I was at Interop last week and although attendance appeared to me to be lower than in the past I thought the presentations were much better and I believe this is a result of the major shift in technology to virtualization and cloud computing combined with the soft economy. Challenging times bring out the best in many people!
One common theme at Interop was the challenge around bringing different technical groups together: storage, server, networking, applications. Virtualization requires considering the complete system so communicating between silos is necessary. I am an east coast person but it looks like what the IT team really needs is a non-technical west coast style tech team off-site somewhere in Orange County to work on communications and various team building exercises.
Once you have the entire technical staff working as a team here are the challenges you will need to address:
1. Visibility – Where is the application and where is the problem?
2. How do you prove source of problem to the component owner?
3. Where will the next constraint or problem arise?
4. Planning for the next expansion
5. Dealing with applications resource contention
6. Over use of VMotion – simultaneous moves in same LUN can cause poor performance
Virtualization creates the most dynamic data center that IT management has seen and this is great but it means there is a more significant challenge - The mantra becomes “constant monitoring, modeling and planning.” Depending on the size and complexity of your virtualized infrastructure the technical management team should at least once a quarter and maybe as often as weekly do a capacity planning style exercise based on current utilization and planned expansion.
Here are the virtualization mistakes to avoid:
1. Racing to deploy and failing to plan completely
2. Configuration mistakes – check before using default settings
3. Not enough storage IOPs
4. Resource contention – not all applications work well together
5. CPU access – underestimate demands
6. Not understanding work loads
7. Not taking complete system into consideration
8. Lack of awareness of the dependencies
9. Lack of awareness of workload curves
Here are a few companies that make tools you may want to consider to help you manage your dynamic virtual infrastructure: Akorri, Ixia, Blue Stripe, vKernal, Visioncore and CA.
Virtualization is one of the most exciting things that has happened in the information technology industry in many years so embrace it and enjoy it – “Virtualize your infrastructure with passion.”
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
State of Virtualization
Latest data on the state of virtualization from presentation today by Barb Goldworm, President and Chief Analyst of Focus:
Drivers – Why are businesses implementing virtualization?
1. Disaster recovery
2. Consolidation
3. Increase Server Utilization
4. Reduce space and power
5. Increase availability
6. Improve IT
7. Improve Management
The recent change to disaster recovery as primary driver is a result of small businesses that before could not justify the cost. In enterprise space consolidation is still the primary driver.
Actual businesses benefits reported:
1. Increase utilization
2. Reduce space and power
3. Reduce total cost of ownership
4. Increase return on investment
5. Improved agility
In either case businesses do realize the benefit and are moving to a virtual environment rapidly.
80% of companies have adopted virtualization to some degree
95% of companies have either adopted or are planning or implementing
How much of the server environment is virtualized:
1/3 Less than 20%
1/3 between 20% - 40%
1/3 40 – 100%
Only 9% have virtualized more than 80% of their Servers.
Barriers to Virtualization:
1. Budget
2. Applications don’t support virtualization
3. Performance concerns
4. Applications are hard to virtualize
5. Storage issues
6. Skill set to implement and support
7. Security
Next I will post on virtualization management and then the direction of the industry.
Source: Focus – http://www.focusonsystems.com/
Drivers – Why are businesses implementing virtualization?
1. Disaster recovery
2. Consolidation
3. Increase Server Utilization
4. Reduce space and power
5. Increase availability
6. Improve IT
7. Improve Management
The recent change to disaster recovery as primary driver is a result of small businesses that before could not justify the cost. In enterprise space consolidation is still the primary driver.
Actual businesses benefits reported:
1. Increase utilization
2. Reduce space and power
3. Reduce total cost of ownership
4. Increase return on investment
5. Improved agility
In either case businesses do realize the benefit and are moving to a virtual environment rapidly.
80% of companies have adopted virtualization to some degree
95% of companies have either adopted or are planning or implementing
How much of the server environment is virtualized:
1/3 Less than 20%
1/3 between 20% - 40%
1/3 40 – 100%
Only 9% have virtualized more than 80% of their Servers.
Barriers to Virtualization:
1. Budget
2. Applications don’t support virtualization
3. Performance concerns
4. Applications are hard to virtualize
5. Storage issues
6. Skill set to implement and support
7. Security
Next I will post on virtualization management and then the direction of the industry.
Source: Focus – http://www.focusonsystems.com/
Friday, May 15, 2009
7 Rules for a great PowerPoint Presentation!
I was at a technical event the other day and sat wondering – “Why is it that…. everyone knows not to put word documents in PowerPoint but does it anyway?” This particular PowerPoint presentation was brutal – the material was dull to begin with and the font size was so small only the front row could read it if they squinted. The scary part is that this is not the exception - it is in fact the rule in the technology industry. Here is the quote you will hear “This slide is a bit of an eye chart” – So why do presenters do this? I shamefully admit I to have done this - but why? I am afraid the only explanation is that the presenter is not putting enough time into preparation and feels they need all the information up there so they have something to present! I have actually seen presenters admit while fumbling through a presentation that they were not their slides and that they had not gone through them before! This just screams to their audience “I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU!”
I participated in a presentation skills course a few years ago and the instructor said the most effective way to use PowerPoint is one slide one thought or concept. I tried this once myself and it worked but comes across a little odd as there is a “PowerPoint Culture” (I just coined that term and I think I like it) that clearly has more than one idea per slide.
So what do you do…………
Guy Kawasaki has his 10-20-30 rule for effective PowerPoint presentation for venture capitalists. The rules are no more than 10 slides, no more than 20 minutes and no less than 30 size fonts. I really like his presentation it is less than 2 minutes here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liQLdRk0Ziw
I came up with my 7 rules for creating a compelling PowerPoint presentation in the technology industry:
1. Start with an attention getter – Jump in!
2. Know the 3 -5 points you want the listener to "take away"
3. Be sure to put a diagram or picture on just about every slide
4. Keep your presentation less than 40 slides and less than an hour
5. Use font size of 30 or greater
6. Tell 3 - 5 stories that ties in to each of your points
7. Rehearse the presentation 3 – 5 times
PowerPoint Presenter Oath “I will always be well prepared for my presentation and never read any of the slides” and now the most important part, “and this time, I mean it!”
I participated in a presentation skills course a few years ago and the instructor said the most effective way to use PowerPoint is one slide one thought or concept. I tried this once myself and it worked but comes across a little odd as there is a “PowerPoint Culture” (I just coined that term and I think I like it) that clearly has more than one idea per slide.
So what do you do…………
Guy Kawasaki has his 10-20-30 rule for effective PowerPoint presentation for venture capitalists. The rules are no more than 10 slides, no more than 20 minutes and no less than 30 size fonts. I really like his presentation it is less than 2 minutes here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liQLdRk0Ziw
I came up with my 7 rules for creating a compelling PowerPoint presentation in the technology industry:
1. Start with an attention getter – Jump in!
2. Know the 3 -5 points you want the listener to "take away"
3. Be sure to put a diagram or picture on just about every slide
4. Keep your presentation less than 40 slides and less than an hour
5. Use font size of 30 or greater
6. Tell 3 - 5 stories that ties in to each of your points
7. Rehearse the presentation 3 – 5 times
PowerPoint Presenter Oath “I will always be well prepared for my presentation and never read any of the slides” and now the most important part, “and this time, I mean it!”
Monday, May 11, 2009
Information Technology major changes in the next 5 – 10 years – How do we prepare?
The fact that all the major U.S. auto companies are facing major financial pressures and two out of three are facing government bailout and bankruptcy should be a wake-up call to everyone! Businesses and people in general need to consider what is happening in industries, markets, and technology. The challenge of course is that when you watch the news and discuss what is happening it is very hard for most people, including me and probably you, to know what is really going on! This confusion is caused by the complexity combined with the political and economic agendas of the media, politicians, and business leaders discussing the situation.
The business leaders with the most to loose seem to have a blind spot right where they need visibility the most – just look at Kodak, GM and Chrysler. Kodak new for more than 30 years that the digital camera was coming but somehow did not really believe it would completely replace film in the consumer market until it was too late. Kodak’s stock was $65.95 on Oct 2 1972 ($335 inflation adjusted) and is now under $3 with losses of $2.46 per share last year. That is more than a 99% drop in share price adjusted for inflation! If you invested in GM and Chrysler your shares will likely be worthless.
The key is looking at a shift and really analyzing the long term implications. Is your main product going away completely like traditional camera film? Is your business becoming non-competitive with the rest of the world like the U.S. auto industry? In both these cases the answer is yes! The individuals in the industry need to create a long term strategy to prosper in that change.
In the case of IT the question is two fold: 1. Is there a shift in IT to cloud based computing? 2. Is there a shift to outsourcing tasks to lower cost countries (off-shore)? The answer to both of these questions is yes! So the next step is to start understanding the implications of this and creating a strategy so that your business can thrive in this environment or you, as a technology professional, can take advantage of this shift. The worst thing you can do is stick your head in the sand and say, "oh it is years away." It is years away, but these shifts usually happen faster than we think - if you wait until it is upon you, it will be too late!!
To go deeper into this IT shift you need to look at what parts of technology are shifting to the cloud and off-shore first. The obvious business shift is software development off-shore and managed IT services to the cloud and off-shore. Simple broad based applications such as email, and CRM will move to the cloud fast.
Plan to benefit from the technology shift to cloud computing and off-shore and you will prosper!
The business leaders with the most to loose seem to have a blind spot right where they need visibility the most – just look at Kodak, GM and Chrysler. Kodak new for more than 30 years that the digital camera was coming but somehow did not really believe it would completely replace film in the consumer market until it was too late. Kodak’s stock was $65.95 on Oct 2 1972 ($335 inflation adjusted) and is now under $3 with losses of $2.46 per share last year. That is more than a 99% drop in share price adjusted for inflation! If you invested in GM and Chrysler your shares will likely be worthless.
The key is looking at a shift and really analyzing the long term implications. Is your main product going away completely like traditional camera film? Is your business becoming non-competitive with the rest of the world like the U.S. auto industry? In both these cases the answer is yes! The individuals in the industry need to create a long term strategy to prosper in that change.
In the case of IT the question is two fold: 1. Is there a shift in IT to cloud based computing? 2. Is there a shift to outsourcing tasks to lower cost countries (off-shore)? The answer to both of these questions is yes! So the next step is to start understanding the implications of this and creating a strategy so that your business can thrive in this environment or you, as a technology professional, can take advantage of this shift. The worst thing you can do is stick your head in the sand and say, "oh it is years away." It is years away, but these shifts usually happen faster than we think - if you wait until it is upon you, it will be too late!!
To go deeper into this IT shift you need to look at what parts of technology are shifting to the cloud and off-shore first. The obvious business shift is software development off-shore and managed IT services to the cloud and off-shore. Simple broad based applications such as email, and CRM will move to the cloud fast.
Plan to benefit from the technology shift to cloud computing and off-shore and you will prosper!
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) – Should you use ITIL and become certified?
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of policies and procedures for best practice management of information technology (IT) infrastructure. Here is the official description from the governing body:
ITIL is best practice in IT Service Management, developed by OGC and supported by publications, qualifications and an international user group. ITIL is intended to assist organisations to develop a framework for IT Service Management. Worldwide, ITIL is the most widely used best practice for IT Service Management.
ITIL is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world, with world class practices supported by quality services from a wide range of service providers, accredited training agencies, consultancies and professional qualifications. Users of ITIL are supported by exam and user group organizations that can support training and adoption of the methodology. The best-practice processes promoted in ITIL both support and are supported by the British Standards Institution’s Standard for IT Service Management (BS15000) and later ISO 20,000.
ITIL has become the industry standard for IT infrastructure best practices. ITIL does make sense to learn and become certified if you are an IT professional. The standards are what other project methodologies such as Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) is based on so you may already have some familiarity. It just makes sense that when you are implementing process and procedures for IT infrastructure to use existing best practice standards instead of re-inventing the wheel. What are the best practices for media management? By becoming certified, this establishes you as a knowledgeable expert and raises your value to your organization. If you can become certified - I think it makes sense.
ITIL links:
http://www.itil-officialsite.com/home/home.asp
http://www.apmg-us.com/ITIL/ITILIntro.asp
http://www.itsmf.org/
ITIL is best practice in IT Service Management, developed by OGC and supported by publications, qualifications and an international user group. ITIL is intended to assist organisations to develop a framework for IT Service Management. Worldwide, ITIL is the most widely used best practice for IT Service Management.
ITIL is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world, with world class practices supported by quality services from a wide range of service providers, accredited training agencies, consultancies and professional qualifications. Users of ITIL are supported by exam and user group organizations that can support training and adoption of the methodology. The best-practice processes promoted in ITIL both support and are supported by the British Standards Institution’s Standard for IT Service Management (BS15000) and later ISO 20,000.
ITIL has become the industry standard for IT infrastructure best practices. ITIL does make sense to learn and become certified if you are an IT professional. The standards are what other project methodologies such as Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) is based on so you may already have some familiarity. It just makes sense that when you are implementing process and procedures for IT infrastructure to use existing best practice standards instead of re-inventing the wheel. What are the best practices for media management? By becoming certified, this establishes you as a knowledgeable expert and raises your value to your organization. If you can become certified - I think it makes sense.
ITIL links:
http://www.itil-officialsite.com/home/home.asp
http://www.apmg-us.com/ITIL/ITILIntro.asp
http://www.itsmf.org/
Monday, May 04, 2009
Great Speaker presentations on You Tube: Authors@Google
I came across these Authors at Google and I have really enjoyed the presentations. Here is the description from Google:
The Authors@Google program brings authors of all stripes to Google for informal talks centering on their recently published books. Through the program, we invite authors to our Mountain View headquarters as well as our New York, Santa Monica, Cambridge, Ann Arbor, and other offices, where Googlers are treated to readings of everything from serious literature and political analysis to pioneering science fiction and moving personal memoirs; past participants have ranged from novelist Salman Rushdie and economist Jeffrey Sachs to journalist Bob Woodward and U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. When possible, we share these remarkable conversations with the world outside the Googleplex through our YouTube channel.
I have watched six so far and they have all been pretty good. They usually start by the author describing the book and the message or essence of the book and then there is usually a question and answer session. They run 45 minutes to an hour and it looks like there are currently 661 videos on You Tube so plenty to see!
Here are my two favorites I have seen so far:
Authors@Google: Dan Ariely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZv--sm9XXU&feature=channel
Authors@Google: Charlene Li
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDYUqAMx9HU
The Authors@Google program brings authors of all stripes to Google for informal talks centering on their recently published books. Through the program, we invite authors to our Mountain View headquarters as well as our New York, Santa Monica, Cambridge, Ann Arbor, and other offices, where Googlers are treated to readings of everything from serious literature and political analysis to pioneering science fiction and moving personal memoirs; past participants have ranged from novelist Salman Rushdie and economist Jeffrey Sachs to journalist Bob Woodward and U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. When possible, we share these remarkable conversations with the world outside the Googleplex through our YouTube channel.
I have watched six so far and they have all been pretty good. They usually start by the author describing the book and the message or essence of the book and then there is usually a question and answer session. They run 45 minutes to an hour and it looks like there are currently 661 videos on You Tube so plenty to see!
Here are my two favorites I have seen so far:
Authors@Google: Dan Ariely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZv--sm9XXU&feature=channel
Authors@Google: Charlene Li
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDYUqAMx9HU
Friday, May 01, 2009
Windows 7 Release Candidate Available Next Week!
Windows 7 Release Candidate will be released to the general public next week on Tuesday May 5 at no charge through May 2010. It has been available to IT Professionals through MSDN and Technet for about a week now and so far with good feedback. It is not much different from the previous beta versions if you have seen those. Everything I have read indicates that it is going to be a good release with enhanced performance primarily. Check out the video at the link below to preview the new look:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx
IT operations professionals need to start preparing for it now, and the best way to prepare for Windows 7 is by deploying Windows Vista. Short of that, begin testing your applications and hardware for compatibility against Windows Vista; It will pay off with greater compatibility with Windows 7. Why? Because Windows 7 is built on the same code base as Windows Vista, and the vast majority of applications that are compatible with Windows Vista will remain compatible with Windows 7. It's important to note that there will be some low-level application exceptions, such as client security, imaging, firewall, and networking, but the beta of Windows 7 shows significant promise, and most IT operations professionals are looking forward to its availability and eventual enterprise deployment.
- Benjamin Gray, Forrester
Windows 7 Key Features from Microsoft Web Site:
Faster, more responsive performance
Nobody likes to wait. So we've focused on the basics that can impact the speed of your PC. Windows 7 starts up, shuts down, resumes from standby, and responds faster. You'll have fewer interruptions and can recover more quickly from problems when they do occur because Windows 7 will help you fix them when you want.
Improved taskbar and full-screen previews
The taskbar at the bottom of your screen is what you use to switch between the applications you've got open. In Windows 7 you can set the order in which the icons appear and they'll stay put. They're easier to see, too. Click once on the new large icons or bigger preview thumbnails and you're ready to go. You can even see a full screen preview before switching to the window.
Jump Lists
With Windows 7, we focused on keeping the things you use most right in front of you. One example: The new Jump List feature. It's a handy way to quickly reach the files you've been working with. To see the files you've used recently, just right click on the icon on your taskbar.
So right-clicking on the Word icon will show your most recent Word documents. Plus, if there are other files you want to keep handy, you can just pin them to the Jump List.
New ways to work with Windows
Windows 7 simplifies how you work with the windows on your desktop. You'll have more intuitive ways to open, close, resize, and arrange them. You can drag open windows to screen borders, so you'll no longer have to click on tiny objects in the corner of a window to make it do what you want.
Maximize a window by dragging its border to the top of the screen, and return the window to its original size by dragging it away from the top of the screen. Drag the bottom border of a window to expand it vertically.
It's easy to copy files or compare the contents of two windows by dragging the windows to opposite sides of the screen. As your cursor touches the edge, the window will resize to fill that half of the screen.To see all your desktop gadgets, just drag your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. That'll make all the open Windows transparent—making your desktop, and the gadgets on it, immediately visible. Want to minimize all your windows? One click and it's done.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx
IT operations professionals need to start preparing for it now, and the best way to prepare for Windows 7 is by deploying Windows Vista. Short of that, begin testing your applications and hardware for compatibility against Windows Vista; It will pay off with greater compatibility with Windows 7. Why? Because Windows 7 is built on the same code base as Windows Vista, and the vast majority of applications that are compatible with Windows Vista will remain compatible with Windows 7. It's important to note that there will be some low-level application exceptions, such as client security, imaging, firewall, and networking, but the beta of Windows 7 shows significant promise, and most IT operations professionals are looking forward to its availability and eventual enterprise deployment.
- Benjamin Gray, Forrester
Windows 7 Key Features from Microsoft Web Site:
Faster, more responsive performance
Nobody likes to wait. So we've focused on the basics that can impact the speed of your PC. Windows 7 starts up, shuts down, resumes from standby, and responds faster. You'll have fewer interruptions and can recover more quickly from problems when they do occur because Windows 7 will help you fix them when you want.
Improved taskbar and full-screen previews
The taskbar at the bottom of your screen is what you use to switch between the applications you've got open. In Windows 7 you can set the order in which the icons appear and they'll stay put. They're easier to see, too. Click once on the new large icons or bigger preview thumbnails and you're ready to go. You can even see a full screen preview before switching to the window.
Jump Lists
With Windows 7, we focused on keeping the things you use most right in front of you. One example: The new Jump List feature. It's a handy way to quickly reach the files you've been working with. To see the files you've used recently, just right click on the icon on your taskbar.
So right-clicking on the Word icon will show your most recent Word documents. Plus, if there are other files you want to keep handy, you can just pin them to the Jump List.
New ways to work with Windows
Windows 7 simplifies how you work with the windows on your desktop. You'll have more intuitive ways to open, close, resize, and arrange them. You can drag open windows to screen borders, so you'll no longer have to click on tiny objects in the corner of a window to make it do what you want.
Maximize a window by dragging its border to the top of the screen, and return the window to its original size by dragging it away from the top of the screen. Drag the bottom border of a window to expand it vertically.
It's easy to copy files or compare the contents of two windows by dragging the windows to opposite sides of the screen. As your cursor touches the edge, the window will resize to fill that half of the screen.To see all your desktop gadgets, just drag your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. That'll make all the open Windows transparent—making your desktop, and the gadgets on it, immediately visible. Want to minimize all your windows? One click and it's done.
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