity.In

additiontoempoweringconsumersandemployees,mobileapplicationsarealsothecontrolinterfaceto

extendproductvalueanddifferentiationbyintegratingcontextawareness,customerfeedbackand

predictiveanalytics.However,totrulydeliveronthesenewsystemsofengagementandtogetareturn

onexperience,mobileapplicationshavetobedoneright.

Withthesepossibilitiescomeanewsetofchallenges.Developingandmanagingmobileapplicationsis

inherentlydifferent.

Not

just

smaller

in

footprint,

mobile

applications

deliver

adifferent

set

of

capabilities,withmoreuserandcontextawareness,inasmallerformfactor.Unliketraditionalweb

applications,interruptioninserviceisthenorm,nottheexception.Managingapplicationdistribution

andgovernancemeansworkingwithseveralpublicAppStoreseachwiththeirownapproachand

limitationsoutsideofanenterprisescontrol. Synchronizationwithenterprisesystemsposesanewset

ofrequirements,ascustomersdemandaseamlessomnichannelexperienceastheymovefrom

transactingontheWebtomobileandbackagain.And,becausethedevicestheyrunonareoutsideofIT

control,mobileapplicationsposegreaterchallengesassociatedwithapplicationsecurity,governance

andversionmanagement.

To

address

these

challenges,

organizations

are

evolving

their

thinking

about

the

way

they

design,

develop,deployandmanagemobileapplications.Movingbeyondtreatingmobileapplicationsasoneoff

projects,leadersareincreasinglyadoptinganextensibleMobileApplicationPlatform(MAP)approach.

TheMAP(sometimesreferredtoasanMEAP(MobileEnterpriseApplicationPlatform)orMDAP(Mobile

DevelopmentApplicationPlatform)includesamobileoptimizeddevelopmentenvironment,amobile

applicationserver,andaclientdevicelayerthatdeliveressentialdatatransformation,synchronization

andothermiddlewareservices.ArobustMAPsolutionisbasedonanopenandextensiblearchitecture


13/34


Page 13

thatcanbeextendedasneededwithkeydevicemanagement,security,andanalyticscapabilities.In

assessinganeffectivemobileapplicationplatform,fourkeyquestionscanguidetheevaluationprocess.

Cantheplatformscaleapplicationdelivery,usingexistingskillsandresources?

Mobileapplicationsaremuchmoreiterative,havefasterlifecycleswithhighdegreeof

fragmentationof

devices,

platforms,

networks,

operating

systems

and

languages.

Application

developmentinamultiplatformenvironmentneedsastrategythataddressesagile

development,timetomarket,endtoendcrossplatformtestingandautomationwithoptimized

toolsforcollaboration.Platformsthatarebuiltonopen,standardsbaseddevelopment

environments,suchastheEclipsedevelopmentenvironment,canhelporganizationsleverage

theskillsbasetheyalreadyhave,whiletakingadvantageoftherichandgrowingecosystemof

thirdpartydevelopmentframeworksandlibraries.

Willithelpmyorganizationconnecttodata,applicationsandcloudservices?

Mobileapplicationshavetointegratewithbackendservices,havetoscaletohandlethe

increasingvolumeoftransactionsandhavetodeliveronadvancedmobileservicessuchaspush

notificationsand

geo

location

services.

These

advanced

capabilities

should

be

provided,

out

of

thebox,byascalable,mobileoptimizedmiddlewarelayer.Providingaseamless,consistentuser

experienceacrossallchannelsneedssynchronizationofdata,integrationwithbackendservices

andatomizationofworkflowprocessesthatgetscomplexasnewdevicesandnewmodelsof

engagementarefactoredin.

Willithelpmemaximizethevalueofmobileengagementbydelightingcustomers?

Systemsofengagementarefocusedoncreatinganexcellentcustomerexperience,andthat

dependsontransformingdataintoactionableinsights.Addressingcustomercontextisan

essentialcomponent,sothedatagatheredmustincludelocationdata,socialnetwork

information,customerpreferences,sentiment,andusageintent.Increasinglyleveragingthis

datato

perform

predictive

analytics

plays

akey

role

in

delighting

customers.

HowwellcanIreducesecurityriskacrossmymobileenterprise?

Arobustmobilestrategymustincludebothmobiledevice(endpoint)managementandmobile

securitymanagementcompetenciescapableofaddressingthreatsateverylayerofthemobile

transactionstack.Mobileapplicationspresentgreatersecurityrisksofexposingapplicationsand

dataonsmall,lightandalwaysonportabledevices.Mobilesecurityhastobedealtwithinthe

contextoftheseusagepatternsandthreatmodels.Everyendpointinvolvedinamobile

transaction includingthemobiledevice,theapplicationsrunningonthemobiledevice,the

dataaccessedbytheapplication,andthebackendexecutingtransactions mustbesecuredit

isnolongergoodenoughtosimplyfocusontheenterprisesperimeter.

Inresponsetotheseconsiderations,organizationsareimprovingtheirmobilematurityinfourkey

capabilityareas:mobiledevelopmentandconnectivity,devicemanagement,securityandanalytics.Lets

exploreeachinturn.


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Page 14

MobileApplicationDevelopmentandConnectivity

VariousMobileApplicationPlatforms(MAPs)existtoenableenterprisedeveloperstocode,test,

integrate,publishandmanagebusinesstoconsumer(B2C),businesstobusiness(B2B)andbusinessto

enterprise(B2E)mobileapplications.ChoosingtherightMAPiscriticalforenterprisesasthemarket

shiftstothesecondwaveofsmarterconnectedapplications,whichintegratewithabusinessoverall

mobilestrategy.

Often,MAPvendorshaveitbackwards.Theyprovidetoolstoquicklygenerateapplicationsthatwork

withafewpredefinedsystems,butcrumblewhentheapplicationneedstoscaleacrosscustomback

endsrunningindisparatenetworkconfigurationsofpubliccloud,privatecloudandonpremise

deployments. Forthesecondwaveofmobileapplications,enterpriseswillneedaMAPwithan

extensiblemobilemiddlewarelayertodeliverauniquemobileexperience,whichismuchmorethana

clientsideframeworkneededtobuildtheapplication.

Therearemultipleapproachestobuildingmobileapps:Native,WebandHybrid.Eachapproachcarries

inherentbenefitsandlimitations.Withnosinglepanacea,theMAPyouselectshouldhavetheabilityto

supportallmobiledevelopmentapproaches. Thislevelofflexibilityallowsthedevelopmentofyour

mobileportfoliotobedrivenbybusinessrequirementsasopposedtoreligioustechnologydebates.

Nativeapproach.Purenativeapplicationsdeliverthebestdevicefidelityandanoptimaluser

experienceatsignificantcostoftimeandskill.Becausenativeapplicationsrequireplatform

specificlanguages,toolsandskillsthatcannotbesharedacrossplatforms,theyaremorecostly

todevelopandmaintain.

Webapproach.Webapplicationsruninthelocalbrowserofthedeviceandarebuiltusing

standardwebprogramminglanguagessuchasHTML5,CSSandJavaScript. Easytowriteand

deploy,these

applications

have

limited

access

to

device

capabilities

and

features.4

As

aresult,

Webapplicationssufferfromsecuritylimitationsandlackofadvanceduserexperience.

Hybridapproach.HybriddevelopmentusesWebstandardssuchasHTML5andprovidesplugins

foraccessingnativedevicecapabilities.Itallowsdeveloperstobuildthemajorityofthe

applicationusingweblanguagesthatarecrossplatformbydefault,whileoptimizingthecode

accordingtothefunctionalanddesignguidelinesofitstargetenvironment.5

Formostorganizationsandusecases,hybridapplicationsprovidethebestofbothworlds:developers

canmaximizecodereusewithoptimaluserexperience,withoutcompromisinganyofthenative

capabilitiesandfeatures.Sincehybridapplicationscanscalequickly,theyhelpenterprisesunlocknew

4AsHTML5continuestoevolve,multipleUIframeworkssuchasJQueryMobileandSenchahaveemergedto

providemobilecomponentsandextensiblepluginstosolvesomeoftheinherentissuesofwebapplications

relatedtoUIcontrols.

5Onaverage,theresultoftheHybridapproachisamobileappthatcanconsistof~80%webcodethatisshared

acrossdifferentenvironmentsand~20%environmentspecificcodethatensurestheoptimaluserexperience.


15/34


Page 15

marketswithspeedandscale. Despitetheseadvantages,therearecircumstancesforwhicheither

nativeorwebapproacheswouldmakethemostbusinesssense,soitisimportanttomaintainflexibility.

MobileDeviceManagement

[0][0]PrioritizingmobileaccessmeansrespondingeffectivelytothegrowingdemandforBYOD(bringyour

owndevice)

policies

that

empower

employees

to

utilize

the

most

productive

devices

whether

laptops,

smartphonesortabletstogetthejobdone.Thesemobileendpointsgiveworkersnewlevelsof

flexibility,andinturndrivenewlevelsofproductivity.Butunliketraditionalendpoints,whichIT

organizationshavemanagedforyears,mobiledeviceplatformspresentuniquemanagementneedsthat

donotfitthetraditionalendpointmanagementparadigm.Unabletoaccommodatethesedevicesusing

theirexistingmanagementtechnologiesandinfrastructures,ITorganizationsoftenfindthemselves

scramblingtofindanefficientandsecurewaytomanageemployeeuseofmobiledevicesinthe

workplace.

Ratherthanimplementingaseparatemanagementinfrastructureandprocessessolelyformobile

devices,organizationscanbenefitfromasinglesolutionthatprovidesunifiedendpointmanagementa

solutionthatprovideshighlevelsofapplicationandsecuritymanagementacrossalltypesofendpoints

whileeffectivelyaccountingfortheuniqueneedsofmobiledevices.Theidealunifiedmanagement

platformshouldsecureandmanagetraditionalendpointsaswellassmartphonesandtabletcomputers.

MobileSecurity

ThesecurityofmobiledeviceshasbecomeatopconcernformanyITexecutives.Dataloss,securityrisks

andmalwarearereal.Becausemanymobileplatformsarenotnativelydesignedtoprovide

comprehensivesecurity,hackershaveastrongincentivetodevelopnewtechniquestocreatemobile

centricmalwareforthesedevices.Themostfrequentmobiledevicesecuritythreatsare:lossandtheft,

BluetoothandWiFiattacks,malware,spam,andphishing.

Todefendagainstthesethreats,enterprisesneedtodevelopaneffectivestrategyforenterprise

mobilitysecuritythatestablishespoliciesandproceduresregardingwhatcontentisallowedtobe

accessedonthesedevices,howitwillbeaccessedandhowtheorganizationwillhandlelostorstolen

devicesthatmaycontainbusinessdata.

Protectdatawithondeviceencryptionofuserdata,SSLencryption,secureofflineaccess,and

remotedatawipe.

Controlaccessthroughsinglesignonandmultifactorauthentication.

Runan

antivirus

program

on

any

device

with

access

to

the

corporate

network.

Runafirewallprogramonallmobiledevices.

Secureapplicationswithprotectionagainstreverseengineeringvulnerabilities,remotedisable

ofapplications,andenforcementofclientupgrades.


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Page 16

Enforcecompliancewithregulatorymandatesthroughsecureshellsthatcanbedeployed

throughoutyourmobileportfolio.

SetBluetoothconfigurationssuchthatmobiledevicesarenotdiscoverable.

Mobile Analytics

Tosucceedinthemobilechannel,organizationsmustdelivermobileservicesandfeaturesthattheir

customerswilladoptanduseproductively.Yetmostbusinessestodayhavealimitedunderstandingof

howtheircustomersareengagingwiththemonmobilechannels.

Giventhemagnitudeofmobilevariablesincludingtheabundanceofdevicesandbrowserstheriskof

customersencounteringobstaclesisinherentlygreater.Whilesomeoftheseobstaclesaretechnicalin

origin,othersarerelatedtobusinessprocessandusability,makingthemhardertodetect,diagnoseand

effectivelyresolve.

Anewgenerationofcustomerexperiencemanagementanalyticssolutionsisspecificallydesignedfor

themobile

channel.

These

new

capabilities

enable

organizations

to

efficiently

instrument

mobile

applicationsinordertocapturethecompletemobileinteractionsofeverymobileuser. Theresultsof

thisanalysisdeliversunprecedentedvisibilityintomobileusagepatternsandbehaviors,enabling

companiestopinpointandresolvemobileobstacles,maketherightinvestmentdecisions,andraise

customerconversionandacquisitionrates.

Step4:ExtendSocialInteraction

PerGartner,socialtechnologiesbothdriveanddependonmobileandcloudcomputing:

Socialprovidesanimportantneedformobility:Accessingsocialnetworksisoneoftheprimary

uses

of

mobile

devices.

Indeed,

it

is

the

main

reason

that

many

people

acquire

more

powerful

smartphonesinsteadofsimpleportablephones.Socialinteractionsaretransient,fleetingand

spontaneous.Theyhavemuchmorevaluewhentheyarepossiblewherevertheuserislocated.

Socialdependsoncloudforscaleandaccess:Socialnetworksbenefitfromscale,thekindof

scalethatisreallyonlypracticalthroughclouddeployment.

Socialfeedsanddependsondeepanalysis:Socialinteractionsprovidearichsourceof

informationaboutconnections,preferencesandintentions.Associalnetworksgetlarger,

participantsneedbettertoolstobeabletomanagethegrowingnumbersofinteractions,which

drivestheneedfordeepersocialanalytics.[4]

Socialbusinessappliessocialnetworkingtoolsandculturetobusinessroles,processesandoutcomes.It

enablespeopletoengageproductivelyinnewandinnovativebusinesscontextsthroughcollaboration

onenhancedbusinessactivitiesinterconnectedwithsocialcontentfrominternalandexternalnetworks

ofpartnersandcustomers. Asocialbusinessmonitorsandanalyzessocialdatatodiscovernewinsights

that,whenactedon,candrivebusinessadvantage,forexample,fasterproblemsolving,improved


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Page 17

customerrelations,andmoreeffectivepredictionofmarketopportunities.Socialbusinessdeliversthe

followingbenefits:

Activatepeopletocreateasmarterworkforce

o Improveproductivity.Connectemployeeswiththerightexpertsandinformationto

anticipateand

meet

clients

needs.

By

connecting

people

with

the

right

expertise

and

informationwithinthecontextoftheirwork,peopleinasocialbusinesscanbemore

effectiveanddrivegreaterbusinessvalue.

o Accelerateinnovation.Asocialbusinessengagespeoplemoremeaningfully. Asbarriers

betweenemployees,customers,andpartnersdisappear,organizationscandevelopand

applycollectiveintelligence,advocacy,anddistributedtalenttodrivebusinessresults.

Ithelpsgroupsofpeoplebindtogetherintocommunitiesofsharedinterestand

coordinatetheireffortstodeliverbetterbusinessresultsfaster.Itencourages,supports

andtakesadvantageofinnovationandideacreationandbuildsontheintelligenceof

thecrowd.

o Connectwith

clients.

Engage

with

clients

in

new

ways

through

dedicated

communities.

Connectclient,transactionandsocialdatasoyouknowyourcustomersbetterthanthe

competition.

DelightCustomers

o Driveloyalty.Engagecustomersindynamic,personalizedexperiencestokeepthem

comingback.

o Anticipateproblems.Listentoandanalyzecustomerfeedbacktounderstandemerging

issues.

o Respondfaster.Acceleratevaluebydeployingtechnologydesignedtoreachpeople

wheretheyareandtointegraterapidlywithsystemsinplacetodayandthosethatmay

bedeployed

in

the

future.

A

social

business

makes

real

time

use

of

current

knowledge,

leveragessituationalawarenessandusessocialintelligenceindecisionmaking.

o Enableselfservice.Helpclientsfindtheanswerstheyneed24/7.

Creatingvalueacrosseveryleveloftheorganization,beitinmarketing,productdevelopment,sales,

researchanddevelopment,orcustomerservice,etc.requiresarangeofsocialbusinesstechnological

buildingblocksincluding:

Profiles.Thefoundationforbuildingandexpandingapersonalnetwork,helpingusersdevelop

andmaintainpersonalrelationshipsacrossreportingstructure,department,geography,etc.

ActivityStreams

6

.The

common,

central

place

from

which

all

users

can

see

what's

happening

acrosstheirnetwork,whethertheyareontheHomepageorinacommunity.

Wikis.Technologytomakeonlinepublishingandcontentgenerationeasyenoughforpeople

withoutWebdevelopmentskills.

6Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activity_streamformoreinformation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activity_streamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activity_stream


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Page 18

Blogs.Provideamediumwithwhichtoshareknowledgeandbuildnetworksandrelationships.

Blogscanbeusedformanydifferentbusinesspurposes,rangingfromsharingproductdirection,

askingandansweringquestions,gatheringfeedback,andlearningbestpractices,etc.

InstantMessaging.Allowssomeonetocommunicatewithanotherpersonoveranetworkinreal

time,inrelativeprivacy.7

Files.Allows

users

to

easily

find

apersons

files,

share

afile

with

aCommunity,

and

create

foldersoffilestoaidorganization.Businessesstrugglewiththeproblemofsharingfiles.Large

filesystemsharesonnetworkdrivesallowuserstostoreafileforgroupaccess,buttheydonot

handleaccesscontrollevels,commentsandratings,versioning,orevenprovidecontextforthe

file.

Communities.Providesthemeansforuserstostayintouch,shareinformation,andexchange

ideas.Communitiesprovideanexcellentwaytoconnectmembersofaprojectteam,organizea

taskforceresearchinganemergingtechnology,orbringtogetheragroupofpeoplewhoshare

anyinterest.

SocialAnalytics.CombinessoftwareandservicesthatbringBigDataanalyticsintothehandsof

todayssocialsavvyandmobileworkforce.Organizationscanapplyanalyticstotheirsocial

business

initiatives,

allowing

them

to

gain

actionable

insight

on

information

generated

on

networksandputittoworkinrealtime.8

UIcomponents.Sometimesknownasgadgets,UIcomponentsarewebbasedsoftware

componentsbasedonHTML,CSS,andJavaScript.Theyallowdeveloperstoeasilywriteuseful

webapplicationsthatworkanywhereonthewebwithoutmodification.Theyaredefinedtobe

embeddedintovariouscontexts:standalonewebpages,webapplications,evenothergadgets.

Agadgetmaybeasimplewidget,areusablecomponent,orafullblownapplication,possibly

utilizingorcommunicatingwithothergadgets.[6] Integratingthecomponentmodelwithan

APIforaccessinginformationaboutusersprofileinformationandtheirsocialgraph(including

thingssuchastheirfriendsandactivities),allowsapplicationstobeintegratedandmade

interoperablewitheachotherinthecontextofabroadsetofsocialnetworkingsites.[7]

Standardsenable

combining

these

building

blocks

with

software

tools

to

provide

aplatform

where

a

moreexpansiveapproachtosocialbusinesscanflourish.Platformdrivensocialbusinessorganizations

aremoreeffectivelyabletoshareresources,skillsandinsightswithinandacrossworkprocessesand

organizationalboundaries.Herearethecriticalstepsandrequirementsfordeployinganeffectivesocial

businessplatform:

Takeastrategicapproach.Becomingasocialbusinessisnotsimplyamatterofdeployingsome

collaborationtoolsandhopingforthebest.Itisalongtermstrategicapproachtoshapinga

businesscultureandishighlydependentonexecutiveleadershipandeffectivecorporate

strategy,includingbusinessprocesses,riskmanagement,leadershipdevelopment,financial

controlsand

business

analytics.

Realizing

the

potential

value

of

social

business

is

predicated

on

anorganizationsabilitytorecognizeanddesignforthistransformation.Inherentinthis

transformationisrecognizingtheconvergenceoftechnologiessuchassocial,mobileandcloud.

7Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messagingformoreinformation.

8Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Analyticsformoreinformation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaginghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Analyticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Analyticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging


19/34


Page 19

Applytothemostcommonactivities.Asorganizationseitherexpandgloballyorparticipatein

globalsupplychains,informationandinsightsbecomescatteredaroundtheworld.Such

knowledgeashowtosolveproblems,handleexceptionstonormalprocessesandaddresslocal

marketconditionsoftenresidesinwidelyseparated,oftenunconnectedrepositories.Also,

customersexpectsupplierstounderstandpastbusinesstransactionsandtapintothecollective

expertiseof

the

organization

to

solve

problems.

Buildtrustedrelationships.Therapidgrowthofsocialnetworkingandmobilityhaserasedsome

oftheboundariesthatseparatedindividualsinthepast.Peopleincreasinglyusetheir

relationshipswithotherpeopletodiscoveranduseinformationtoaccomplishinnumerable

tasks.Newopportunitiesforgrowth,innovationandproductivityexistfororganizationsthat

encouragepeopleemployees,customersandpartnerstoengageandbuildtrusted

relationships.Individualsareusingsocialnetworkingtoolsintheirpersonallives,andmanyare

alsoincorporatingitintotheirworklivesregardlessofwhetheritssanctionedbytheir

employers.

Applyanalytics.Enterprisescanintegrateandanalyzemassiveamountsofdatageneratedfrom

people,devicesandsensorsandmoreeasilyaligntheseinsightstobusinessprocessestomake

faster,moreaccuratebusinessdecisionsusingaplatformapproach.Bygainingdeeperinsights

incustomerandmarkettrendsandemployees'sentiment,businessescanuncovercritical

patternstonotonlyreactswiftlytomarketshifts,butpredicttheeffectoffutureactions.

Monitorandmeasure.Measuringtheimpactofsocialbusinessremainsasignificantbarrierfor

manyorganizations,pointingtotheneedforstandardizationtoprovidecosteffectiveflexible

solutionpatternsunderstoodbythemajorityoftheparticipatingecosystem.

Therelative

immaturity

of

social

business

technology

and

scenarios

still

challenges

success

criteria.

However,leveragingadjacenttechnologieslikecloudandmobileprovideasocialplatformwiththe

additionallongterminvestmentprotectionandreachcapabilities,requiredtomeetinvestmentcriteria

andbusinessobjectivesassocialbusinessmatures. Variousclouddeploymentoptionsflexiblyextend

thenetworkvalueproposition,andmobilestrategiesenablenewformsofparticipation.

Mobilityitselfhasbecomeanessentialpartofsocialbusiness,byextendingaccesstothesocialbusiness

valuepropositionbeyondthetraditionalcorporatedomainandtimeclock. Thealwayson,personalized

attributesofmobiledevicescreatesupportfornewandunanticipatedscenariosforstayingconnected

withcolleagues,partnersandbusinesstasksregardlessoftimeorlocation;andcloudprovidesthe

meansfor

faster

project

completion,

faster

product

introduction,

lower

operations

costs,

instant

collaboration,andlowerinfrastructurespend;requiredaselementsofasuccessfulsocialbusiness

strategy.

Leveragingastandardsbasedapproachisthefinalingredientforachievingsuccessinaspacethat

contraststheimmaturityofsocialtechnologiesandscenarioswiththedynamicrateofchangebeing

realizedwithcloudandmobiletechnologies. Theresultingroadmapplacesheavyinitialleverageona

hybridcloudmodelcapableofinteroperatingacrossenterpriseresourcesandwithothercloud


20/34


Page 20

environments.Thisapproachenablesanenterprisestrivingtointegrateexistingsystemsofrecordin

supportofemergingsystemsofengagementtomoveforwardasrequirements,bestpracticesand

technologiesmature.

Step5:LeverageAnalyticstoGainInsight

Therise

in

the

amount

of

both

structured

and

unstructured

data

being

generated

is

phenomenal.

By

someestimates,over4millionpetabytesofnewdatawillbegeneratedin2013.Social,mobileand

cloudapplicationsaregeneratingenormousamountofdatawhichhasbroughtBigDataanalyticstothe

fore.Theanalysisofdatageneratedinthesocial,mobileandclouddomainscanbringsignificantvalue

forenterprisesacrossmanydiverseareassuchasproductinnovation,marketing,customercare,pricing,

applicationmanagement,andcountlessmore.

BigDataisatermthatreferstothecollection,storageandanalysisofdatathatisverylargeinsize.The

sheervolumeofthedata,ofcourse,isamajorchallenge,butotherchallengesincludevarietyand

velocity. Varietyreferstotheheterogeneityofdatatypes,representation,andsemanticinterpretation.

Velocityencompasses

both

the

rate

at

which

data

arrive

and

the

time

in

which

it

must

be

acted

upon.

Toeffectivelyhandlelargevolumesofdata,aproliferationofnewBigDataengineeringsolutionshave

emergedincludingNOSQLdatabases,distributedfilesystems,andprogrammingparadigmslikemap

reduce.BigDatainfrastructuresrelyoncorearchitecturalprinciplessuchaslinearscalability,

deploymentandexecutionflexibility,massivelyparallelprocessing,indatabaseexecution,storage

virtualization,andmixedworkloadmanagement,etc.Theseareconsistentandcomplementarywiththe

corecloudprinciples.

AdvancedanalyticsandBigDatacanhelpunifyanenterprisesinvestmentsinsocial,mobileandcloud

technologies,deliveringpowerfulinsightsthatleverageallthreecategoriesofinvestment.

BigDataanalyticscanbeacentralcomponentofanenterprisessocialbusinessstrategy,poweringan

approachcalled"nextbestaction,"acustomercentricparadigmthatconsidersthedifferentactions

thatcanbetakenforaspecificcustomer/stakeholderanddecidesonthebestone.Thenextbest

action(anoffer,proposition,service,etc.)isdeterminedbythecustomersinterestsandneedsonthe

onehand,andtheorganizationsbusinessobjectives,policies,andregulationsontheother. Nextbest

action,drivenbyBigData,powerssocialbusinessineitherofthefollowingpatterns:

Outboundengagement.Thisreferstothepracticeofmonitoringsocialnetworktrafficfor

stakeholderintelligence(awareness,sentiment,andpropensity)andusingthatfeedtotrigger

nextbestactionmodelsthatsendfinelytargetedoutboundresponsemessages.Inabusiness

toconsumer(B2C)socialcontext,inboundintelligencemightbeusedtotriggernextbestaction

modelsthattargetoutboundmarketingpromotionsorrespondtospecificproductissues.Inan

employeetoemployee(E2E)socialcontext,thenextbestactionmodelsmightgenerate

reminderstotakeparticularHRactionsbyaspecificdeadlineortoaddressaspecifictechnical

issuethatanemployeeishavingwithapieceofequipment.Inabusinesstobusiness(B2B)


21/34


Page 21

socialcontext,thetriggeredmessagesmightprovideguidancetopartnersinquiringaboutthe

deliverystatusofparticularshipments.

Inboundengagement.Thisinvolvestuningsocialchannelconversationsthroughautomatically

generatedscripts,screens,andapplicationsthatshapehowemployeesinteractwithexternal

stakeholdersand

with

each

other.

In

acall

center

environment,

for

example,

customers

interact

withchannelpersonnelwhospeakfromonlinescriptsandotherguidancethatisauto

generatedbythenextbestactioninfrastructure.Insocialchannels,anenterprisemighthave

diversehumanandautomatedagentshandlingdiverseinteractionscenariosthatspanawide

rangeofcustomer,employee,and/orpartnersegments.Furthermore,anenterprisemightbe

orchestratingthesesocialinteractionsinordertoachievediversebusinessobjectives,suchas

reducingcustomerandemployeechurn,boostingsalesandprofits,andachievinggreater

efficiencythroughoutthesupplychain.

Asmobilehasbecometheprimarydeliveryplatformforsocialapplications,smartphonesandother

mobile

gadgets

have

become

important

sources

of

the

data

pouring

into

Big

Data

platforms.

The

ability

topersonalizemobileservicedeliveryincreasinglydependsonthecollectionandanalysisofmassive

streamsofdataatthedevice,application,anduserlevels.Everytransaction,interaction,event,signal,

ambient,behavioral,geospatial,andotherdatumthatcanbeacquiredfromemployeeandcustomer

gadgetswillbecrunchedbyBigDataplatforms.Furthermore,thetrendistowardorganizationsmoving

mostoftheirtransactional,productivity,andecommerceapplicationstomobiledevices.

Enterprisescanensureexceptional,consistent,andsecureexperiencesacrossallmobiledevicesby

implementingthefollowingBigDatapoweredinfrastructureservices:

CloudservicesensureBigDataisalwaysthereforyourmobileaccess.Mostbusinessusersand

consumerswon't

be

storing

petabytes

on

their

smartphones

anytime

soon.

Rather,

they

will

be

maintaininggrowingvolumesofinformationinthecloud,accessingitfromvariousmobile

devices,andselectivelysynchronizingandcachingwhatisneededlocally.Asweconductmore

ofourlivesonmobileandsocialservices,wewillpersistmoreofourdatainthecloudon

massivelyparallelfilesystems,databases,andotherBigDatarepositories.

Streamcomputingenablesrealtimemobileexperiences.Userstodaydependoncontinuous

realtimeconnectivitytomobileservicesmanyofwhichleverageBigDataanalytics.Mobile

applicationsusingBigDatawillgrowatarapidpace. Furthermore,manyofthemobileservices

thatprocesshighvolumesofdatainrealtimeornearrealtimewillrequirestreamcomputing.

Streamcomputing,

which

will

become

standard

in

many

mobile

services,

ensures

acontinuous

flowofalerts,notifications,events,sensordata,transactions,socialmediaupdates,videoand

audiostreams,andothertypesofinformationbetweenallendpointsandinfrastructure

services.[8]

MachinedataiswhatyourmobiledevicefeedstoBigDatacloudanalytics.Thetypicaluser

won'tbemanuallypushingdatafromtheirmobilesintotheBigDatacloud.Instead,thegadgets

willbefeedingdataautomatically,silently,andinthebackgroundintothecloud,underpolicy


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Page 22

controlsdefinedandenforcedwithinmobiledevicemanagementtooling.Muchofthiswill

involvevoluminous"machinedata"suchasgeospatialcoordinates,sensorreadings,andevent

logsthatthedevicesgeneratecontinuously.Beforelong,machinetomachinemobile

connectivitywillbeembeddedintoeveryartifact,possession,andenvironmentinourworld.

Wearableandimplanteddeviceswillgeneratemachinedataonuservitalsigns,helpingpeople

tomonitor

their

lifestyles

or

alerting

emergency

services

to

urgent

life

or

death

situations.

LocationanalyticsuseBigDatatoorientyourmobiledeviceontheground.Userswon'tbe

performingresourceintensivegeospatialanalyticslocallyonmostmobilegadgets.Typically,

theywillbefeedingstreamsofgeospatialdatafromthosedevicestoBigDatacloudservices.

Thecloudbasedserviceswillhelpdevicestrackusers'preciselocationsandtorecalculatethe

bestroutetowherevertheyneedtobe,basedondynamicconditionsintheirenvironment.To

realizethepromiseofintelligentlocationservices,thecloudbasedBigDatainfrastructurewill

needtocontinuouslycorrelaterealtimefeedsoftraffic,weather,event,andotherdynamic

environmentaldata.

NextbestactionleveragesBigDataanalyticsforcontinualmobileguidance.Userswon'tbe

constantlyinteractingwithmobiledevicestodeterminetheoptimalroadtotake,theoptimal

recommendationstoheed,theoptimalcommercialoffertoaccept,theoptimalstreaming

mediatoconsume,andthebestcourseofactiontotakeineverysituation.Instead,userswill

frequentlyleanonBigDatapoweredcloudserviceswithembeddeddecisionautomation

capabilitiestorecommendtheirnextcourseofaction.Nextbestactioninfrastructureswill

continuallyprovidecontextualguidancethatispersonalizedtoeachmobileendpoint.Theywill

continuallycalculateguidancebyleveragingsegmentation,propensity,graph,semantic,

experience,andotheradvancedanalyticmodelsbuiltbydatascientists.

Mostofusdon'tthinkofBigDataasapersonalresourceforsocialmobility,but,clearly,thatthinking

willneedtochange.Smartermobilitydependsontheabilitytoserveallofourmobiledevicesfroman

intelligentBigDatacloudinfrastructure.

CloudbasedDeployment

OneofthekeyquestionsforenterprisesishowtopreparetheirBigDatadeploymentfordeliveryintoa

cloudbased,productionreadyITenvironment.ItisimportanttorealizethatproductionreadyBigData

deploymentdemandsalifecyclefocusthatencompassesalloftheenterprisesBigDataplatforms,not

justasingleone(e.g.,Hadoop),andshould address morethanjustasinglerequirement(e.g.,

availability,scalability,security,backupandrecovery,etc.).

HereareseveralhighlevelconsiderationstokeepinmindasenterprisesreadytheirBigDatainitiatives

forprimetimecloudbaseddeployment:

Stakeholders.HastheenterprisealigneditsBigDatainitiativeswithstakeholderrequirements?

IfstakeholdershaventclearlyspecifiedtheirrequirementsorexpectationsforyourBigData

initiative,itsnotproductionready.Thecriteriaofproductionreadinessmustconformtowhat

stakeholdersrequire,andthatdependsgreatlyontheusecasesandapplicationstheyhavein


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Page 23

mindforBigData.ServiceLevelAgreements(SLAs)varywidelyforBigDatadeployedasan

enterprisedatawarehouse(EDW),asopposedtoanexploratorydatasciencesandbox,an

unstructuredinformationtransformationtier,aqueryablearchive,orsomeotheruse.SLAsfor

performance,availability,security,governance,compliance,monitoring,auditingandsoforth

willdependontheparticularsofeachBigDataapplication,andonhoweachenterprise

prioritizesthem

by

criticality.

Stacks.HastheenterprisehardeneditsBigDatatechnologystackdatabases,middleware,

applications,tools,etc.toaddressthefullrangeofSLAsassociatedwiththechiefusecases?If

theBigDataplatformdoesnotmeettheavailability,securityandotherrobustness

requirementsexpectedofmostenterpriseinfrastructure,itsnotproductionready.Ideally,all

productiongradeBigDataplatformsshouldbenefitfromacommonsetofenterprise

managementtools.Keyguidelinesinthisrespectare:

o LeverageaBigDatasolutionprovidershighavailability,security,resourceprovisioning,

mixed

workload

management,

performance

optimization,

health

monitoring,

policy

management,jobschedulingandotherclustermanagementfeatures;

o EnsurehighavailabilityonBigDataclustersbyimplementingredundancyacrossall

nodes,withloadbalancing,autofailover,resynchronizationandhotstandbys;

o PerformthoroughregressiontestingofeverylayerinthetargetBigDatadeployment

priortogoinglive,makingsuredata,jobsandapplicationswontcrashorencounter

bottlenecksindailyoperations;and

o AvoidmovingBigDataanalyticsjobstoclustersuntiltheyhavebeenhardenedfor24x7

availability

and

ease

of

configuration

and

administration.

Scalability.Hastheenterprisearchitecteditsenvironmentformodularscalingtokeeppacewith

inexorablegrowthindatavolumes,velocitiesandvarieties?Ifnewstorage,computeand

networkcapacitycannotbeprovisioned,added,orreallocatedontheBigDataplatformina

fast,costeffective,modularwaytomeetnewrequirements,theplatformisnotproduction

ready.Keyguidelinesinthisrespectare:[9]

o ScaleyourBigDatathroughscalein,scaleupandscaleouttechniques;

o AccelerateyourBigDatawithworkloadoptimizedintegratedsystemsfitforcloud

deployment;

o OptimizeyourBigDatasdistributedstoragelayer;and

o RetuneandrebalanceyourBigDataworkloadsregularly.

Skillsets.HastheenterprisebeefedupitsBigDataskillsetsformaximumproductivity?Ifstaff

lackstherequisitedatabase,integrationandanalyticsskillsandtoolstosupportBigData


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Page 24

initiativesovertheirexpectedlife,theplatformisnotproductionready.DontgodeeponBig

Datauntilstaffskillsareupgraded.Keyguidelinesinthisrespectare:

o UpgradetheskillsofDBAs,dataintegrationspecialists,datascientistsandbusiness

analyststosupportBigDatabestpracticesindeployment,modeling,managementand

optimization;

o LeverageBigDataexpertsand consultantstoassistininitialBigDataplanning,project

deployment,development,modeling,optimizationandmanagement;and

o ConnecttheteamintotheworldwidecommunityforyourBigDatatechnologyor

platforminordertolearnfromemergingbestpractices.

Seamlessservice.HastheenterprisereengineereditsdatamanagementandanalyticsIT

processesforseamlesssupportfordisparateBigDatainitiatives?Iftroubleresponse,user

trainingandothersupportfunctionscannotbeprovidedinanefficient,reliablefashionthats

consistentwith

existing

operations,

your

Big

Data

platform

is

not

production

ready.

Key

considerationsinthisrespect:

o ProvideBigDatauserswithasinglethroattochokeforsupport,serviceand

maintenance;

o Offerconsultingsupporttousersforplanning,deployment,integration,optimization,

customizationandmanagementoftheirspecificBigDatainitiatives;

o Deliver24x7supportwithquickturnaroundonsiteresponseonissues;

o ManageanendtoendBigDataenvironmentwithaunifiedsystemandsolution

managementconsoles;and

o AutomateBigDatasupportfunctionstothemaximumextentfeasible.

CloudbasedBigDataenvironmentswillrarelybecentralizedinasinglecluster.Instead,multitier

distributedcloudarchitecturesareneededtoscalebackenddatacollectiontransformationsandfront

endqueriesindependentlyofeachother,andperhapsalsoprovidedatascientistswiththeirown

analyticsandboxesforexplorationandmodeling.Thehugerangeofaccesspoints,applications,

workloads,anddatasourcesforanycloudcentricBigDataenvironmentsdemandanarchitectural

flexibilitythattraditionalpremisesbaseddatawarehouses,haverarelyneeded.

ThemainBigDatadeploymenttiersare:

Backendtier.ThisisthetieroftheBigDatacloudarchitecturethathandlesdatadiscovery,

extraction,collection,staging,landing,transformation,cleansing,enhancement,andpre

processing.Thistierwilltypicallyneeddifferentpreprocessingclustersforeachofthedisparate

sourcesofsocial,mobile,andothernewdatasources:structured,semistructured,and

unstructured.Disparateclustersmayneedtobeconfiguredwithdifferentunderlyingdata


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Page 25

platforms HDFS,HBase,Cassandra,NoSQL,streamcomputing,etc.tohandlethese

requirements.Thistieriswheremosthighvolume,highvelocity,andhighvarietyBigDatasets

areprocessedonthemostscalableBigDataplatforms.Frequently,thiswillruninapubliccloud,

SaaS,orotherhostedenvironmentwithondemandscaleoutandelasticprovisioning.

Middletier.

This

is

the

tier

that

supports

aggregation,

governance,

and

master

data

managementontheBigDatathatispreprocessedinthebackendtier.Inthemiddletier

(sometimesknownasa"datawarehouse"),arelationaldatabaseistypicallyusedwithmassively

parallelprocessing,richmetadata,andindatabaseexecutioncomponents.Inmostinstances,

thisisaprivatecloudorotheronpremisesdeployment,duetothesecurityrequirementsof

governingthe"singleversionoftruth"datasetsinhouse.

Frontendtier.Thisisthetierthatsupportsaccess,query,exploration,statisticalmodeling,

sandboxing,presentation,andinteractionondatathatispulledfromthemiddletier.Inthe

frontendtier(sometimesknownasa"datamart"),variouscombinationsofinmemory,

columnar,

OLAP,

dimensionless,

and

other

database

technologies

might

be

required

to

deliver

therequisiteperformanceondiverseanalyticapplications,rangingfromoperationalBIto

advancedanalyticsandcomplexeventprocessing.Duetothespeedrequirementsandtheneed

fortightcontrolovertheenvironmentbyteamsofdatascientists,thistiermightoftenbe

deployedonpremises.Totheextentthatthefrontendtierinterfacestomultiplemiddletier

datawarehousesand/orbackendlandinglayersonpremisesand/orinapubliccloudthere

mightbeadatavirtualization,abstraction,orfederationlayerthatmediatestheseinteractions,

enablesseamlessquery,handlesondemandjoins,andothermiddlewarefunctions.

Step6:EstablishaDevOpsCapabilityforRapidDeliveryofInnovation

Businessesareundertremendouspressuretodelivernewandinnovativesolutionstotheircustomersto

capturemarketopportunities.Customersaremuchmoreempoweredthaninthepastandtheydemand

ahigherqualitycustomerexperience.Justlookatyourownexperiencewithmobileapplications.Would

youcontinuetouseanapplicationthathadapooruserexperienceandwasonlyupdatedonceayear?

Disruptivetechnologytrendssuchasmobile,social,cloud,andbigdataanalyticsareanotherfactor

addingpressureformorerapidreleasesofinnovation.Companiesthatlearnhowtobeeffective

leveragingthesetechnologiesareincreasinglyabletooutinnovatetheircompetition.

Adoptingcloudisamajorfirststeptoincreaseanorganizationsabilitytoprovisionenvironments

quickerandmorefrequently;however,adoptingcloudisnotenough.Ithasbeenshownthathigh

performingorganizationsareturningtoDevOpstohelpthemtakeabusinessideaandrapidlydeliverit

asnew

function

to

their

clients

in

ahigh

quality

manner.

For

abusiness

to

have

acompetitive

advantage

basedoninnovationtheymustbeabletoadoptDevOpsandmakethemostofnewtechnologytrends

totransformintoahighperformingorganization.

DevOpsisasoftwaredevelopmentmethodthatstressescommunication,collaborationand

integrationbetweensoftwaredevelopersandITprofessionals.DevOpsisaresponsetothe


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interdependenceofsoftwaredevelopmentandIToperations.Itaimstohelpanorganization

rapidlyproducesoftware productsandservices.9

DevOpsisacorecapabilitytorapidlydeliverchangestoseizemarketopportunitiesandmake

improvementsbasedontimelycustomerfeedbackwhilebalancingcostandquality.DevOpsembraces

thenew

continuous

delivery

concept.

In

this

environment,

clients

expect

fixes

and

enhancements

to

arrivequickly,seamlessly,andcontinuously.Increasinglyusersexpecttoseeafixorenhancement

appliedwithnodisruptioninserviceorlossofcontext/data.ToeffectivelyadoptDevops,organizations

mustaddressseveralchallenges:

Differencesbetweenproductionanddevelopmentenvironmentsduetoalackofstandardsand

poorconfigurationmanagement.

Inabilitytorapidlyprovisionanddeployanapplicationintoanenvironmentfortesting.

Dependenceonmanualprocessesandtribalknowledgerequiringheroicfeatsforeveryrelease

makingthem

risky

and

error

prone.

Lackofcustomerfeedback,qualitymetrics,andbusinessrequirementsmakingitdifficultto

determinethebusinessvalueofreleasedchanges.

ThereareseveralkeytenantswhenimplementingaDevOpssolutionthatanorganizationshouldaspire

toachieve.

Establishexecutivesupportforculturalandprocesschangesthatwillberequired.Oncebuyin

fromexecutivechampionshasbeenestablished,DevOpsrequiresaculturewhichfacilitates

continuousparticipationfromlinesofbusinessdoingthedaytodaywork.

AgreeuponDevOpspracticesthatareimportanttoyourorganization(i.e.,continuous

integration,automateddeployment,configurationmanagement,continuoustesting,continuous

monitoringandreporting)andassesscurrentmaturitylevel.

Reducewaste(waittimeandmanualhandoffs)acrossprocessesfordeliveringchange(often

requirestheautomationofprocedures).

Establishmeaningfulmeasurementsofprogress.Progresscanoftenbemeasuredbyincreased

developmentcapabilitiesevenbeforethefirstdelivery.Thefirstfeaturedeliverymaybethe

slowestasnewprocessesarecreatedandadopted.

ChangetheculturebyinstitutionalizingtoolsthatembraceDevOps. Encouragethedesignand

implementationofcollaborativetoolstobeconsumedinternallybydevelopment,testing,

qualityassurance,andoperationsgroups. Leverageversioncontrolledsourcecode

9Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DevOps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DevOpshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DevOps


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managementtoolstoadequatelyhandlerapidlychangingapplicationcode(withmultiple

branchesfordevelopment,staging,andproduction).

Recognizethatimprovedprocessessuchasautomatedbuildanddeployprocesses,improvedtesting

processes,andversioncontrolledsourcecodemanagementprocessesprovidebetterqualitycodeand

fastercontinuous

integration

of

new

features.

To

keep

in

step

with

more

rapid

development

of

capabilities,considerleveragingtheuseofaservicecatalogiffeaturescanbeshippedasmodular,re

usableservicecomponents.

LeveragingaDevOpsreferencearchitectureisimportanttohelporganizationsdefinethecapabilities

andtoolsthatwillbeusedtoimplementtheirDevOpsenvironment.Thereferencearchitectureshould

embraceopenstandardswherepossible.Figure1includesanexampleDevOpsreferencearchitecture

withkeystandardtechnologiescalledoutspecificallyintheareaofcloudandlifecycleintegration.

Figure1:DevOpsReferenceArchitecture

Theexample

DevOps

reference

architecture

contains

the

following

layers:

DeploymentPlatforms.Thislayerincludescloudandphysicalinfrastructure,includingplatforms

basedonstandards(e.g.,OpenStack10),forhostingtheDevOpsplatformaswellasatargetfor

deployedworkloadsusingtheDevOpsservices.

10Seehttp://www.openstack.org/fordetails.
http://www.openstack.org/http://www.openstack.org/


28/34


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DevOpsFoundation.Asetofcommonservicessuchasuserauthentication,reporting,event

messaging,etc.toprovideintegrationacrossasetoftoolsfortheDevOpstoolchain.The

foundationisbasedonstandardinterfacessuchasOSLC11andtheW3CLinkedData.12

DevelopandTest.Capabilitiesthatarenecessarytosupportthedevelopmentandchange

managementof

software

and

the

ability

to

track

and

automate

tests,

both

unit

and

functional

tests.

ReleaseandDeploy.Capabilitiestoenableautomatedcloudresourceprovisioning,application

deploymentautomation,andapplicationreleasemanagementthattogetherproviderepeatable

andreliableprocessestomanageanddeploychangesintoenvironments.

MonitorandOptimize.Capabilitiesforcapturingcustomersentimentandmonitoringtheeffect

ofthedeliveredchangesintoanenvironment.Oncecaptured,thefeedbackisreportedtothe

developmentandoperationsteamstoensuretheapplicationcanbeoptimizedtomeetthe

demandsofthecustomer.

DeveloperCommunities.Referstothetechnologiesandworkloadtypesthatarebeing

developedanddeliveredusingthecapabilitiesfrombelow.

Ecosystem&ImplementationServices.Thearchitectureembracesanecosystemandcommunity

oftoolsandcontent,andleveragesimplementationserviceteamstohelporganizations

transformtheirbusinessbyadoptingtheDevOpspracticesandreferencearchitecture.

DevOpsToolChain

WhenimplementingaDevOpsreferencearchitecture,itisoftenbesttoconsidertheDevOpstoolchain

thatwillbeusedtomanageanddeliverchanges.Atoolchainwillidentifythetoolsthatimplementkey

phasesofadeliveryprocess.

11Seehttp://openservices.net/fordetails.

12Seehttp://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/datafordetails.
http://open-services.net/http://open-services.net/http://open-services.net/http://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/datahttp://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/datahttp://open-services.net/


29/34


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Figure2:DevOpsToolChain

ADevOpstoolchaindefinesthesetoftoolsthatarechainedtogethertoprovideanintegratedsetof

capabilitiesthatenableanorganizationtorapidlydevelopanddeliverchangestoclientsandthen

monitorand

respond

to

feedback.

Key

phases

included

in

atypical

DevOps

tool

chain

include:

Development.Toolstodeveloptheapplicationsourcecode.

Build.Compileandpackagethesourcecodeintoadeployablepackage.

ApplicationDeploymentAutomation.Defineandmanageconfigurationdataacrosstestingand

productionenvironmentsforanapplicationandautomatetheprocessestodeploythe

applicationintoeachenvironment.ADAoftenincludestestautomationtechnologiestoensure

thedeployedchangesareautomaticallytestedtoverifyfunctionagainstbusinessrequirements.

CloudProvisioning.

A

provisioning

system

that

automates

the

provisioning

of

virtual

resources

withinthecloud.Ideallythecloudprovisioningtechnologywillsupporttheprovisioningof

standardenvironmentpatternsthatgreatlyreduceerrorsandimproveconsistencyacross

deployments.

ApplicationReleaseManagement.Itisimportantthatanapplicationreleasemanagement

systemisusedtoplan,track,andgoverntheapplicationreleaseprocess.ByusinganARM

system,operationalreleaseswillbestructuredandclearlydefinedreducingerrorsand,

ultimately,risktothereleasesthatwillincreaseyourorganizationsabilitytoreleasemoreoften

andwithgreaterspeed.

MonitorandOptimize

Convergenceoftechnologieshasdrivenanevolutioninapplicationsfromatraditionalmultitier

architecturetoahybridarchitecture,featuringdifferentsometimesdispersedcomponents:

Multipleuserinterfaces: socialmedia,websites,mobileandAPIs.


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Useofmultipleprogramminglanguagesthenewsystemsofengagementareleveraging

multiplelanguagessuchasJava,Javascript,Python,etc.

Internalbusinessservicesandapplicationprogramminginterfacesfromexternalparties.

Deploymentmodelsrangingfromprivate,publicandhybridclouds.

Giventhislevelofcomplexity,ITorganizationsfacedwithgoalsofcontinuousuptimemaylookatthis

withfearandconcern. Itisthisreasonwhyaneffectivemanagementenvironmentshouldbebuilt. This

includes:

Ensuretherightmonitoringanddebuggingtoolsareinplaceinordertotrapanddeterminethe

causeoffailures. Thisisacommonpitfalltomigratingapplicationstothecloudtoday. Many

firmsmoveapplicationsasisandmaynotconsiderthecomplexityrequirementsofa

platform.

Mitigate

the

risk

of

change

management

through

fault

tolerant

application

design.

It

is

highly

unlikelythatallofthesepieceswillchangeinconcertwithoneanother,andconstantchange

shouldbeanticipated. Adesigntechniquethatcanmitigatethiswouldbetodesignapplications

totoleratefailureofanyorallofthesecomponents.

Insuchanenvironmentchangemanagementbecomescritical. Notonlyaretheapplicationsbecoming

morecomplex,thelineofbusinessisexpectingmorechangestoanapplicationfaster.Trackingand

testingthosechangesarenowmoreimportantthanever.

Reducedvisibilityofapplicationandinfrastructurehealthandperformanceisakeychallengeofcloud

computing.Withoutdirectcontroloverthecloudinfrastructureitself,traditionalapplication

performancemanagement

(APM)

tools

may

prove

impractical

to

deploy

and

manage.

Add

to

this

limitedvisibilitytherapid(andsometimesmerciless)feedbackchannelthatsocialmediaprovides,and

youhaveapotentialpowderkegonyourhandswhencloudapplicationsfailtoperform. Cloud

applicationoutagestrendwildlywhentheyoccur,anditcanbedifficulttodetermineiftheproblemis

withtheapplicationitself,orthecloudplatform.

Cloudapplicationownersliketraditionaldatacenteradministrators needtoseehowtheircloud

hostedapplicationsareperforming. Theyneedtoolstoensurethattheyregettingtheperformance

theyexpectfromthecloud,andthattheirapplicationsareservingcustomersanddeliveringvaluetothe

business. Buttheabstractionofphysicalresourcesthatvirtualizationengenderscanrendertraditional

performancemanagement

solutions

impractical.

In

this

environment,

user

experience

monitoring

is

the

keymeasureofapplicationperformance,becauseittakesintoaccounttheredundancyandresource

sharingofclouddelivery,andpaintsanintuitivepictureofhealth.

Anotherkeytogettingtheintendedvaluefromworkloadsexecutinginapubliccloudisestablishing

whatkindofdemandthoseworkloadsarefacing,howwellthecloudisscaling(ornotscaling)tomeet

thedemand,andcorrelatingthatwithenduserexperience. Thatmeansthatcloudtenantsmustalso

monitortheirvirtualmachineoperatingsystems,toensurethattheyregettingtheresourcesand


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performancepromisedtothembycloudadministrators. Inshort,userexperiencemonitoringtellsthem

howtheirapplicationisperforming,andVMmonitoringtellsthemhowtheircloudprovideris

performing.

Whendesigningsuchasolution,applicationteams,inthesecircumstances,donthavetheabilityto

deploymanagement

servers

and

other

monitoring

components

to

the

cloud

infrastructure,

as

they

wouldinatraditionaldatacenterdeployment. Instead,theyrequirealightweightsolutionthatcanbe

deployedbytheapplicationteamsthemselves(ratherthancloudadministrators)alongsidethe

applicationworkloads. Toadheretothedynamicprovisioningmodel,themonitoringtechnologymust

beembeddableinvirtualmachinebaseimagesorpatterns,andworkwithmultipleprovisioning

solutions. IntegrationwiththeprovisioningengineallowseachnewVMinstancetobeautomatically

discoveredbythemonitoringinfrastructureandassociatedwiththecorrectbusinessapplication,so

existingapplica

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