Convergence of Cloud Social Mobile Final

ConvergenceofSocial,MobileandCloud:
7StepstoEnsureSuccess
June,2013
Contents
ExecutiveOverview....................................................................................................................................... 4
BusinessInnovation&Transformation ........................................................................................................ 5
RoadmapforSocial,MobileandCloudSolutions......................................................................................... 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
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Acknowledgements
TheConvergenceofSocial,Mobile&Cloud:7StepstoEnsureSuccessisacollaborativeeffortthatbrings
togetherdiversecustomerfocusedexperiencesandperspectivesintoasingleguideforITandbusiness
leaderswhoareconsideringcloudadoption.Thefollowingparticipantshaveprovidedtheirexpertise
andtimetothiseffort.
WorkgroupLeaders
JohnMeegan,IBMCoChair&TechnicalEditor
RajSethi,EkarthaInc.CoChair
GurpreetSingh,EkarthaInc.TechnicalEditor
SectionAuthors
BusinessTransformationandInnovationGurpreetSingh,Ekartha;RajSethiEkartha
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
(ElasticProvisioner,Inc.),DaveDuggal(EnterpriseWeb,LLC),DwayneGoldsmith(PCCTechnology
Group),MarvinGoodman(IBM),MikuJha(IBM),andRolandDumas(PCCTechnologyGroup).
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ExecutiveOverview
Astheadoptionofsocial,mobileandcloudcomputingcontinuestotransformindustries,organizations
increasinglyvaluehowthesetechnologiescanimprovecustomerengagement,forgenewpartnerships
anddrivecompetitiveadvantage.Althoughthesetechnologiesareinnovativeanddisruptiveontheir
own,togethertheyarerevolutionizingbusinessandsociety,disruptingoldbusinessmodelsandcreating
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)
andbusinessdecisionmakersastheyanalyzeandconsidertheimplicationsoftheconvergenceofsocial,
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
https://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
frontendplatform,socialprovidesalayerofrichinformationaboutthecustomerandtheirinteractions,
andcloudprovidestheunderlyinginfrastructureforanalytics,processing,storageandothercompute
intensiveactivities.
Manyspecificareasandprocessesintheenterprisecanbenefitfromtheconvergenceofsocial,mobile
andcloud.Someofthekeysbenefitsinclude:
Newchannelsforreachingcustomers.Withtheincreasingpopularityofsocialmediaandmobile
devices,itisintheenterprisesbestinteresttointeractwithcustomersontheirpreferred
communicationchannels.Forexample,tosatisfycustomerdemand,financialinstitutionsare
doingwhatevertheycantoprovidesecurebankingapplicationsoverchannelslikemobile.The
backendfortheseapplicationsrunatthebanksdatacenterorprivatecloud.Adoptionof
newerchannelslikesocialandmobileisaccelerating,andengagementthroughthesechannels
canbringrichrewardsforenterprises.
Deepercustomerinsight&customercare.Analysisofsocialmediainteractionsand
customerbehaviorcanhelpcompaniesdevelopricherinsightintocustomersandtheir
preferences.Socialnetworkscanalsoactasachannelforprovidingcustomercare,a
placewherecustomerscanpostquestionswhichcanbeansweredbyusersorby
customerservicerepsthishelpsinfluencethebroadercommunity.
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,initiateconversationsanddevelopinnovativeideas.Organizationsareleveraging
socialtechnologiestobuildknowledgeecosystemswithcustomers,prospects,andemployees.
Companiesarerecognizing,thatindependentoflocation,employeesandpartnersusingmobile
andsocialtechnologiescanexchangeknowledgediscussnewideas,identifyexpertise,enhance
overallgroupdynamics,andincreaseoverallproductivity.
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RoadmapforSocial,MobileandCloudSolutions
Thissectionprovidesaprescriptiveseriesofstepsthatshouldbetakenbyenduserstoensure
successfuldeploymentofcloudbasedsocialandmobilesolutions.Thefollowingstepsarediscussedin
detail:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
AdoptanOpenITStrategyandArchitecture
EstablishCloudastheCore
PrioritizeMobileAccess
ExtendSocialInteraction
LeverageAnalyticstoGainInsight
EstablishaDevOpsCapabilityforRapidDeliveryofInnovation
AdoptaFlexibleIntegrationModel
Requirementsandbestpracticesarehighlightedforeachstep.Inaddition,eachsteptakesintoaccount
therealitiesoftodayslandscapeandpostulateshowthisspaceislikelytoevolveinthefuture,including
theimportantrolethatopenstandardswillplay.
Step1:AdoptanOpenITStrategy&Architecture
Itiscriticalforbusinessleaderstorealizethatconvergenceofsocial,mobileandclouddoesnotstart
withtechnicalimplementationofdisparatetechnologies.Rathertheconvergencepresentsan
opportunitytoimprovebusinessprocessesacrossawholespectrumofactivitiesfromincreased
collaboration,improvedinnovation,bettercustomerinsightandsupport,etc.Expandingthisfurther,
consideranexampleofincreasedcollaborationinanorganizationacommoninitiativeamongmany
companies.Enterprisesneedtorealizethatsuccessfulcollaborationoutcomeswillrequirecollaboration
strategies,architecturalsolutions,governanceandoverallITstrategythatareflexible.Thesestrategies
needtoaccountfortheuniquecommunicationandcollaborationneedsofinternalemployees,
customers,suppliers,andpubliccollaboratorsinthisnewsocial/mobile/cloudenvironment.
Thepotentialdisruptionduetotheconvergenceofsocial,mobileandcloudwillimpactmanyfacetsof
businesses,thusmakingtheprocessofplanningITstrategyachallenge.Someoftheimportantstepsto
considerare:
Aligntobusinessobjectives.Assesscurrentcapabilitieswithrespecttoyourbusinessgoals,and
developanunderstandingofhowyourcurrentsocial,mobileandcloudcapabilitiescan
contributetotheachievementofyourbusinessobjectives.Conductaproperreviewtoidentify
wherecurrentITresourcesandprocessesmightbeabletosupportneworganizationalactivities,
andwherenewcapabilitiesmayberequired.Increasedcomplexityisacommonsideeffect
whenimplementingnewtechnologiesandsocial,mobileandcloudarenotanexception.Thus,
itisimportanttoconductcarefulassessmentofwhetherthenewtechnologiesbeingadopted
willimproveachievementofbusinessobjectiveswithoutsignificantlyincreasingcosts,risksand
complexitythathavethepotentialtounderminetheexpectedgains.
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Identifyingexperts.Itiscommonfororganizationstolackexpertiseintheareasofsocial,mobile
andcloud.Enterprisesshouldidentifysubjectmatterexpertswithinoroutsidetheircompany
throughcollaborationwithtechnologypartners.
Measuresuccess.Theconvergenceofsocial,mobileandcloudcancontributetosignificant
businesstransformation,anditiscriticalthatanITstrategyincludethecapacityfor
organizationstodevelopandtrackkeymetricstomeasuretheimplementationandsuccessof
businessobjectives.Themetricsframeworkwillbedevelopedthroughacollaborativeeffort
betweenbusinessunitsandIT.Itisimportantthatorganizationsensurethatthemetrics
developedareusefulinmeasuringbusinessobjectives,andthattheyaretransparentand
precise.Forexample,measurementofcustomersupportduetoimplementationofsocial
technologiesmaybetrackedwithmetricslikenumberofserviceissuesaddressedinsocial
media,percentageofissuesescalatedandresolvedinside/outsidesocialmedia,numberof
positiveratingsandreviews,etc.InmeasuringrisksinvariousITimplementationprojects,key
riskmetricsshouldbedevelopedthathighlighttheseverityoftheITrisksandtheimpacton
individualbusinessobjectives.
AdaptITgovernance.ITgovernancemustadapttobetteraccommodatethenewtechnologies
ofsocial,mobileandcloud.Itiscommoninenterprisestoseemanyofthesenewsystemsunder
thecontrolofbusinessstakeholdersratherthanenterpriseIT.Butthesebusinessstakeholders
stilldependuponITforsupport,integration,etc.Sincetheprocurementofsocial,mobileand
cloudtechnologiescanbeeasilydonebyindividualbusinessunits,afragmentedITgovernance
modelcanimposerisksinanorganization.ItisimportantforITandbusinessunitsto
collaborateandviewtechnologygovernanceasacorepartofbusinessstrategy.ITcanassist
businessunitsincertifyingdifferentsocial,mobileandcloudtechnologies,ratherthanhavinga
directroleinthetechnologyselectionitself.Thedemocratizationoftechnologydecisionmaking
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.Thegeneralruleofthumbtofollowisthatasynchronousrequestdrivenpattern,as
usedintraditionalSOA,isappropriatewhentheclient(requestorofaservice)dependsontheresponse
fromaservicetocompleteitsexecution.Inordertoachievescalabilityandfaulttolerance,enterprises
cantrytomodeltraditionalSOAapplicationstoEventDrivenSOA.Thiswillrequiremodelingand
implementationofservicesthatareautonomous,anddonothavephysicalandlogicaldependencies.
AnotherareawhereEventDrivenSOAprovidesamajorbenefitisintheareaofComplexEvent
Processing(CEP).CEPiseventprocessingthatcombinesdatafrommultiplesourcestoinfereventsor
patternsthatsuggestmorecomplicatedcircumstances.Thegoalofcomplexeventprocessingisto
identifymeaningfuleventsandrespondtothemasquicklyaspossible. 2 Interpretationofsuch
meaningfulpatternscanprovideenterpriseswithhigherlevelsofbusinessvisibility,insightandagilityto
respondtonewbusinessscenarios.
OneexampleofCEPusageistheinvestigationofsocialmediasitesforearlywarningdetectionof
possiblediseaseoutbreaksbytheU.S.CentersforDiseaseControl(CDC)andseveralinternationalhealth
organizations.Mentionsofvarioussymptomsandsentimentsonsocialmediasitescanbeaggregated,
sortedandanalyzedbasedontimeandlocation.Thisinturncanhelpthesehealthorganizations
determinepossibleoutbreaksofdisease.AsimilarexamplewastherecentexperimentbyGooglewhich
providedgoodindicatorsforfluactivitybasedonaggregatedsearchdataovercertainsearchterms.
ItisextremelydifficulttoimplementEventDrivenSOAwithoutapropermiddlewaresolution.Event
DrivenSOAmiddlewareshouldprovideapropermessaginginfrastructurethatwillinsuredurability,
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.OrganizationsshouldexploretheuseofNOSQLdatabasestostoreunstructureddata.Unlike
relationaldatabases,NOSQLdatabaseshandleunstructureddatasuchasemail,multimedia,andsocial
mediaefficiently.Transformingunstructuredcontentintoastructuredformatforanalysisisalsoamajor
challengeforenterprises.Step5belowonanalyticsprovidesfurtherdetailsondealingwithchallenges
relatedtotheriseofunstructureddata.
2
Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_event_processingformoreinformation.
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Additionally,manyofthenewbusinessservicesbeingdevelopedforsocial,mobileandcloudareusing
weaktransactionsemantics.Theseservicesmustsupportrequestswithlowlatency(tensof
milliseconds)tousersworldwideandmusthavehighthroughput(tensofthousandsofreadsandwrites
persecond).Weaktransactionalsemanticsbecomesanimportantarchitecturalchoiceforscalingand
reducedoperationalcosts.Weaktransactionalsemanticsdonotguaranteestrongconsistencyasin
ACID 3 styletransactionsandarenotappropriateforallapplications.Forexample,abankingapplication
mayneedstrongconsistencyguarantees,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
intoamobileorcloudplatformforthispurpose.
InnovationandBusinessModeldisruption.Whilenotmutuallyexclusivefromoptimization,this
kindofchangeisusuallydrivenbytheLineofBusinessratherthantheITorganization.Asthese
technologiesconverge,theLOBwilllooktoITtodelivernewandinnovativewaystointeract
ACIDstandsforAtomicity,Consistency,Isolation,andDurability.
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withcustomers.Forexample,anewmobileapplicationwilldriveelasticityrequirementsto
existingbackendsystems,whichmaynotbereadyforthiskindofusecase.
CloudcomputingoffersavaluepropositionthatisdifferentfromtraditionalenterpriseITenvironments.
Byprovidingawaytoexploitvirtualizationandaggregatecomputingresources,cloudcomputingcan
offereconomiesofscalethatwouldotherwisebeunavailable.Becausevirtualinstancescanbe
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.
Toensureasuccessfulclouddeployment,onethatadequatelysupportsthespecificrequirementsof
mobileandsocialbusinesssolutions,thefollowingcriticalrequirementsmustbetakeninto
consideration:deploymentandservicemodels,security&privacy,servicelevelagreements,governance,
legal&regulatoryrequirements,interoperability,andintegrationwithexistingsystems.Refertothe
followingCSCCwhitepapersforspecificinformationoneachoftheseareas:
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ThePracticalGuidetoCloudComputingprovidesasetofguidelinesandstrategiestohelp
decisionmakersaddresseachofthesekeyconsiderationsrelatedtoimplementingcloud
solutions.[3]
ThePracticalGuidetoCloudServiceLevelAgreementsprovidesspecificguidanceonwhatto
expectandhowtocomparecloudSLAs.[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.Notjustsmallerinfootprint,mobileapplicationsdeliveradifferentsetof
capabilities,withmoreuserandcontextawareness,inasmallerformfactor.Unliketraditionalweb
applications,interruptioninserviceisthenorm,nottheexception.Managingapplicationdistribution
andgovernancemeansworkingwithseveralpublicAppStoreseachwiththeirownapproachand
limitationsoutsideofanenterprisescontrol.Synchronizationwithenterprisesystemsposesanewset
ofrequirements,ascustomersdemandaseamlessomnichannelexperienceastheymovefrom
transactingontheWebtomobileandbackagain.And,becausethedevicestheyrunonareoutsideofIT
control,mobileapplicationsposegreaterchallengesassociatedwithapplicationsecurity,governance
andversionmanagement.
Toaddressthesechallenges,organizationsareevolvingtheirthinkingaboutthewaytheydesign,
develop,deployandmanagemobileapplications.Movingbeyondtreatingmobileapplicationsasoneoff
projects,leadersareincreasinglyadoptinganextensibleMobileApplicationPlatform(MAP)approach.
TheMAP(sometimesreferredtoasanMEAP(MobileEnterpriseApplicationPlatform)orMDAP(Mobile
DevelopmentApplicationPlatform)includesamobileoptimizeddevelopmentenvironment,amobile
applicationserver,andaclientdevicelayerthatdeliveressentialdatatransformation,synchronization
andothermiddlewareservices.ArobustMAPsolutionisbasedonanopenandextensiblearchitecture
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thatcanbeextendedasneededwithkeydevicemanagement,security,andanalyticscapabilities.In
assessinganeffectivemobileapplicationplatform,fourkeyquestionscanguidetheevaluationprocess.
Cantheplatformscaleapplicationdelivery,usingexistingskillsandresources?
Mobileapplicationsaremuchmoreiterative,havefasterlifecycleswithhighdegreeof
fragmentationofdevices,platforms,networks,operatingsystemsandlanguages.Application
developmentinamultiplatformenvironmentneedsastrategythataddressesagile
development,timetomarket,endtoendcrossplatformtestingandautomationwithoptimized
toolsforcollaboration.Platformsthatarebuiltonopen,standardsbaseddevelopment
environments,suchastheEclipsedevelopmentenvironment,canhelporganizationsleverage
theskillsbasetheyalreadyhave,whiletakingadvantageoftherichandgrowingecosystemof
thirdpartydevelopmentframeworksandlibraries.
Willithelpmyorganizationconnecttodata,applicationsandcloudservices?
Mobileapplicationshavetointegratewithbackendservices,havetoscaletohandlethe
increasingvolumeoftransactionsandhavetodeliveronadvancedmobileservicessuchaspush
notificationsandgeolocationservices.Theseadvancedcapabilitiesshouldbeprovided,outof
thebox,byascalable,mobileoptimizedmiddlewarelayer.Providingaseamless,consistentuser
experienceacrossallchannelsneedssynchronizationofdata,integrationwithbackendservices
andatomizationofworkflowprocessesthatgetscomplexasnewdevicesandnewmodelsof
engagementarefactoredin.
Willithelpmemaximizethevalueofmobileengagementbydelightingcustomers?
Systemsofengagementarefocusedoncreatinganexcellentcustomerexperience,andthat
dependsontransformingdataintoactionableinsights.Addressingcustomercontextisan
essentialcomponent,sothedatagatheredmustincludelocationdata,socialnetwork
information,customerpreferences,sentiment,andusageintent.Increasinglyleveragingthis
datatoperformpredictiveanalyticsplaysakeyroleindelightingcustomers.
HowwellcanIreducesecurityriskacrossmymobileenterprise?
Arobustmobilestrategymustincludebothmobiledevice(endpoint)managementandmobile
securitymanagementcompetenciescapableofaddressingthreatsateverylayerofthemobile
transactionstack.Mobileapplicationspresentgreatersecurityrisksofexposingapplicationsand
dataonsmall,lightandalwaysonportabledevices.Mobilesecurityhastobedealtwithinthe
contextoftheseusagepatternsandthreatmodels.Everyendpointinvolvedinamobile
transactionincludingthemobiledevice,theapplicationsrunningonthemobiledevice,the
dataaccessedbytheapplication,andthebackendexecutingtransactionsmustbesecuredit
isnolongergoodenoughtosimplyfocusontheenterprisesperimeter.
Inresponsetotheseconsiderations,organizationsareimprovingtheirmobilematurityinfourkey
capabilityareas:mobiledevelopmentandconnectivity,devicemanagement,securityandanalytics.Lets
exploreeachinturn.
Page13
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,theseapplicationshavelimitedaccesstodevicecapabilitiesandfeatures.4 Asaresult,
Webapplicationssufferfromsecuritylimitationsandlackofadvanceduserexperience.
Hybridapproach.HybriddevelopmentusesWebstandardssuchasHTML5andprovidesplugins
foraccessingnativedevicecapabilities.Itallowsdeveloperstobuildthemajorityofthe
applicationusingweblanguagesthatarecrossplatformbydefault,whileoptimizingthecode
accordingtothefunctionalanddesignguidelinesofitstargetenvironment. 5
Formostorganizationsandusecases,hybridapplicationsprovidethebestofbothworlds:developers
canmaximizecodereusewithoptimaluserexperience,withoutcompromisinganyofthenative
capabilitiesandfeatures.Sincehybridapplicationscanscalequickly,theyhelpenterprisesunlocknew
AsHTML5continuestoevolve,multipleUIframeworkssuchasJQueryMobileandSenchahaveemergedto
providemobilecomponentsandextensiblepluginstosolvesomeoftheinherentissuesofwebapplications
relatedtoUIcontrols.
Onaverage,theresultoftheHybridapproachisamobileappthatcanconsistof~80%webcodethatisshared
acrossdifferentenvironmentsand~20%environmentspecificcodethatensurestheoptimaluserexperience.
Page14
marketswithspeedandscale.Despitetheseadvantages,therearecircumstancesforwhicheither
nativeorwebapproacheswouldmakethemostbusinesssense,soitisimportanttomaintainflexibility.
MobileDeviceManagement
[0][0]PrioritizingmobileaccessmeansrespondingeffectivelytothegrowingdemandforBYOD(bringyour
owndevice)policiesthatempoweremployeestoutilizethemostproductivedeviceswhetherlaptops,
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.
Runanantivirusprogramonanydevicewithaccesstothecorporatenetwork.
Runafirewallprogramonallmobiledevices.
Secureapplicationswithprotectionagainstreverseengineeringvulnerabilities,remotedisable
ofapplications,andenforcementofclientupgrades.
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Enforcecompliancewithregulatorymandatesthroughsecureshellsthatcanbedeployed
throughoutyourmobileportfolio.
SetBluetoothconfigurationssuchthatmobiledevicesarenotdiscoverable.
MobileAnalytics
Tosucceedinthemobilechannel,organizationsmustdelivermobileservicesandfeaturesthattheir
customerswilladoptanduseproductively.Yetmostbusinessestodayhavealimitedunderstandingof
howtheircustomersareengagingwiththemonmobilechannels.
Giventhemagnitudeofmobilevariablesincludingtheabundanceofdevicesandbrowserstheriskof
customersencounteringobstaclesisinherentlygreater.Whilesomeoftheseobstaclesaretechnicalin
origin,othersarerelatedtobusinessprocessandusability,makingthemhardertodetect,diagnoseand
effectivelyresolve.
Anewgenerationofcustomerexperiencemanagementanalyticssolutionsisspecificallydesignedfor
themobilechannel.Thesenewcapabilitiesenableorganizationstoefficientlyinstrumentmobile
applicationsinordertocapturethecompletemobileinteractionsofeverymobileuser.Theresultsof
thisanalysisdeliversunprecedentedvisibilityintomobileusagepatternsandbehaviors,enabling
companiestopinpointandresolvemobileobstacles,maketherightinvestmentdecisions,andraise
customerconversionandacquisitionrates.
Step4:ExtendSocialInteraction
PerGartner,socialtechnologiesbothdriveanddependonmobileandcloudcomputing:
Socialprovidesanimportantneedformobility:Accessingsocialnetworksisoneoftheprimary
usesofmobiledevices.Indeed,itisthemainreasonthatmanypeopleacquiremorepowerful
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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customerrelations,andmoreeffectivepredictionofmarketopportunities.Socialbusinessdeliversthe
followingbenefits:
Activatepeopletocreateasmarterworkforce
o Improveproductivity.Connectemployeeswiththerightexpertsandinformationto
anticipateandmeetclientsneeds.Byconnectingpeoplewiththerightexpertiseand
informationwithinthecontextoftheirwork,peopleinasocialbusinesscanbemore
effectiveanddrivegreaterbusinessvalue.
o Accelerateinnovation.Asocialbusinessengagespeoplemoremeaningfully.Asbarriers
betweenemployees,customers,andpartnersdisappear,organizationscandevelopand
applycollectiveintelligence,advocacy,anddistributedtalenttodrivebusinessresults.
Ithelpsgroupsofpeoplebindtogetherintocommunitiesofsharedinterestand
coordinatetheireffortstodeliverbetterbusinessresultsfaster.Itencourages,supports
andtakesadvantageofinnovationandideacreationandbuildsontheintelligenceof
thecrowd.
o Connectwithclients.Engagewithclientsinnewwaysthroughdedicatedcommunities.
Connectclient,transactionandsocialdatasoyouknowyourcustomersbetterthanthe
competition.
DelightCustomers
o Driveloyalty.Engagecustomersindynamic,personalizedexperiencestokeepthem
comingback.
o Anticipateproblems.Listentoandanalyzecustomerfeedbacktounderstandemerging
issues.
o Respondfaster.Acceleratevaluebydeployingtechnologydesignedtoreachpeople
wheretheyareandtointegraterapidlywithsystemsinplacetodayandthosethatmay
bedeployedinthefuture.Asocialbusinessmakesrealtimeuseofcurrentknowledge,
leveragessituationalawarenessandusessocialintelligenceindecisionmaking.
o Enableselfservice.Helpclientsfindtheanswerstheyneed24/7.
Creatingvalueacrosseveryleveloftheorganization,beitinmarketing,productdevelopment,sales,
researchanddevelopment,orcustomerservice,etc.requiresarangeofsocialbusinesstechnological
buildingblocksincluding:
Profiles.Thefoundationforbuildingandexpandingapersonalnetwork,helpingusersdevelop
andmaintainpersonalrelationshipsacrossreportingstructure,department,geography,etc.
ActivityStreams 6 .Thecommon,centralplacefromwhichalluserscanseewhat'shappening
acrosstheirnetwork,whethertheyareontheHomepageorinacommunity.
Wikis.Technologytomakeonlinepublishingandcontentgenerationeasyenoughforpeople
withoutWebdevelopmentskills.
Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activity_streamformoreinformation.
Page17
Blogs.Provideamediumwithwhichtoshareknowledgeandbuildnetworksandrelationships.
Blogscanbeusedformanydifferentbusinesspurposes,rangingfromsharingproductdirection,
askingandansweringquestions,gatheringfeedback,andlearningbestpractices,etc.
InstantMessaging.Allowssomeonetocommunicatewithanotherpersonoveranetworkinreal
time,inrelativeprivacy. 7
Files.Allowsuserstoeasilyfindapersonsfiles,shareafilewithaCommunity,andcreate
foldersoffilestoaidorganization.Businessesstrugglewiththeproblemofsharingfiles.Large
filesystemsharesonnetworkdrivesallowuserstostoreafileforgroupaccess,buttheydonot
handleaccesscontrollevels,commentsandratings,versioning,orevenprovidecontextforthe
file.
Communities.Providesthemeansforuserstostayintouch,shareinformation,andexchange
ideas.Communitiesprovideanexcellentwaytoconnectmembersofaprojectteam,organizea
taskforceresearchinganemergingtechnology,orbringtogetheragroupofpeoplewhoshare
anyinterest.
SocialAnalytics.CombinessoftwareandservicesthatbringBigDataanalyticsintothehandsof
todayssocialsavvyandmobileworkforce.Organizationscanapplyanalyticstotheirsocial
businessinitiatives,allowingthemtogainactionableinsightoninformationgeneratedon
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]
Standardsenablecombiningthesebuildingblockswithsoftwaretoolstoprovideaplatformwherea
moreexpansiveapproachtosocialbusinesscanflourish.Platformdrivensocialbusinessorganizations
aremoreeffectivelyabletoshareresources,skillsandinsightswithinandacrossworkprocessesand
organizationalboundaries.Herearethecriticalstepsandrequirementsfordeployinganeffectivesocial
businessplatform:
Takeastrategicapproach.Becomingasocialbusinessisnotsimplyamatterofdeployingsome
collaborationtoolsandhopingforthebest.Itisalongtermstrategicapproachtoshapinga
businesscultureandishighlydependentonexecutiveleadershipandeffectivecorporate
strategy,includingbusinessprocesses,riskmanagement,leadershipdevelopment,financial
controlsandbusinessanalytics.Realizingthepotentialvalueofsocialbusinessispredicatedon
anorganizationsabilitytorecognizeanddesignforthistransformation.Inherentinthis
transformationisrecognizingtheconvergenceoftechnologiessuchassocial,mobileandcloud.
Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messagingformoreinformation.
Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Analyticsformoreinformation.
Page18
Applytothemostcommonactivities.Asorganizationseitherexpandgloballyorparticipatein
globalsupplychains,informationandinsightsbecomescatteredaroundtheworld.Such
knowledgeashowtosolveproblems,handleexceptionstonormalprocessesandaddresslocal
marketconditionsoftenresidesinwidelyseparated,oftenunconnectedrepositories.Also,
customersexpectsupplierstounderstandpastbusinesstransactionsandtapintothecollective
expertiseoftheorganizationtosolveproblems.
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.
Therelativeimmaturityofsocialbusinesstechnologyandscenariosstillchallengessuccesscriteria.
However,leveragingadjacenttechnologieslikecloudandmobileprovideasocialplatformwiththe
additionallongterminvestmentprotectionandreachcapabilities,requiredtomeetinvestmentcriteria
andbusinessobjectivesassocialbusinessmatures.Variousclouddeploymentoptionsflexiblyextend
thenetworkvalueproposition,andmobilestrategiesenablenewformsofparticipation.
Mobilityitselfhasbecomeanessentialpartofsocialbusiness,byextendingaccesstothesocialbusiness
valuepropositionbeyondthetraditionalcorporatedomainandtimeclock.Thealwayson,personalized
attributesofmobiledevicescreatesupportfornewandunanticipatedscenariosforstayingconnected
withcolleagues,partnersandbusinesstasksregardlessoftimeorlocation;andcloudprovidesthe
meansforfasterprojectcompletion,fasterproductintroduction,loweroperationscosts,instant
collaboration,andlowerinfrastructurespend;requiredaselementsofasuccessfulsocialbusiness
strategy.
Leveragingastandardsbasedapproachisthefinalingredientforachievingsuccessinaspacethat
contraststheimmaturityofsocialtechnologiesandscenarioswiththedynamicrateofchangebeing
realizedwithcloudandmobiletechnologies.Theresultingroadmapplacesheavyinitialleverageona
hybridcloudmodelcapableofinteroperatingacrossenterpriseresourcesandwithothercloud
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environments.Thisapproachenablesanenterprisestrivingtointegrateexistingsystemsofrecordin
supportofemergingsystemsofengagementtomoveforwardasrequirements,bestpracticesand
technologiesmature.
Step5:LeverageAnalyticstoGainInsight
Theriseintheamountofbothstructuredandunstructureddatabeinggeneratedisphenomenal.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.
Velocityencompassesboththerateatwhichdataarriveandthetimeinwhichitmustbeactedupon.
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)
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socialcontext,thetriggeredmessagesmightprovideguidancetopartnersinquiringaboutthe
deliverystatusofparticularshipments.
Inboundengagement.Thisinvolvestuningsocialchannelconversationsthroughautomatically
generatedscripts,screens,andapplicationsthatshapehowemployeesinteractwithexternal
stakeholdersandwitheachother.Inacallcenterenvironment,forexample,customersinteract
withchannelpersonnelwhospeakfromonlinescriptsandotherguidancethatisauto
generatedbythenextbestactioninfrastructure.Insocialchannels,anenterprisemighthave
diversehumanandautomatedagentshandlingdiverseinteractionscenariosthatspanawide
rangeofcustomer,employee,and/orpartnersegments.Furthermore,anenterprisemightbe
orchestratingthesesocialinteractionsinordertoachievediversebusinessobjectives,suchas
reducingcustomerandemployeechurn,boostingsalesandprofits,andachievinggreater
efficiencythroughoutthesupplychain.
Asmobilehasbecometheprimarydeliveryplatformforsocialapplications,smartphonesandother
mobilegadgetshavebecomeimportantsourcesofthedatapouringintoBigDataplatforms.Theability
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'tbestoringpetabytesontheirsmartphonesanytimesoon.Rather,theywillbe
maintaininggrowingvolumesofinformationinthecloud,accessingitfromvariousmobile
devices,andselectivelysynchronizingandcachingwhatisneededlocally.Asweconductmore
ofourlivesonmobileandsocialservices,wewillpersistmoreofourdatainthecloudon
massivelyparallelfilesystems,databases,andotherBigDatarepositories.
Streamcomputingenablesrealtimemobileexperiences.Userstodaydependoncontinuous
realtimeconnectivitytomobileservicesmanyofwhichleverageBigDataanalytics.Mobile
applicationsusingBigDatawillgrowatarapidpace.Furthermore,manyofthemobileservices
thatprocesshighvolumesofdatainrealtimeornearrealtimewillrequirestreamcomputing.
Streamcomputing,whichwillbecomestandardinmanymobileservices,ensuresacontinuous
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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controlsdefinedandenforcedwithinmobiledevicemanagementtooling.Muchofthiswill
involvevoluminous"machinedata"suchasgeospatialcoordinates,sensorreadings,andevent
logsthatthedevicesgeneratecontinuously.Beforelong,machinetomachinemobile
connectivitywillbeembeddedintoeveryartifact,possession,andenvironmentinourworld.
Wearableandimplanteddeviceswillgeneratemachinedataonuservitalsigns,helpingpeople
tomonitortheirlifestylesoralertingemergencyservicestourgentlifeordeathsituations.
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),andshouldaddressmorethanjustasinglerequirement(e.g.,
availability,scalability,security,backupandrecovery,etc.).
HereareseveralhighlevelconsiderationstokeepinmindasenterprisesreadytheirBigDatainitiatives
forprimetimecloudbaseddeployment:
Stakeholders.HastheenterprisealigneditsBigDatainitiativeswithstakeholderrequirements?
IfstakeholdershaventclearlyspecifiedtheirrequirementsorexpectationsforyourBigData
initiative,itsnotproductionready.Thecriteriaofproductionreadinessmustconformtowhat
stakeholdersrequire,andthatdependsgreatlyontheusecasesandapplicationstheyhavein
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mindforBigData.ServiceLevelAgreements(SLAs)varywidelyforBigDatadeployedasan
enterprisedatawarehouse(EDW),asopposedtoanexploratorydatasciencesandbox,an
unstructuredinformationtransformationtier,aqueryablearchive,orsomeotheruse.SLAsfor
performance,availability,security,governance,compliance,monitoring,auditingandsoforth
willdependontheparticularsofeachBigDataapplication,andonhoweachenterprise
prioritizesthembycriticality.
Stacks.HastheenterprisehardeneditsBigDatatechnologystackdatabases,middleware,
applications,tools,etc.toaddressthefullrangeofSLAsassociatedwiththechiefusecases?If
theBigDataplatformdoesnotmeettheavailability,securityandotherrobustness
requirementsexpectedofmostenterpriseinfrastructure,itsnotproductionready.Ideally,all
productiongradeBigDataplatformsshouldbenefitfromacommonsetofenterprise
managementtools.Keyguidelinesinthisrespectare:
o
LeverageaBigDatasolutionprovidershighavailability,security,resourceprovisioning,
mixedworkloadmanagement,performanceoptimization,healthmonitoring,policy
management,jobschedulingandotherclustermanagementfeatures;
EnsurehighavailabilityonBigDataclustersbyimplementingredundancyacrossall
nodes,withloadbalancing,autofailover,resynchronizationandhotstandbys;
PerformthoroughregressiontestingofeverylayerinthetargetBigDatadeployment
priortogoinglive,makingsuredata,jobsandapplicationswontcrashorencounter
bottlenecksindailyoperations;and
AvoidmovingBigDataanalyticsjobstoclustersuntiltheyhavebeenhardenedfor24x7
availabilityandeaseofconfigurationandadministration.
Scalability.Hastheenterprisearchitecteditsenvironmentformodularscalingtokeeppacewith
inexorablegrowthindatavolumes,velocitiesandvarieties?Ifnewstorage,computeand
networkcapacitycannotbeprovisioned,added,orreallocatedontheBigDataplatformina
fast,costeffective,modularwaytomeetnewrequirements,theplatformisnotproduction
ready.Keyguidelinesinthisrespectare:[9]
o
ScaleyourBigDatathroughscalein,scaleupandscaleouttechniques;
AccelerateyourBigDatawithworkloadoptimizedintegratedsystemsfitforcloud
deployment;
OptimizeyourBigDatasdistributedstoragelayer;and
RetuneandrebalanceyourBigDataworkloadsregularly.
Skillsets.HastheenterprisebeefedupitsBigDataskillsetsformaximumproductivity?Ifstaff
lackstherequisitedatabase,integrationandanalyticsskillsandtoolstosupportBigData
Page23
initiativesovertheirexpectedlife,theplatformisnotproductionready.DontgodeeponBig
Datauntilstaffskillsareupgraded.Keyguidelinesinthisrespectare:
UpgradetheskillsofDBAs,dataintegrationspecialists,datascientistsandbusiness
analyststosupportBigDatabestpracticesindeployment,modeling,managementand
optimization;
LeverageBigDataexpertsandconsultantstoassistininitialBigDataplanning,project
deployment,development,modeling,optimizationandmanagement;and
ConnecttheteamintotheworldwidecommunityforyourBigDatatechnologyor
platforminordertolearnfromemergingbestpractices.
Seamlessservice.HastheenterprisereengineereditsdatamanagementandanalyticsIT
processesforseamlesssupportfordisparateBigDatainitiatives?Iftroubleresponse,user
trainingandothersupportfunctionscannotbeprovidedinanefficient,reliablefashionthats
consistentwithexistingoperations,yourBigDataplatformisnotproductionready.Key
considerationsinthisrespect:
o
ProvideBigDatauserswithasinglethroattochokeforsupport,serviceand
maintenance;
Offerconsultingsupporttousersforplanning,deployment,integration,optimization,
customizationandmanagementoftheirspecificBigDatainitiatives;
Deliver24x7supportwithquickturnaroundonsiteresponseonissues;
ManageanendtoendBigDataenvironmentwithaunifiedsystemandsolution
managementconsoles;and
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
Page24
platformsHDFS,HBase,Cassandra,NoSQL,streamcomputing,etc.tohandlethese
requirements.Thistieriswheremosthighvolume,highvelocity,andhighvarietyBigDatasets
areprocessedonthemostscalableBigDataplatforms.Frequently,thiswillruninapubliccloud,
SaaS,orotherhostedenvironmentwithondemandscaleoutandelasticprovisioning.
Middletier.Thisisthetierthatsupportsaggregation,governance,andmasterdata
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,andotherdatabasetechnologiesmightberequiredtodeliver
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
asnewfunctiontotheirclientsinahighqualitymanner.Forabusinesstohaveacompetitiveadvantage
basedoninnovationtheymustbeabletoadoptDevOpsandmakethemostofnewtechnologytrends
totransformintoahighperformingorganization.
DevOps isasoftwaredevelopmentmethodthatstressescommunication,collaborationand
integrationbetween softwaredevelopers and ITprofessionals.DevOpsisaresponsetothe
Page25
interdependenceofsoftwaredevelopmentandIToperations.Itaimstohelpanorganization
rapidlyproduce software productsandservices. 9
DevOpsisacorecapabilitytorapidlydeliverchangestoseizemarketopportunitiesandmake
improvementsbasedontimelycustomerfeedbackwhilebalancingcostandquality.DevOpsembraces
thenewcontinuousdeliveryconcept.Inthisenvironment,clientsexpectfixesandenhancementsto
arrivequickly,seamlessly,andcontinuously.Increasinglyusersexpecttoseeafixorenhancement
appliedwithnodisruptioninserviceorlossofcontext/data.ToeffectivelyadoptDevops,organizations
mustaddressseveralchallenges:
Differencesbetweenproductionanddevelopmentenvironmentsduetoalackofstandardsand
poorconfigurationmanagement.
Inabilitytorapidlyprovisionanddeployanapplicationintoanenvironmentfortesting.
Dependenceonmanualprocessesandtribalknowledgerequiringheroicfeatsforeveryrelease
makingthemriskyanderrorprone.
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
Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DevOps.
Page26
managementtoolstoadequatelyhandlerapidlychangingapplicationcode(withmultiple
branchesfordevelopment,staging,andproduction).
Recognizethatimprovedprocessessuchasautomatedbuildanddeployprocesses,improvedtesting
processes,andversioncontrolledsourcecodemanagementprocessesprovidebetterqualitycodeand
fastercontinuousintegrationofnewfeatures.Tokeepinstepwithmorerapiddevelopmentof
capabilities,considerleveragingtheuseofaservicecatalogiffeaturescanbeshippedasmodular,re
usableservicecomponents.
LeveragingaDevOpsreferencearchitectureisimportanttohelporganizationsdefinethecapabilities
andtoolsthatwillbeusedtoimplementtheirDevOpsenvironment.Thereferencearchitectureshould
embraceopenstandardswherepossible.Figure1includesanexampleDevOpsreferencearchitecture
withkeystandardtechnologiescalledoutspecificallyintheareaofcloudandlifecycleintegration.
Figure1:DevOpsReferenceArchitecture
TheexampleDevOpsreferencearchitecturecontainsthefollowinglayers:
DeploymentPlatforms.Thislayerincludescloudandphysicalinfrastructure,includingplatforms
basedonstandards(e.g.,OpenStack 10 ),forhostingtheDevOpsplatformaswellasatargetfor
deployedworkloadsusingtheDevOpsservices.
10
Seehttp://www.openstack.org/fordetails.
Page27
DevOpsFoundation.Asetofcommonservicessuchasuserauthentication,reporting,event
messaging,etc.toprovideintegrationacrossasetoftoolsfortheDevOpstoolchain.The
foundationisbasedonstandardinterfacessuchasOSLC 11 andtheW3CLinkedData. 12
DevelopandTest.Capabilitiesthatarenecessarytosupportthedevelopmentandchange
managementofsoftwareandtheabilitytotrackandautomatetests,bothunitandfunctional
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.
11
Seehttp://openservices.net/fordetails.
12
Seehttp://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/datafordetails.
Page28

Figure2:DevOpsToolChain
ADevOpstoolchaindefinesthesetoftoolsthatarechainedtogethertoprovideanintegratedsetof
capabilitiesthatenableanorganizationtorapidlydevelopanddeliverchangestoclientsandthen
monitorandrespondtofeedback.KeyphasesincludedinatypicalDevOpstoolchaininclude:
Development.Toolstodeveloptheapplicationsourcecode.
Build.Compileandpackagethesourcecodeintoadeployablepackage.
ApplicationDeploymentAutomation.Defineandmanageconfigurationdataacrosstestingand
productionenvironmentsforanapplicationandautomatetheprocessestodeploythe
applicationintoeachenvironment.ADAoftenincludestestautomationtechnologiestoensure
thedeployedchangesareautomaticallytestedtoverifyfunctionagainstbusinessrequirements.
CloudProvisioning.Aprovisioningsystemthatautomatestheprovisioningofvirtualresources
withinthecloud.Ideallythecloudprovisioningtechnologywillsupporttheprovisioningof
standardenvironmentpatternsthatgreatlyreduceerrorsandimproveconsistencyacross
deployments.
ApplicationReleaseManagement.Itisimportantthatanapplicationreleasemanagement
systemisusedtoplan,track,andgoverntheapplicationreleaseprocess.ByusinganARM
system,operationalreleaseswillbestructuredandclearlydefinedreducingerrorsand,
ultimately,risktothereleasesthatwillincreaseyourorganizationsabilitytoreleasemoreoften
andwithgreaterspeed.
MonitorandOptimize
Convergenceoftechnologieshasdrivenanevolutioninapplicationsfromatraditionalmultitier
architecturetoahybridarchitecture,featuringdifferentsometimesdispersedcomponents:
Multipleuserinterfaces:socialmedia,websites,mobileandAPIs.
Page29
Useofmultipleprogramminglanguagesthenewsystemsofengagementareleveraging
multiplelanguagessuchasJava,Javascript,Python,etc.
Internalbusinessservicesandapplicationprogramminginterfacesfromexternalparties.
Deploymentmodelsrangingfromprivate,publicandhybridclouds.
Giventhislevelofcomplexity,ITorganizationsfacedwithgoalsofcontinuousuptimemaylookatthis
withfearandconcern.Itisthisreasonwhyaneffectivemanagementenvironmentshouldbebuilt.This
includes:
Ensuretherightmonitoringanddebuggingtoolsareinplaceinordertotrapanddeterminethe
causeoffailures.Thisisacommonpitfalltomigratingapplicationstothecloudtoday.Many
firmsmoveapplicationsasisandmaynotconsiderthecomplexityrequirementsofa
platform.
Mitigatetheriskofchangemanagementthroughfaulttolerantapplicationdesign.Itishighly
unlikelythatallofthesepieceswillchangeinconcertwithoneanother,andconstantchange
shouldbeanticipated.Adesigntechniquethatcanmitigatethiswouldbetodesignapplications
totoleratefailureofanyorallofthesecomponents.
Insuchanenvironmentchangemanagementbecomescritical.Notonlyaretheapplicationsbecoming
morecomplex,thelineofbusinessisexpectingmorechangestoanapplicationfaster.Trackingand
testingthosechangesarenowmoreimportantthanever.
Reducedvisibilityofapplicationandinfrastructurehealthandperformanceisakeychallengeofcloud
computing.Withoutdirectcontroloverthecloudinfrastructureitself,traditionalapplication
performancemanagement(APM)toolsmayproveimpracticaltodeployandmanage.Addtothis
limitedvisibilitytherapid(andsometimesmerciless)feedbackchannelthatsocialmediaprovides,and
youhaveapotentialpowderkegonyourhandswhencloudapplicationsfailtoperform.Cloud
applicationoutagestrendwildlywhentheyoccur,anditcanbedifficulttodetermineiftheproblemis
withtheapplicationitself,orthecloudplatform.
Cloudapplicationownersliketraditionaldatacenteradministratorsneedtoseehowtheircloud
hostedapplicationsareperforming.Theyneedtoolstoensurethattheyregettingtheperformance
theyexpectfromthecloud,andthattheirapplicationsareservingcustomersanddeliveringvaluetothe
business.Buttheabstractionofphysicalresourcesthatvirtualizationengenderscanrendertraditional
performancemanagementsolutionsimpractical.Inthisenvironment,userexperiencemonitoringisthe
keymeasureofapplicationperformance,becauseittakesintoaccounttheredundancyandresource
sharingofclouddelivery,andpaintsanintuitivepictureofhealth.
Anotherkeytogettingtheintendedvaluefromworkloadsexecutinginapubliccloudisestablishing
whatkindofdemandthoseworkloadsarefacing,howwellthecloudisscaling(ornotscaling)tomeet
thedemand,andcorrelatingthatwithenduserexperience.Thatmeansthatcloudtenantsmustalso
monitortheirvirtualmachineoperatingsystems,toensurethattheyregettingtheresourcesand
Page30
performancepromisedtothembycloudadministrators.Inshort,userexperiencemonitoringtellsthem
howtheirapplicationisperforming,andVMmonitoringtellsthemhowtheircloudprovideris
performing.
Whendesigningsuchasolution,applicationteams,inthesecircumstances,donthavetheabilityto
deploymanagementserversandothermonitoringcomponentstothecloudinfrastructure,asthey
wouldinatraditionaldatacenterdeployment.Instead,theyrequirealightweightsolutionthatcanbe
deployedbytheapplicationteamsthemselves(ratherthancloudadministrators)alongsidethe
applicationworkloads.Toadheretothedynamicprovisioningmodel,themonitoringtechnologymust
beembeddableinvirtualmachinebaseimagesorpatterns,andworkwithmultipleprovisioning
solutions.IntegrationwiththeprovisioningengineallowseachnewVMinstancetobeautomatically
discoveredbythemonitoringinfrastructureandassociatedwiththecorrectbusinessapplication,so
existingapplicationdashboardsareupdatedtoreflecttheadditionofnewvirtualmachinesinseconds.
Thisistheessenceofconceptslikecontinuousapplicationdelivery,wheretherapidselfprovisioning
featuresofthecloudencourageapplicationteamstofrequentlyupdatetheirproductionapplications.
Tobeeffective,anapplicationmonitoringsolutionforthisenvironmentmustbesimilarlynimble.
Step7:AdoptaFlexibleIntegrationModel
Thetechnologyshiftscreatedbysocial,mobileandcloudaredrasticallychangingthebusiness
landscape.Successfulbusinessesmustfindwaystoextendandconnecttheirexistinginfrastructuresto
thebillionsofmobiledevicesthatexisttodayandthemassiveamountofdatathatisbeinggenerated,
muchofwhichwillbestoredinthecloud.Theymustadoptaflexibleandsecureintegrationmodelso
thatbackofficesystemscankeeppacewiththisrapidchange.
Today,companiesareincreasinglyconsideringahybridcloudapproachfordeploymentoftheirmobile
andsocialenterpriseapplications.Theavailabilityandsecurityadvantagesofestablishedinternal
systemscombinedwiththeondemandandelasticityadvantagesofPublicclouddeploymentprovidean
environmentthatdeliversmaximumbenefitwithappropriateriskmitigation.Specialattentionmustbe
giventointegrationrequirements.Themainconcernisintegratingthemobileandsocialapplications
which,inahybridenvironment,typicallyruninthecloudwithbackendsystemsofrecordthattypically
runonpremise.
Inhybridcloudenvironments,securityandcompliancerequirementsdictatewheredataandprocesses
canbedistributed.Asaresult,thereareincreaseddemandsonthecontrolledprocesscommunication
betweenheterogeneousdistributedsystemsspecificallythesecure,reliableandtransactionaltransfer,
aswellasthetransformationandintegrationofdataandservices.Forthispurpose,differentintegration
strategiescanbeused:
Establishedconnectivity,messagingandintegrationapproacheslikeEAI/ESB.Thecentral
functionofanEnterpriseApplicationIntegration(EAI)solutionistheexchangeofdatabetween
ITsystemsortheircomponents.TodaysestablishedtechnologyistheEnterpriseServiceBus
(ESB)whichisresponsibleforsupportingconnectivityandtransport,protocolconversion,data
transformation,androuting.
Page31
Specialcloudintegrationsolutions.ThesesolutionsconnectSaaSapplicationsandcloudservices
formobileandsocialsolutionstointernalenterpriseapplications.Theyprovideagraphical
configurationinterfacetohelpintegrateapplicationsquicklyandsimply.Thisdiffersfromthe
traditionalEAI/ESBapproachwhichrequiresmorecustomcodingtocompleteintegration.The
cloudintegrationsolutionsusepreconfiguredtemplatesbasedoncommonintegration
scenariostoaccelerateintegrationbetweenlegacyandnewsocialandmobileservices
deployedinthecloud.Additionally,theyoftenprovidecapabilitiesforAPImanagement
extremelyhelpfultomanageexternaldevelopercommunitiesutilizingsocialandmobileAPIs.
AshighlightedinFigure3below,theincreasingneedforagilityandeaseofusesolutionsaremakingthe
capabilitiesofthenewcloudintegrationapproachesmoreattractivethanestablishedEAIsolutions.
Figure3:Integrationcontinuum
Inordertodeterminewhichofthetwointegrationapproachesaremostappropriate,enterprisesmust
developanoverallintegrationstrategyand,basedonspecificneeds,determinetowhatextenta
preconfiguredsolution[0][0]canbeused.Ofcourse,thebasicparametersareessential:
WhatprocessesandapplicationsaretobeimplementedbyITstaff?
Howwellpreparedaretheapplicationsfortheon/offpremiseintegration?
Howstablearetheunderlyingdatamodels?
Cloudintegrationsolutionsaremosteffectivewhenappliedtobusinessobjectswithstable,typeddata
structures.AgoodexampleiscloudbasedCRMintegrationwithbackendERPsolutionswhichinvolves
primarily"static"datastructureswhichareperfectforamappingpattern.Suchmappingscanbe
predefinedinanintegrationpackagerequiringrelativelyminorcustomizedmappingsand
transformations.
CloudintegrationsolutionsarelesseffectivewithinternallydevelopedapplicationsorlesserknownSaaS
solutionssincethepreconfiguredmappings,whicharebasedondefactostandarddatamodels,require
significantcustomizationinthesecases.Furthermore,ifyouneedtointegratealargenumberof
distributedservices(likeasocialbusinessserviceproviderwithdifferentmobileclientAPIswith
Page32
differentlegacyinterfaces)andrequirehighreuseofmediationservices,theprebuiltcloudintegration
templatesarenotanoptimalsolution.TheestablishedEAIandESBsolutionsfitmuchbetterforthese
scenarios.
Thecollection,consolidationandnormalizationoflargevolumesofdatacollectedfromdifferentmobile
devicesandsocialmediasourcesforanalyticalpurposesisacriticalpointofintegrationthatneedstobe
specificallyaddressedintheconvergedenvironment.Anintegrationplatformmustbeabletohandle
androutetremendousvolumesofmessages.Sucharequirementfitsnicelywithestablished
connectivitysolutions.
Aneffectivesolutionistoleverageamessagingnetworkandextenditoutsidethedatacenter,scalingto
handleconcurrentconnectivitybetweenamultitudeofdevicesandapplicationswithpredictable
latency.Thiseventdriven,interactiveinfrastructurewillprovidethelevelofperformanceandvalueto
supportnewsystemsofinteractionwithpeople,mobiledevices,sensors,machinesandapplicationsby
unlockinginformationinsystemsofrecordandenablingbusinesstobeconductedanywhere,anytime,
byanyoneoranything.Thesolutionmustprovide:
Scalabilityandhighperformance.Highthroughputforpersistentandnonpersistentmessages.
Reliability.Assuringcriticalmessagesaredelivered.
DeveloperfriendlyAPIsandlibraries.Nativeandhybridapplicationdevelopment.
Security.DMZreadywithnouserleveloperatingsystem.
References
[1] AberbeenGroup.SoMoCloEvolution.
http://research.aberdeen.com/internetcontent/somoclo/default.html
[2] Gartner,Inc.TheNexusofForces:Social,Mobile,CloudandInformation.
http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=234840
[3] CloudStandardsCustomerCouncil(2011).PracticalGuidetoCloudComputing.http://www.cloud
council.org/2011_Practical_Guide_to_Cloud%20Computing.pdf
[4] CloudStandardsCustomerCouncil(2012).PracticalGuidetoCloudServiceLevelAgreements.
http://www.cloudcouncil.org/2012_Practical_Guide_to_Cloud_SLAs.pdf
[5] CloudStandardsCustomerCouncil(2012).SecurityforCloudComputing:10StepstoEnsure
Success.http://www.cloud-council.org/Security_for_Cloud_Computing-Final_080912.pdf
[6] OpenSocialFoundation.OpenSocialGadgetsAPISpecificationv0.9.http://opensocial
resources.googlecode.com/svn/spec/0.9/GadgetsAPISpecification.xml
Page33
[7] IBM.CreateOpenSocialGadgetsforPureXML.http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x
db2JSONpt3/index.html
[8] IBM.TheRoleofStreamComputinginBigDataArchitectures.
http://ibmdatamag.com/2013/01/theroleofstreamcomputinginbigdataarchitectures/
[9] IBM.HarnessthePowerofBigData:AnIBMebook.
https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/signup.do?source=sw
infomgt&S_PKG=ov8257&S_TACT=109HF63W&S_CMP=is_bdebook3_bdhub
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