I’ve been following the recent AT&T and T-Mobile merger news closely over the last few months.  Not because of my love for AT&T nor the cute T-Mobile girl.  I’ve been following it because it’s a replay of the broadband vs. dialup fight and the tiered bandwidth cap fight.  You always hear that history repeats itself and that the speed of technology innovation doubles every few years.  Here is a situation where there is a perfect storm of each factor.

Sprint, is in a unique position, so far.  They are the only major carrier that does not cap or tier it’s bandwidth usage.  AT&T and Verizon have tiered pricing for both phone and data services.  Take the iPad for instance.  AT&T has a 2 gig limit on their top plan with additional charges applied should you go over that amount.  Verizon has a 5 gig with similar terms.  Prices for these services are comparable.  Sprint has yet to offer the iPad, but I do have a contract with Sprint where for $79 I get as much as I want anytime.  It doesn’t mean I’m a sprint fan boy.  It just means that every month my bill is the same.  And there is the key.  Consistency.

During  the late 90’s the internet consuming public witnessed a race between the Telco’s based on speed.  Why use AOL dialup when you can use SW Bell DSL?  It was comparable in price and 8X faster.  Then you had the internet cap situation, which is still in play. Telco's over allocated resources and sought caps to limit large consumers of data.  Verizon was the clear winner in terms of capability and future expansion.  They spent billions to build out their network with no caps on FiOS.  I would argue that Verizon has won the battle for savvy users who really use the internet, which is most of us born after 1950.  I don’t know one person that says I have FiOS, but I wish U–Verse was available.

So, back to Sprint and the portable internet which is all the rage.  They have the network capability, the iPhone 4S, and the market share to start challenging the largest two providers in the US.  If Dan Hess takes a lesson from history I would say look to Verizon.  They’ve had great success with their FiOS implementation and I would say that the same market  that drove them will be the same that drive the wireless age.  I would also argue that the US consumer likes fixed pricing.  Whether or not I use it consumers still want a predictable price that doesn’t fluctuate based on the amount of videos you download on a rainy day.

At the end of the day, we, the consumer wins.  Whichever these models wins out it’s sure to drive speeds and price down, just like DLS vs. Dial-up did in the 90’s.

Just in case you haven’t noticed the explosion of devices and consumer based applications is beginning to challenge IT departments.  Do you allow your employees to use their own devices?  What about applications?  How do you deploy and manage security?  These are all questions that just about every IT shop in the world is having to answer.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a multi billion dollar conglomerate or supporting the local church.  The consumerization of IT is here, and I predict here to stay. 

The question of managing this phenomenon is not if you should allow it.  That battle has already been fought.  Devices and applications are being used because they are convenient or introduce efficiencies.  You cannot stop this wave.  Imagine being the head of a pager company and you just saw your first cell phone in action.  You need to start making cell phones, not scoff at the idea that cell phones will never catch on!  The real question is how do you take advantage of this movement.

Make no mistake, this is a paradigm changer and you need to think of ways to take advantage of this.  So what in the world am I talking about?  I remember when I first started working in the 90’s.  You hardly ever saw a laptop.  They were reserved for the ‘high-ups’.  They were cool and a status symbol.  Fast forward 10 years and now all you see is laptops.  They are now the standard of a productive work culture allowing people to work from anywhere, and unfortunately for this guy, at anytime of the day or night.  Laptops stopped being a status symbol and the hallmark of productivity.   They changed the paradigm. 

Today we have devices and applications that take full advantage of sleek form factors and the cloud.  Paradigm changer?  No doubt.  I, myself, own 3 laptops and two iPads.  I have the ability to work from anywhere and at anytime.  Couple that with some slick collaboration apps like Lync, Skype, Facetime and a host of other cloud based collaboration utilities there is no need for me to go into the office.  So why do we continue to build applications, corporate infrastructures and offices like it’s the 1990’s?  Do I really need a cube, an office or a desk phone?  No, what I need is a power strip. 

So what is the next model?  The next laptop transformation?  First, I think IT needs to look at how we allocate IT assets.  Why buy me a laptop?  I have three.  And they are far superior to the one you will probably provide me.  Why not give me a stipend so I can purchase my own equipment?  Why not give me a stipend for being an employee?  Chances are if you are like me you even dislike the office supplies!  I’ll buy my own pens and paper! 

Imagine how that would change the way you not only build out an office, but your approach to building business solutions!  Your external customers and internal customers become one in the same. All rely on the ability to use your product anytime and anywhere.

I was reading through some updates on a few social networking sites.  When I came across a link posted by one of my friends, Josh Minton,  who posted an article by Aaron Levie, the CEO and co-founder of Box.net.  The article titled How the IT department co go from zeros to heroes.  The article jumps around a bit but the essence of the article is this.  The cloud represents an opportunity for users to use whatever technology they want because, when given the choice, they will utilize technology that will ultimately make them more productive.  IT just needs to get out of the way. 

I think it’s expected that Aaron Levie would make a claim that the cloud is 100% good and if you’re not moving that way you and your customers are missing out.  Don’t get me wrong.  I think the cloud is great and a real opportunity for companies to leverage great software that would either be too expensive, difficult to manage or don’ have the expertise to create themselves.

However, there are three key problems that I have with the way Levie justifies opening up the purchasing and management of software purchases to business unit owners.  The first is that resources, I’m referring to money here, is a finite resource.  Purchasing and managing software is a process and a skill that takes time to learn and master.  Your IT department should have enough experience in this area to make sure that you are getting the best value for your dollar.  Believe me, in the world of Enterprise software everything is negotiable and you need to have knowledge of all the levers you can pull to negotiate the best deal. 

Secondly, Levie cites some Forrester research that finds this type of purchasing is already prevalent:

"Especially in firms where IT is seen as plodding and cumbersome to work with, the new price points and preprovisioning of SaaS and cloud will foster renegade buying by the business."

If you find yourself in this position I would simply start by addressing why your IT organization is viewed by your business partners in this way.  Something is clearly broken and needs to be addressed.

The last issue that I have with this thinking is that IT is in a unique position to see how the enterprise operates end to end.  Many business units work in isolation.  Sales doesn’t always fully understand or appreciate what information the accounting department needs to do their job effectively.  My experience has been that everyone always looks for a software solution to fix any gaps that a good old communications plan can fix for free.  Allowing each department to independently choose a solution without consideration of the larger enterprise needs will do nothing but perpetuate the inevitable ‘brokenness’ and siloed cultures that you see in some organizations. 

I regularly get asked by people just entering or interested in the Technology field what my best advise to a budding technologist would be.  I hate that question.  There is so much to know and so many experiences to share.  How do you boil that down to one elevator pitch?  Someone queue the music: I’ve given a ton of horrible advice.

I’m pretty sure that to most of those outside of our industry pride of ownership is a good thing.  Society encourages people to buy houses, start businesses, etc. All thinking that this will lift the community because people have a ‘pride in ownership’.  In other words, because they own something they will continue to invest in it to make their property better. 

However, I believe, that pride of ownership in our industry is toxic.  I have noticed over the years that pride of ownership in technology leads to two things, terrible product delivery and stunted innovation.  Product delivery constantly fails because your developers are taking liberty with the code.  They are going to try to pay back some technical debt because they think or *know* that if they just had another ‘crack’ at that function or class they could improve it.  Stunted Innovation occurs for much the same reason.  Why look at other technologies?  Your team or yourself is completely engaged in the current paradigm.  If you change you kill your baby.

There is no doubt that the technology team plays an integral part in creating value for the organization.  As I’ve blogged before this is what IT’s value proposition is.  However, as a technologist, you need to realize that the product you created is the product of Technology, Marking, Sales and Customers coming together. Also known as business value.  The technology doesn’t belong to you.  It belongs to the organization. This is the difference between great companies and great failures.

Sounds harsh?  I mean your or your team created the product? But it didn’t.  The product was a successful implementation of the businesses needs.   To put it simply, You were the doctor in the delivery room.  There were a cast of others that had the same level of commitment and smarts to help give birth to the product.  I think I can speak for most of us when I say just be thankful that we walk out with clean shoes!

If, as an organization, you think that you have a pride of ownership issue please feel free to contact me. Once you are free it’s the most liberating and enabling existence of IT. I’m happy to evangelize. 

I have a confession to make.  I love what I do for a living.  I’m one of those fortunate few who never really has to work a day in his life because I love what I do.  At times I feel guilty when people ask what I do for fun and I have to make something up  not related to IT.  The fact is that no matter what hobby I pick up all I can think about is what website or technology can I create to augment my enjoyment. 

A little background story on this post.  I was speaking to a few friends the other day about volunteering to teach a practical computing class in secondary school or even offering internships.  The feedback from the friends (all who were teachers) is that they really don’t offer that today. Apparently, at least in Texas, the barriers to entry is a bit overcoming.  It’s clearly an underdeveloped program.  We can do better and let me tell you why.

When I was in grade school my mom actually volunteered to teach a Basic class.  No kidding.  She taught the class to a bunch of 4th graders (if I remember right).  I was fascinated.  I grew up with a mother who was an AS400 programmer.  I distinctly remember during her college years playing with her ‘punch cards’.  Now that I have kids who type on my keyboard when I’m not present I have a new appreciation for KID (Kid Induced Defect).  It’s no wonder she has a full head of white hair (sorry mom).  We always had technology in the house, always.

No kid wants to follow in their parents footsteps, and I was no exception.  To top it off according to my math scores in High School I wasn’t cut out for the Technology field.  I just didn’t get it.  I went to college to be a teacher and then finally I wanted to be a lawyer.  I accomplished neither.  I came out with a degree in poly sci and international relations.  Clearly a great setup for working in a single flavor snow cone shop!  However, I never stopped ‘messing’ around with Technology.  It was something that I actually knew more about than most kids my age just because of my exposure to it.  If there is “classically trained” then I was clearly un-classic. 

I came out of college a few years before the dot com incident (that’s what I call it now).  A great time for someone like me to find my calling.  I was there to see the web grow up.  Not to mention I was one of the lucky few who knew how to make my 14.4 kbit/s modem work by adjusting the IRQ settings.

So what does all have to do with wanting to teach gum chomping students who are more interested in using the iPhone than knowing how to leverage it?  It’s all about exposure and making the conceptual relevant.  Technology is everywhere.  It’s also an exponential multiplier of productivity and profitability.  Clearly an advantage in the ‘real world’.  The pace of innovation is incredible.  Think about where we were in terms of storage and processing power 5 years ago?  The laptop I’m typing this on has exponentially more capability than my TV,  phone, DVD player, camera and alarm clock combined. 

I think we should be, at a bare minimum, exposing our students to the magic behind the curtain if you will.  An exposure to programming and it’s practical application will help more than it will ever hurt.  I teach an ‘Intro to SQL for Analyst’s’ class at the company I work for.  It’s often filled with financial analysts who are realizing that a spreadsheet is no longer sufficient for doing the types of analysis they need to do the job.  More importantly, their current exposure to technology tells them that there must be a better way to get the answers they are searching for and need. 

So, let’s arm our students with at least the foundation.  I guarantee at some point they will use the exposure to further their positions and knowledge.  The technology community is filled with bright, passionate and dedicated professionals.  Let us volunteer to teach our next generation of colleagues!

Agile, in terms of application development or, for that matter, any  IT based projects is the ‘new normal’.  If you’re in IT and have not moved to this methodology I would strongly encourage you take the plunge.  Agile, in itself, is a game changer.  I’m happy to debate anyone who challenges that position.  What about the rest of the business?  Is Six Sigma and Peter Drucker the most progressive thinking when running a business?

I spend a lot of time writing about how and why IT needs to be a more strategic partner in the day-to-day business operation.  It is in fact our value proposition.  So why not take the principals we have learned in Agile and introduce them to the day-to-day business practices?

Let’s take some time to translate the principals behind the Agile Manifesto on how it might apply to business operational principals:

Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer
through early and continuous delivery
of valuable software.

Ops Translation:

“Our highest priority is to to deliver quality products and services expeditiously to satisfy both customer and shareholder expectations”

Welcome changing requirements, even late in
development. Agile processes harness change for
the customer's competitive advantage.

Ops Translation:

“The Business climate is ever changing.  You must continually make adjustments to maximize every advantage.”

Deliver working software frequently, from a
couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a
preference to the shorter timescale.

Ops Translation:

“Always have a prejudice towards improving value constantly by adding Customer value often and incrementally.  ”

Business people and developers must work
together daily throughout the project.

Ops Translation:

“Your Business needs to operate as a cohesive unit to maximize shareholder and customer value, everyday.”

Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.

Ops Translation:

“Manage to expectations.  Make sure you have the right people in the right positions to ensure success for shareholders and customers.”

The most efficient and effective method of
conveying information to and within a development
team is face-to-face conversation.

Ops Translation:

“The most efficient way to break down the barriers to success is getting the right people in the room that can remove the barriers to success.  Have those people meet daily.”

Working software is the primary measure of progress.

Ops Translation:

"Become a results oriented organization”

Agile processes promote sustainable development.
The sponsors, developers, and users should be able
to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

Ops Translation:

“Continuous improvement should always be a core value and goal.  There should be no “fire drills” when aiming for operational excellence”

Continuous attention to technical excellence
and good design enhances agility.

Ops Translation:

Success is infectious.  Strive for it daily.  Develop a culture of innovation and the framework to support it.

Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount
of work not done--is essential.

Ops Translation:

“Operational success is not achieved by moving mountains.  It’s achieved by measuring your ability to move a bucket of stone.”

The best architectures, requirements, and designs
emerge from self-organizing teams.

Ops Translation:

“Seek self organizing talent.  Encourage innovation from the bottom up.”

At regular intervals, the team reflects on how
to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts
its behavior accordingly.

Ops Translation:

“Build a culture of examining lessons learned.  Your key contributors will always apply this to the next opportunity for improvement.”

 
These thoughts are my first pass at defining how Agile principals might apply to day-to-day operations.  What is your take on how day-to-day operations might benefit from adopting Agile?