Archive for category IT and Networking
IT requirement to serve business needs
Posted by Bruce in Finance, IT and Networking on March 7th, 2009
Inspired by a tweet Is it time to rename “Information technology” to “Information fabric”? Less about technology, more about access, relevance.. clearly the intent is to make the name more relevant, but i am driven back to requirements again. The name Information Fabric is too much wrapped up in itself. IT exists within a business framework and in many organizations began as a data processing department under Finance- another department which loses sight of its purpose.
Looking at the business requirements which create a need (and budget) for IT let’s call it Business Electronic Support Infrastructure. BESI (the department formerly known as IT) exists to electronically automate business processes and data storage, processing, retrieval, and analysis. It is not some Fabric or Cloud or other independent entity which gets to buy nifty expensive hardware just because us tech geeks like the blinky lights. BESI, like all other departments, exists to support the thing of value we create and for which customers want to pay.
Starting at the top BESI should enhance the business’s ability to make money. It does this by supporting the business’s value creation stream and any required ancillary functions including accounting, transaction processing, communications, etc. I suppose if you follow the tree to a low level of detail you might be able to show a business benefit from some type of cross referenced fabric, but I would name the department for its highest level requirement not a low level technical detail of implementation.
I’m also not convinced that we are close to a coherent fabric and tend to see the internet as a Noise Network rather than an Information Network, but that is another subject.
Information Display
Posted by Bruce in Books, Finance, IT and Networking, Problem Solving and Decision Making on March 5th, 2009
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"Information Dashboard Design" is an excellent resource for any type of communication- dashboards, webpages, proposals, powerpoint. The book draws heavily on behavioral and perceptual science and frequently quotes the work of Edward Tufte. Unlike Tufte, this book gives clear examples and prescriptive advice on how best to layout any kind of presentation to quickly and effectively communicate. There are many guiding principles which are clearly illustrated with examples of both good and bad designs. Key principles include: Borders, pictures, and excessive use of color and bold draw the eye and usually distract from the message. White space is an excellent separator. Table borders and legends on graphs are often more visually ‘heavy’ than the data they present. Gimmicks like gauges are usually more distracting than informative. The more shiny, 3d and detailed they are the more they obscure your message. Although directed at dashboard design I find this book helpful for proposals, PowerPoint, and Excel layout. The concept of putting data out front where it will be the first thing your reader sees is universal and grows increasingly important as we become more overloaded with sensory input. |
Intel processors as support chips for Nvidia
Posted by Bruce in IT and Networking on February 18th, 2009
At both the top and bottom of the computer market Nvidia has turned the tables on Intel and rendered the processors support chips. On the HPC side Nvidia’s Tesla offers TeraFlops from 1,000 cores in a personal desktop configuration. At the bottom of the market (netbooks) Nvidia offers an Ion chipset that outshines Intel’s Atom processor. Nvidia must be on to something because Intel’s insecurity is showing.
Cloud Computing – Requirements Analysis
Posted by Bruce in IT and Networking on February 14th, 2009
As an example of foggy thinking I offer Cloud Computing. There are many discussions of cloud computing devoid of any mention of the requirements the cloud must meet. InfoWorld offers a definition, “Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT’s existing capabilities.” Analyzing the definition raises the question – why do you have to pay for it to be cloud computing? An answer can be found in an entertaining and emotional post: F*ck the Cloud- if you value your data then you should contract/pay for the service. TOS for free services will not allow for any liability if you lose your data.
The actual requirements a cloud service is supposed to meet are often alluded to indirectly.There are lists of where and how the cloud falls short, but no explicit statement of the requirements that it fails to meet.
Explicitly evaluating cloud offerings against a requirements tree provides a more reliable means of assessing the cloud. The fundamental requirement will be a decision based on a higher level assessment of needs and goals. Some type of data storage or processing may be the primary requirement. Secondary requirement include data security, uptime and reliable access, etc.
