davidjf

SOA story is a nice one! It was at the top of CIO challenges for 2007, and reemphasised in recent CeBit, ...

To consider the best way to develop, maintain application is to design them as independant LEGO buiding blocks, exchanging services is a nice creative dream.

But...

picture, in large companies, of application portfolio shows the real mess:

heterogeneous applications, different programming language, weight of history, big amount of usable application, only a small part being used and a smaller part really useful (using Renault CIO typology)

In that kind of case, SOA is more a modern (desperate?) programming way to try to make these old (and new) applications communicate, creating a layer of web services (communication layer using web xml protocols...).

OK, let's imagine it will work (in some years...)

Will that solve the "data base" problem, that created this heterogeneity? Every silo in the company has his own view (about what is client, what is a map, what is a piece of material) and therefore about the meaning, the way it must be coded, the information that must be inside....

Sure, a way to avoid all that is to move progressively to an ERP, insuring communication between silos but nobody can suddenly stop the past and move to a new way. And ERPs have got their own "philosophy of life"...

On that:

- is SOA DOA ? (Dead on arrival!)

- Good SOA synthesis by IBM (clear enough)

- SOA governance is a must, teams are key...

BPM: Processus, toujours un thème central. Ce séminaire a lieu en Europe pendant tout 2007.

Some very nice useful charts, from Gartner, about best of BPM, and a lot of additional charts.

Among these, this one about BPM and SOA relation, or another one...

but... what about HOP (Human and Organizational Performance)?

Must human problems be treated before technological and organizational problems? Old debate.

Is corporate performance depending from good management of management processes?

Sure it is a key necessary condition, but not sufficient!

Projects and processes are closely related:

- What is a process ? many good definitions, but one way is to see it as a never ending project.

So you can apply some of project methodologies to processes.

Why not, for example, prototype a process as we, in agile companies, prototype projects?

- Alignment of projects with strategies is key. To do that, we have to recognize that 90% of projects are created to optimize way of doing, processes. So, project prioritization needs first processes prioritization!

...so what's new about IT projects ?

New world of IT projects, towards globalized agile companies...

and some still alive good laws about conditions of IT projects success (systems integration, databases, IT governance, cost reduction, and delegating work to IT)

IT ROI, again, a nice contribution with 3 categories of funding for IT applications

Stimulating article from McKinsey, on the old problem of relation of IT department with silos.

This split inside IT between "IT demand" and "IT supply" is a (non perfect!) solution. That clarifies too the business owner location, treats better alignment challenges...

En France, les notions de Maître d'ouvrage (dans les silos), de Maître d'ouvrage délégué (souvent dans les fonctions informatiques), de Maître d'oeuvre (SI) permettent ce jeu...

Predictions 2007 again:

On Data Management: I like the last paragraph about the difficulties to make the bridge between ERPs and old applications, in an SOA view...

Nice survey on IT spendings, with an emphasis on "worker-friendly" tools (PDA's, Wifi, ...)

Another view of CIO 2007 priorities:

with this significant hit-parade: ITIL, VOIP, CRM, Storage, Web services, BI

Hi Tech by MIT

Evolution of bandwith on optical fiber

Personal technology: from social networks by telephone to advanced uses of Google map

Intéressant article sur la nécessité de "vendeurs consultants" pour toute vente technologique; Ce glissement n'est pas récent, mais touche désormais tout le monde...

A lot of informations recently published on this theme.

What are the "new" issues and opportunities for CIO's ?

Let's take a quote from this one

Ovum analysts say in their Summit Seven predictions. "Virtualization, service-oriented architecture, management automation and integrated workflow tools will increasingly be coupled with externally provided software-as-a-service (SaaS), utility computing, business process outsourcing and other network-hosted applications and business services to create highly dynamic enterprise service delivery environments."

Not a bad list! but so many challenges inside! Just to take an example, SOA not so easy, and the article warns on that.

(for those who are not SOA experts, a good recent synthesis there)

See too the feelings of James Champy, ex reengineering guru: IT budget growth, but under control, lack of professional talents, offshoring still on, no technological revolution...

And McKinsey view: SOA and Lean production...

I like too the personal analysis of JP Corniou in his blog (e-voeux 2007), reemphasizing some challenges like level of CIO within organizations, need to prove continuously the value generated by IT, challenges of standards for IT, outsourcing and offshoring decisions, cultural and educational aspects, ...

Determine too what kind of CIO you are (business leader, innovation agent, operational expert, turnaround artist) in this nice report with quiz and ...look at global statistical results!