Virtualisation, it’s not a cloud

In the world of IT we often come across confusion, especially when you are from a “business” perspective. Often this confusion is brought about by IT professionals and blogging, mixing what is technology with a business concept / way in which to implement IT technology. I see this time and time again when people are talking about cloud computing, with the technology being mixed up with or as the business concept that is cloud computing.

Virtualisation is the big thing that always gets associated with the cloud or as the same thing. This is a prime example of a technology being confused with a business solution / concept / way of implementing IT.

The lines of difference…

It can get confusing and downright cloudy when talking about technology and concepts of how to implement technology. However, these are very different things, and if we can make a clear distinction between the two, it is far easier to talk to the business about the benefits of a “concept” or a technology.

The key in making clear distinctions between technology and implementation is down to IT professionals. At the end of the day, business does not need to know the nitty gritty, rather they need to know the business benefits that a solution will bring them.

Virtualisation – a technology

I hate saying something is a “technology” but it does make things easier to explain. Virtualisation is a technology that allows “IT” to get more out of hardware resources. How it does this, really isn’t of great concern to a business, only the fact that it does it (why have IT professionals in your business if you want to understand all the IT yourself?). Basically though, Virtualisation allows your hardware to become more than just one server. (Please I am being very basic in my explanation I know). So, lets take a single server (physical hardware) and allow it to become 3 for example. So in your company you used to have 3 servers all running different solutions on them etc. But now, with Virtualisation you have 3 servers all running on one physical box (doesn’t matter if one server run Windows, another UNIX etc). I am not going into any more detail than that, as that’s all that is required in this type of post…

Cloud Computing – A way of working

Cloud computing is not a technology; rather it is a way in which we can use technology to decrease IT overheads (cost wise in theory).  Cloud computing is essentially letting someone else (outsourcing) provide you with the hardware and infrastructure required to run aspects of your IT. You then connect to that IT over the internet. Simple explanation I know, but I like to keep things simple. Cloud Computing is therefore a business model that companies can adopt…

So why does Virtualisation get confused with or as Cloud Computing? Well I am sure it is because Virtualisation is used by cloud providers in order for them to maximise their own IT infrastructure. Bloggers often confuse things by talking about Virtualisation in great length in their posts about the benefits of using the cloud. There is also one other reason why Virtualisation gets confused with the cloud, and that’s due to “perspective”…

Perspective of your IT

We love to use diagrams to illustrate how something works, and IT infrastructure is no different. As a business person, you could get a little confused between Virtualisation and the Cloud because of diagrams and some less than helpful statements by us in IT.

If you choose to use Virtualisation in house, you may well see the odd diagrams popping up that represent a cluster of servers (on your own system) as a “cloud” especially if you are using virtualisation. This shouldn’t be the case, often the “cloud” is reserved for the internet (hence the cloud computing term), however I have seen such diagrams as it is hard to represent a “virtualised” server environment. In addition, people often see Virtualisation as a way of implementing an internal “cloud” computing environment, or Virtualisation as an internal cloud solution. This isn’t right, and IT should correct this rather than encouraging this thinking. I have seen many blog posts even on “Private Clouds..” but there is no such thing as a private cloud. Remember the cloud is the “internet”…Why is it overlooked or encouraged? Well the “cloud” has a lot of buzz about it at the moment, simple as that. Its far easier to get people talking about an internal cloud or getting people to a blog titled “Private cloud” compared to “Virtualisation of your network…”

Virtualisation – not just for the cloud

So hopefully, from a business point of view, we understand the difference between “cloud” and “virtualisation”. If so, you can see why virtualisation isn’t something only used by the cloud, rather it is a technology that many businesses can take advantage of to help maximise IT hardware use. It therefore comes with a host of benefits for an organisation, some of which include:

1. Reducing administration cost
2. Reducing hardware cost
3. Reducing electricity bills

I am a strong believer that we will see virtualisation use grow within businesses, no matter what their thoughts are on “cloud computing”. I also believe that Virtualisation will help many cloud computing providers – however, do I see us all switching over to cloud based solutions…..NO….But that’s a different post.

ECM access on my phone?

There is a lot being made of ECM and the ways in which users interact with content stored in an ECM repository. There is a real belief that more of us will choose to access ECM content via a multitude of devices, the most obvious being my mobile phone.

With smart phones, such as the iPhone, Windows 6.5 mobiles and now the Google’s Nexus, the real question I find myself asking is “will I really want to access content on my phone?” For many the answer will be “NO”, and for many others the answer will be a very loud “YES”. So what are the real benefits and issues, without getting bogged down in technical jargon…?

ECM on my phone…

Most of us like to be as flexible as possible when it comes to doing work. By this I mean, if I am on the train, instead of wasting my time (maybe sleeping?)  I can get on with some work. With your phone you can check and send some emails, respond to meeting requests etc and in many cases get quite a bit of work done before you are even in the office. The same flexibility is required when we may not be in the office for a while. Obviously my device of choice will be a laptop; however, the flexibility to be without my laptop and use my phone is something that will appeal to many of us… Because of this, being able to connect and work in a “flexible” fashion is very important to individuals and businesses as a whole.

Will my phone interact with our ECM solution?

Basically “Yes”. Most phones these days now come with a web browser (all smart phones do), and if your ECM solution can provide a browser based front end, then interacting with your ECM system isn’t technically very hard. The issue you may well face is using the device itself to navigate around the web pages and download / view the content you want. For me, this is a basic way of allowing content to be shown on a mobile phone. Most of the issues faced then are based around the device itself and what you can realistically achieve on it…

Do I have to use a browser on my phone?

Again the answer is “No”. Using a browser gives us the simplest way of interacting with content on our ECM system; it’s also probably one of the cheapest. However it isn’t the best solution for such a small device, it does make certain features “fiddly” to use, think;

a)      Searching

b)      Checking in / out a file (if you would do such a thing)

c)       Reviewing properties

d)      Reviewing an audit log / history

e)      Tracking in a Case Management / BPM system

This is because you will need to use a lot of clicks and zooming in and out using the browser etc.

The best solution is to provide mobile based applications that can interact with your ECM solution.

ECM mobile applications

If we realistically want to work and interact with our ECM platform, and for that matter, Case Management / BPM solutions, then mobile based applications is the way forward. With the power of smart phones ever increasing, having dedicated applications on your mobile phone isn’t a problem. With mobile applications comes greater flexibility as each application will be specifically designed to be accessed via devices with limited real-estate in terms of space on the screen. This makes using the applications far simpler and easier, which means we are ultimately more likely to want to access our ECM systems via our mobile device.

As we start 2010 it is obvious that ECM solutions need to provide many more ways for users to interact with them. This doesn’t mean a generic web environment / interface, rather a multitude of applications and interfaces that are dedicated to interact with your repository from a particular device.  The trick for providers is providing a single “architecture” for access, which serves all of the different applications that may interact with your ECM repository…

Does cloud computing save money?

This is something I have been looking into quite a bit in the past 6 months, and though reading lots about the “cloud” suggests this is the case, I have always had my reservations. For me there is a distinct difference between cloud based services, and the cloud itself.

Cloud Services

This is basically software applications that operate in the cloud (SaaS – Software as a Service). Here I can see many cost saving benefits, simply due to licensing and usage. For some time there has been a distinction between “dedicated” licenses and “concurrent” licenses, the second being basically licensing on demand. We have always sold our own licenses for software, such as workFile, workFile EPOS etc on a “concurrent” basis, allowing a 1-10 license model. This means you can have up to 10 users for 1 concurrent license, effectively providing large cost savings.

Cloud Networking and Storage

Ahh, outsourcing your actual hardware and storage capacity requirements. Now here is where my main reservations lie, simply because of cost analysis never seems to be quite right. I have always thought that the more space I used up “in the cloud” would cost more per month, so the larger the organisations requirements, obviously the cost of their “cloud” services would increase. I also believe that the larger the requirement the more cost “ineffective” the cloud could potentially become. I have to be honest, most of my thoughts on this were based on our own hosting programmes that OD Media offer, and our own cloud solutions based on workFile.

Concerns proved?

Today I see that a McKinsey study actually proves my concerns. Let’s face it, large enterprises are not going to commit all their data storage and networks to the “cloud”. So, realistically there will be some hybrid requirement, if one at all. Because of this there really just isn’t any large saving to be made for larger organisations, sure if you outsource everything there will be an admin saving to be made, but since this realistically won’t happen, that saving is negated.

Small businesses? General Public?

This for me is where cloud computing services should be aiming, and in the purest form, cloud computing has been aimed at these areas for some time, just think of outsourcing your website…

There are savings to be made for small businesses, especially if using SaaS. Our own workFile ECM SaaS does provide significant cost savings to small businesses.

The general public will always make savings with SaaS, though with the “cloud” storage I am not so sure. At the end of the day, most members of the general public will purchase a mass storage device, which is more than adequate. So again, SaaS is the only real benefit I see…

Development platform for the future

Yesterday, I had a very long and in-depth conversation with the Technical Director here at One Degree. Basically, we were discussing development platforms, where we have come from, legacy systems and what our development platform will be for the foreseeable future.

Now we technology geeks love to embrace the new. However, sometimes you have to be practical, and see just what has gone before, what are your customers doing and what might be the future trend before jumping in head first…

Legacy Systems and legacy code

There is just so much legacy code out there, in terms of both business applications, integrated solutions and even the internet. We have contractors we use, who are currently working on VB6 implementations. So when thinking about our development platform, we must consider what else is out there from an historic point of view, and how we may need to integrate or upgrade these systems.

One technology for all platforms

As a company, well many small companies, we deliver business applications, websites, rich internet applications and cloud based solutions to a wide variety of customers. We also deliver vast numbers of integrated solutions, communication services etc. etc. For us, it’s really important that we stick to technologies and platforms that we know work, are supported, and that minimise the need for “re-training” our developers when moving between very different types of projects.

In an earlier blog I explained why we use Silverlight for rich interactive websites. http://andrewonedegree.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/why-we-choose-silverlight/ However, we see the future of our development work for both thick client applications, and all business applications to be carried out in .NET and Silverlight. Why? Well it’s simple. With the same skill sets we can deliver a variety of solutions; such as websites, web based applications / RIAs and traditional thick client applications. Our developers can quite simply jump between different types of projects without any need for re-training.

With Silverlight 2.0 and 3.0 being released shortly, we see Microsoft supporting .NET and Silverlight for the foreseeable future, providing us with a single platform and technology that allows us to deliver engaging, powerful solutions for both the desktop and the internet. So from my point of view, the choice is quite simple.

OD Media will provide the “design” elements for all One Degree and workFile based solutions moving forward, even desktop based solutions. With their skills in design and Silverlight, the design and development workflow is simplified and speeded up. All in all, we feel that Silverlight is the next generation development platform, and will not only make our life as developers simpler, but also enable us to deliver richer and easier to use, business applications, websites and rich internet applications…

The future of the PC, Social Media and the impacts on our lives

Ok, well that’s quite a lengthy title, especially for my first public facing blog. So first things first, what makes me think I can see into the future, well I don’t. However, as my father always says “To know where you’re going, first you need to know where you’re from”, and I believe this is true, even with IT.

I am in that rather unique position of being both a geek and a businessman. This means I do often look at new technology, concepts and ideas in a different light. My geek side really likes to know how something works, and gets caught up in its potential. However my business side looks at things in a broader and bleaker fashion. Because of this I often find myself disagreeing with my Technical Director (here at One Degree) and also disagreeing with more business focused facing people, PR departments etc (Honestly I am not hard to get along with…)

 

Where have we come from with the PC?

So where have we come from with the PC. OK, this is going to be a very brief and when I say a broad overview, get ready for how lacking in detail this will be.

Home computing wasn’t a big thing, it was showing promise though. The BBC B Micro started showing up in classes all over the UK, with youngsters starting to get involved. Things kept moving forward, however nothing was “revolutionary” until a young man by the name of Gates thought it would be a great idea to put a PC on the desk in every home. Shortly after that, the PC as we know it had arrived.

So how did Gates actually manage this? Simple, he made using the computer accessible to everyone.

 

So what’s this got to do with Social Media?

Well this is the new thing, or is it? Social networking sites in essence have been around for some years, though often aimed at the dating scene. Looking back, what is a little surprising is why it took someone so long to actually make these social sites available to everyone, enabling them to keep in touch with friends etc?

So now we are all on Facebook, many of us use twitter and are blogging. But are we? Just like the early computers, there is a lot of talk about the power of Social Media, and lots of potential, but are we in the middle of a revolution, or simply slowly moving forward?   If we take our PC history, I would say Social Media is at the same point the PC was in before Windows 3.11

Many of you are now asking, how can he say that? Facebook may have 39 million users, Twitter has close to 8 million users (sorry if my figures are a little wrong), that’s hardly small numbers, and to those of you who are saying this, I would say, correct. These aren’t small numbers. However, compare them to the actual number of people who have access to a PC, or the number of people throughout the globe. Or, the number of users on an adult dating site called Adult Friend Finder (in excess of 30 million). What does this tell me? It tells me that Social Media has the potential to be just as revolutionary for communications and PR as the PC has been for us as individuals and business.

 

So why aren’t there more Social Media users? Well going back to our early PC, it’s all about accessibility. At the moment the concepts of Social Media, getting people connected, sharing content etc are all good, however they do take effort for us to do. For some they just cannot be bothered, for others its simply they don’t have time.

So to make Social Media the revolution it is touted to be, we have to make it so easy and accessible that anyone can get involved at any time of the day.

 

The Future?

Well I believe it’s about accessibility again, this time how accessible it is to access our PC and our content, and therefore interact via Social media.

 Sounds a little obvious? Well I am not talking about Windows 7 being touch enabled here; I am talking about making communicating with my PC more accessible, or more to the point, the content and processing that computer has and does for me.

Take this scenario. I am a gym instructor, and spend all day at the gym training individuals. I don’t have access to a PC, and I don’t have my phone on with clients. When I get home, will I make the effort to go to the computer and turn it on just to look at Twitter or Facebook? No, I am too hungry and tired, so unless I have work to do, I won’t be online.

However, am I likely to check my phone? Yes. Am I likely to turn on the TV? Yes again. The mobile at present seems the best and easiest way to then interact with the world of the web, friends and content. However, the screens will always be too small and it will never match the computing power of my PC.

Where am I going here? Well, what if my PC is my mobile phone? Or, even better my PC is the TV? If I could control and communicate with my PC with those devices, then my PC is very accessible and therefore my content more so.

Essentially when I turn on the TV, my PC can tell me via the TV, what eMails I have, tasks I have to do, events that are up-coming, feed updates etc. I can then sit back in my sofa and quickly flick through my emails, feeds etc. I may even decide to complete a timesheet or expenses sheet for example, on my actual PC but via my TV.

There is nothing stopping my PC then communicating with other household appliances. Maybe I will have my PC controlling my cooker, pre-heating it for just before I get home. Maybe I will use my PC to control my central heating system? (I know we can do this to some extent, but doing this wirelessly, and as a common thing is what I am driving at).

Let’s take things further. If my mobile can communicate with my PC directly, why can’t I access my mobile from a friends TV for example? If I can do that, then I can pop into a friend’s house, use his TV to interact with my computer, all because my Mobile is with me – essentially connected to my PC.

 

The Cloud…

Maybe I don’t have to mean an actual physical PC. It could, quite easily be my PC in the cloud somewhere. With cloud computing comes a number of interesting ways in which we may actually make computing and content more accessible (just like Gates did with the PC originally).

The problems I have with cloud computing though always boil down to two main issues, actual physical location of my content and how secure is that content. Though I see so many benefits of cloud computing, something is nagging at me that this isn’t quite the way forward.

So what would I rather see? Well I would rather see my PC sitting in a room in my house, with all my devices securely and wirelessly connected to it (though not dependent on it).

 

So what is the impact of all this on Social Media  and our lives?

By making it even easier to interact with our PC and digital content, we have made it even easier and more importantly, social media far more accessible to everyone all the time. At this point, I believe social media will be a real revolution in the way business and we communicate with each other. If you like, Social Media will have its Windows 3.11 moment. Essentially we will almost always be connected to information streams and everyone most of the time.   At this point the powers of Social Media will far outweigh those of any other form of communication.

One point, remember, you can always turn off your devices and enjoy some me time…