Revolutionise your Career…..Learn Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is the latest skill, that is moving into employment market today.  It supersedes a time where businesses relied  on IT professionals, typically between 1985-2008.  This is referred to as the client-server model era.

These IT professionals were employed to ensure that services were designed, deployed and run in a highly efficient and highly reliable manner.  Apps and data were run on servers, in a data centre at best…at worst it was hosted inside a cupboard.  Services could include:

Today, Cloud Computing has changed this landscape forever. It started to really mature and become used by businesses around 2008, Microsoft Hotmail and AWS being pionerring spirits, through to the present day. 

Below is a solution architecture, showing the services that are available instantly through AWS:

 Already we’re 10 years in,  and only within the last 3 years has cloud become common:

No longer is a $100,000 loan necessary, to buy infrastructure when starting a business.  You just need a credit card to buy the cloud services as you need them.  This means anyone can start a business and scale services with just 1 employee.  This accounts for the explosion in entrepreneurs, particularly females, who often have to balance income with kids.

Understanding Cloud Computing is not just for IT professionals, it’s for anyone who uses Cloud and wants to learn more.  

I’ve created a simple and engaging cloud computing mini-course, courtesy of ALC Training, for everyone to use, for FREE.

It’s highly interactive and includes a set of questions to test your knowledge.  Go on…have a go….and have some fun:

https://www.alc-group.com/introduction-to-cloud-computing/?utm_source=PaulColmer&utm_medium=Shared%20Post&utm_campaign=PC_ALCAd_Jan19

I would love to hear your feedback.  Please reach out on the channels below:

LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/paulcolmer/

Twitter
twitter.com/musiccomposer1

Instagram
www.instagram.com/paulcolmer/?hl=en

Why should Enterprise & Solution Architects take TOGAF Parts 1 & 2?

Because…….Part 1 (TOGAF Foundation) only covers the theory, whereas Part 2 (TOGAF Certified) covers the practical, hands-on knowledge and experience required for real enterprise and solution architects.  If you want to learn how to really use TOGAF, you need to do both….here is why?

TOGAF is a framework for developing complex solutions.  By complex solutions, I mean solutions that involve many different components and involve more than 20 people to develop.  Examples include:

Here is a good link showing TOGAF being used in an Aviation Case Study:

https://kipstor.com/case-studies/aviation-case-study/

It is used by IT architects, to make sure that nothing in the solution has been overlooked.  Companies working in financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, mining, consumer technology, aerospace, government and industries that are highly regulated, all require architects to be TOGAF Certified.  This means both Part 1 and Part 2.  

There are 2 levels are outlined below:

  1. Part 1 – TOGAF 9 Foundation
  2. Part 2 – TOGAF 9 Certified

TOGAF Foundation (Part 1)

This is run as a 2 day course and includes all theory.  It includes:

 

TOGAF Certified (Part 2)

This is run as a 2 day course, immediately after the 2 day Foundation course.  It covers exercises on how to apply the theory in Part 1, and includes:

Here is one view, of the TOGAF meta-model, (copyright Open Group):

Interested in learning more about completing both parts of TOGAF.  Check out our courses here:

https://alctraining.com.au/course/togaf-9-level-1-2-certificate-course/

If you want to learn more about TOGAF and understand what is included in the latest TOGAF 9.2 course, check out my blog article here:

https://www.paulcolmer.com/blog/whats-new-in-togaf-92

And here is a special flashcard quizlet I created for you to use for FREE:

https://quizlet.com/315748007/togaf-92-the-open-group-architecture-framework-paul-colmer-diagram/

 

TOGAF® is a registered trademarks of The Open Group. 

What are the Benefits of using the Scaled Agile Framework?

The Scaled Agile Framework, known as SAFe for Lean Enterprises, is a large knowledge base of proven, principles, practices and competencies, that integrates cultural change practices for Lean, Agile and DevOps. The diagram below, shows the latest full version (v4.6) of the framework:

By proven, I mean that all the work contained within the framework, has been demonstrated to bring success to all types of businesses.  The success is clearly measured by the number and breadth of case studies that are available on their website.  These case studies, have been written by SAFe clients, in their own words, showing the true power of the successes they have achieved. 

Let’s step through 3 specific examples below:

Australia Post

https://www.scaledagileframework.com/case-study-australia-post/

The following information is taken from the SAFe case study and outlines the case for action, or as we say in SAFe, the burning platform….

“Australia Post has invested in its technology, people, and culture to change the way it works to focus on customer experiences and continuous innovation. To help achieve this change, Australia Post selected and adopted the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®) not only as an operating model but as a tool for change. With SAFe, the organization aims to describe, communicate, and build an understanding of how to leverage Lean and Agile principles across the organization.”

Key Benefits:

Westpac

Upon launching a new online banking platform back in 2015, there was a real need to deliver additional features at breakneck speed.  Even though the launch was highly successful, winning at least one aware, the organisation needed to embrace some form of cultural change to accelerate feature delivery.  After looking at a number of cultural change methods, they decided that SAFe would be the best method.  Particularly as the methods and practices are proven and scalable, across small and large organisations.

Key Benefits:

Fitbit

Key Benefits:

 

If you’re interested in learning more, check our Leading SAFe courses:

  

Also check out Paul Colmer’s blog post on Leading SAFe, as he our Leading SAFe trainer.  He outlines the short story from NASA:

https://www.paulcolmer.com/blog/real-business-benefits-from-using-the-scaled-agile-framework

How Does Modern Musical Composition Echo The Trend of Big Data

I was very fortunate in 2011 to be awarded a Leading Edge Forum Grant to perform distinguished research on In-Memory Data Grid technologies (IMDG).  At the time, the term Big Data had not been coined, or at least I had never heard of it.  The 3 months of intensive study and research for the CSC Leading Edge Forum, now known as DXC Technology, lead to a path of self-discovery and a realisation of what was really happening in the data space.  Here is a link to the brochure showcasing my work: 

www.slideshare.net/CSC/csc-grants-via-leading-edge-forum

Big Data is now defined as the problem space, relating to the cleaning and analysis of huge data sets, resulting in a series of recommendations, a roadmap and/or defined business outcomes.  It’s further described by using the 4 V’s:

Based on my research, and because of my classical / jazz composition background, I see Big Data slightly differently.  You see when I studied musical composition at the University of Wales and the London College of Music, I learnt that the most talented composers and performers had been using the same system for around 500+ years. 

Sounds remarkable, that a single system would pervade for so long, but it’s true.  We call it tonality, or in laymans terms we use keys and scales in music.  When we learn to play a musical instrument we learn all the different scales and all the different keys.  Examples include C Major, D minor, B flat major or C# minor.  This is why there is much emphasis on practicing scales and chords.  This system is called the tonal system and is still strongly used in pop music culture, especially in the pop music charts.

Now…at the turn of the century, between 1900 and 1925 a group of composers emerged, that are now called the Second Viennese School.  And what they did was remarkable.  They pretty much started to reject the use of the tonal system, that had served mankind well for 500+ years and created a new form of music called serialism.  Simply put, that is music that does not have a tonal centre, a key or is not strictly part of a scale.  We describe this as atonalism.  To the untrained ear, it would appear that the notes seems to be random and dissonant.   This is what atonal music, using serialism composition can look like.  

You’ll see that every note on the top stave is never repeated and every note on the bottom stave is also never repeated.  This ensures that no note takes precedence and stops us perceiving any form of tonal centre, or tonality.  Below is a short video explaining serialism, if you’re interested in learning more.  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6fw_JEKT6Q

This new school of serialism, led by Schonberg, Webern and Berg, was mirrored in the art and fashion worlds, through the abstract art movement, with Jackson Pollock being the most famous.  Below is an example of Pollock’s work:

So what the hell does this have to do with Big Data, I hear you cry?

Well Big Data is a great analog of this short history lesson in modern musical composition theory.  We’ve been using relational datastores for 30 years, and apart from the emergence of a few exceptions, the most popular datastores have been SQL based, conforming to relational database theory.  These datastores are commonly known as relational database management systems or RDBMS.  Think of relational database theory as musical tonal theory.  It’s worked for a long time, so why change it?  Examples of RDBMS include Microsoft SQL, Oracle and SAP.  With a relational datastore, we store data in tables and these tables all relate to each other in a schema.  Below is a simple example:

There are other rules that need to be implemented in order for a relational datastore​ and these include following the ACID principles, and rationalising the structure using normal forms.  Here is a good article outlining relational database theory:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_database

Then companies decided to rethink the storage of data, to help solve new, complex problems.  The challenge with relational datastores is that they are great at storing customer information and financial information, but are not very good at processing and storing millions of records, that are unstructured, with 1000s of additional unstructured data items being thrown into the mix per second, with varying levels of data quality.  Basically relational datastores are not built to cope with Big Data.  They tend to be much slower, reliant on ACID principles, and are not optimised for handling unstructued or semi-structured data.  The diagram below outlines ACID principles in an RDBMS architecture:

The first well known company to use non-relational datastores en-mass was Napster.  They created a peer-to-peer music sharing network in the early 2000’s and used distributed hash tables to link up the data via central servers.  A distributed hash table is essentialy a key value store, which links a key (name of the song and artist), with a value (a link to the mp3 file).  This means it’s super fast and able to reference unstructured data very efficiently.  This provided a very successful, timely and ground-breaking music streaming  service, similar to Spotify today.  In those days Napster was later shown to be an illegal service, which has since reached agreements with record companies and artists.  Click on the diagram below to view a short video outlining how Peer to Peer networks operate:

In parallel we see Google invent Apache Hadoop technologies to deal with vast quantities of indexing material for search engines and the Big Data ecosystem grows expotentially from there.  We now have NOSQL datastores, In-Memory Data Grids and the list goes on.  Here is an article that best describes the key differences between the most common types of technology:  NOSQL, RDBMS and Hadoop:

www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/hadoop-vs-nosql-vs-sql-vs-newsql-by-example

Be aware that there is huge complexity and variation between different types of Big Data products.  The diagram illustrates this point, by outlining the current Hadoop suite of software tools, that can be utilised in a Big Data initiative.

Unfortunately we haven’t had enough time to cover Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning, which I’ll save for another blog post.  But these techniques, methods, approaches are all part of the Big Data movement.

If you’re interested in learning more about Big Data technologies, check out our new Enterprise Big Data Professional course:

www.alctraining.com.au/courses/cloud-computing/

What You Can Learn About Change Management From Coca Cola and Nokia

Research suggests projects with great change management are six times more likely to achieve goals than those with poor change management. So change management is just about inevitable for any business looking to succeed for the long run, and since it’s so complex and challenging, a clear plan is critical. 

Use the menu below to learn more:

  1. How Nokia used change management
  2. How Coca-Cola used change management

Let’s take an in-depth look at how two of the biggest companies in the world, Nokia and Coca Cola, used clever change management to adapt to new trends, technologies and markets to remain titans of their respective industries. 

How Nokia used change management

Nokia was a top supplier of mobile phones before the smartphone entered the mainstream and claimed 40% of the market share in 2007. By 2012, however, the Finnish company was edging close to disaster with shares down to below $2 compared to nearly $40 just five years earlier and logging more than $2 billion in operating losses in the first half of 2012.

Recognising it had missed the opportunity to lead in the smartphone evolution, the company hired a new CEO and set out to reinvent itself. It sold its struggling mobile device division to Microsoft and shifted to concentrating on network and mapping technologies.

In 2008 the organisation introduced its Booster Programme, which sought to help the company match ever-changing customer aspirations and new technologies among competitors. It restructured from nine to four business units and streamlined manufacturing and development into just three horizontal business units.

The Finnish giant also bought out Siemens, a partner in its network infrastructure business since 2007, and turned its networks unit into its core business. The result was billions gained in shareholder value. With its purchase of Alcatel-Lucent and sale of its mapping business, Nokia completed its shift into becoming a full-service network infrastructure provider.

Nokia’s transformation from near-bankrupt hardware manufacturer to leading network infrastructure and technology players demonstrates how huge organisations can respond to serious disruptions by transforming itself.

How Coca-Cola used change management

Founded in the late 19th century, the Coca-Cola Company has been through many change management challenges. For example in the 1980s, as competitor Pepsi started aggressively targeting Coca-Cola, the company decided to release New Coke, a sweeter soda.

New Coke didn’t end up appealing to the public, and Coca-Cola quickly responded by deciding to replace it with the older formula. Coca-Cola was able to respond quickly to consumer preferences to maintain its product’s appeal.

Similarly, Coca-Cola stayed proactive during World War II. By offering free drinks for GIs, the company marketed itself as a symbol of the US war effort whilst boosting product recognition in destination countries the allied forces were occupying. In the process, it cemented its presence through 64 additional manufacturing sites across the world, which accelerated the company’s post-war global expansion strategy.

Coca-Cola has continued to adapt its strategy proactively in recent years. For example, Coca-Cola has released new products like Enviga, Diet Coke, and Coca-Cola Zero in response to greater health consciousness. During the Asian financial crisis, the company pursued an acquisition strategy to better deal with changing consumer preferences.

The Coca-Cola Company, by reacting quickly and acting proactively in anticipation of changing trends and consumer preferences, makes change management a part of its overall strategic vision.

4 key principles of successful change management to implement today

So change management is clearly essential to any business seeking to stay competitive, but how do you go about it? The following are 4 of the top principles to keep in mind.

  1. Support your HR team


    HR teams play a critical role in change management. Your HR team needs the right tools and innovative approaches to help manage change.

  2. Executive buy-in 

    Make sure you have strong and effective executive buy-in or sponsorship for the change process. Without leadership getting on board, the change management process could be chaotic and it could even fail.

  3. Create a great plan

    Work to a a detailed, well-drafted change management plan. The plan should make clear all roles and responsibilities. It should clarify reasons for the change project and include a strategic communications plan to get everyone on board.

  4. Appoint an acquisition committee

    The committee’s role is to help streamline change management. The committee should have at least one person from each of the following: HR, IT, finance, and operations. It should also have an employee advocate or team lead.

Why is change management important for your business?

Trends like disruptive technologies and new ways and tools for achieving tasks mean organisations in all industries operate in a state of flux. Effective, ongoing change – through successful planning, implementation, and guidance of change initiatives – can be vital for ensuring businesses stay on the cutting edge. So leveraging new technologies typically requires effective change management, but so may non-technological changes like mergers, acquisitions or changes to support a shift in strategic direction.

Getting your people on board for any modifications in their roles and workplace is known as the soft side of change and is the most difficult and important aspect of change management because everything rests on your teams buying into the change. Hence change management arms you with the processes, tools, and techniques to help you manage the soft side of change – your people – to achieve your desired business outcomes.

With effective change management, you can avoid the costs of poor change management:

Sign up to a Change Management course with ALC Training

Great change management is vital for business success. Your organisation can learn how to be great when it comes to organisational change with an accredited certification course in change management.

A change management course will reinforce skills like communication, change practice, organisational change, and other vital skills. Find out more about ALC’s APMG accredited Organisational Change Management course here.

What is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic process automation, or RPA for short, is an emerging technology that allows you to automate business processes. It does this by mimicking the work of one or more users. I’ve seen this technology running on a thin-client machine, where the aim of the original business process was to create consulting codes. The diagram below, shows a simple example of how RPA can work. If you’re used simpler tools, like Flow in Office 365 of IFTTT.com then you’ll be familiar with this automation concept.

Let me back up a bit and explain RPA in the context of a real-world business problem.  Consulting codes are used in many organisations.  They allow consultants to book time to a client, a project or a particularly type of work.  These codes are usually entered into a timesheet and time is allocated against them.  If you work in a medium to large organisation, you’ll be familiar with the use of SAP, Dynamics 365 or other web-based programs that allow entry of timesheet information via these consulting codes.

The codes are critical to ensuring that clients are billed correctly, project spend is accurately tracked and that it’s clear what consultants  are spending their time on.  Without these codes, the business would grind to a halt, after all, not being able to invoice clients for work, is one of the most critical business processes in a business, next to paying employees and selling new products.

The most common type of code I’ve code across is called a Work Breakdown Structure Code (WBS).  You can see them in use in SAP.  The diagram below shows some of the key information that is required to build a WBS code in SAP:

So how does this work on a thin-client PC?  Well let’s take Citrix XenDesktop product.  Once built, installed and setup, using automation influenced by a DevOps culture, we have a small farm of virtual desktops that we can use as robots.  In the WBS Code example above, we need to first understand the entire business process for creating an SAP WBS process.  Below is a diagram showing how we might build the XenApp farm and build out our army of automated workers:

Let’s assume this process requires a geographically dispersed team, spread across Australia, India and Malaysia and involved 5 handoffs.  That is 5 different people that need to do something in the process.  It’s likely we’re going to have some lost time, whilst we wait for the next person to do something.  In fact I’ve seen this process take up to 5 days, when in fact, once all the data is known, it should only take 30 minutes.  The key here is that it is often the waiting time in a process, that slows things down. 

This is because it may take a few hours or days for someone to actually come to that item in their queue and process the transaction.  So clearly there is a clear driver for improved customer service, through an automated process.  Below is a diagram that illustrates a sample business process.  It outlines the process of making a pizza.  As you can see it contains a number of handoffs.  These delays between handoffs will affect the speed at which the pizza is delivered to the end-customer:​

The next step, once you have understood your process and you know what each person does at each step, you can now setup your 3 virtual desktops with all the software, the same as your workers.  It also may be possible at this stage to install all the software on a single virtual desktop and think about streamlining your process.  So let’s assume we are able to do this and stay with a single virtual desktop.

Once the desktop is setup, we can then use the in-built RPA engine to create the automation and store this as code.  This means we can view the code and optimise as required. 

Here is a video which provides an introduction to building RPA automation using a product called Blue Prism.  I’ve chosen this product, because I’ve seen this working on the SAP WBS code automation problem.  We’re using the process studio function to build our automation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhUojgE3WUI

Clearly there are a few techniques within a product like Blue Prism to automating our processes.  I’ve shown you this technique as it’s very visual and simple to understand.

For more information on how to automate processes as part of a DevOps culture change program, it would be worth considering our DevOps Foundation courses.  We outline the basic principles of cultural change and discuss how tools, such as Blue Prism, Jenkins, DXC Agility, GitHub, .Net framework and many other tools, can help improve the quality and speed of your solution release lifecycle:

www.alctraining.com.au/courses/devops/

What is the Difference between Machine Learning and Deep Learning?

There is often a lot of confusion around the differences between machine learning and deep learning.  Both are classed as techniques to enable artificial intellgence or AI.  But what is AI?

AI is the ability to create a program or computer system that can fool a human into thinking it is another human.  There is a simple test for this called the Turing Test, developed by Alan Turing.  Turing is a famous computer scientist who is potrayed in the film ‘The Imitation Game’.  He was the UK’s secret weapon in the 2nd World War. 

​The test is very simple.  There are 3 actors.  A computer, person B and our interrogator C.  Each actor is placed a separate room.  If the interrogator is unable to determine which actor is the computer, then the computer is determined to be intelligence, albeit it’s artificial.  Here is a simple diagram outlining this concept:

Coming back to the machine learning and deep learning techniques, let’s define those in turn.  We can use either or both techniques to fool our interrogator into thinking our computer is intelligent.

Deep Learning – is the process of applying neural network theory to help a computer learn.  Neural network theory strives to mimic our brain function.  Our brains are made of neurons and pathways, known as neural networks.  With deep learning we setup virtual neurons and virtual gateways in our system and use similar biological rules to allow the network to start learning.  In order to understand neural networks in more detail, you’ll need to cover some psychobiology theory that outlines how the brain works.  Here is a simple video on how neurons work:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyNkAuX29OU

The diagram below shows some of the many possible neural networks that you can choose from:

Machine Learning – is the process of applying mathematical models to help a computer learn.  It does not attempt to mimic the brain in terms of structure, but instead provides a process for allowing a computer to learn via mathematical techniques.  There are 100’s of mathematical methods to enable machine learning.  Some examples include: random forest, regression and dedcision trees.  Here is a great example of a decision tree:

And finally to put things in context, we can see how AI, Machine Learning and Deep Learning has evolved over time in the diagram below.  This is also a differentiator between machine learning and deep learning.  As you can see deep learning is a newer technique, inspired by human biology, whereas machine learning is an older technique, inspired by various mathematicians:

Check out the Nvidia blog that accompanies the picture…BTW….they provide the deep learning framework for Tesla cars….

blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/07/29/whats-difference-artificial-intelligence-machine-learning-deep-learning-ai/

As you can see, the biggest challenge that a data scientist has to content with, is which deep learning or machine learning technique to use.  That’s of course once we have a clearly defined business requirement and/or outcome we’re looking for and we’ve probably spend days or months trying to obtain clean data.  Oh the joys of data science…..

How Agile Project Management Enhances Software Development

Software development teams have specific requirements, especially as they usually face a combination of complex challenges. With globalised competition, the ever-shifting technology landscape, and need for highly skilled people, software development teams might need to leverage powerful methodologies to ensure they’re getting the most out of their talent.

It comes as no surprise that agile working methodologies has its roots in software development, and this is agile can improve the workflow of software development projects today.

The intricate needs of software development

Managing increasing competition and the constant state of flux in software are some of the needs of software development teams. In this trying environment, software development teams are facing a combination of specific requirements. For example, globalisation driving high competition could mean when your business comes up with an innovative idea, the chances are another software development team has too.

At the same time, rapid technological advances are driving changes in software requirements and design. It’s vital for software development teams to require various iterations of testing throughout the project cycle to meet the product goals.

And whether in-house or outsourced, it can be hard to find the right people for software development needs. The more complex the system, the harder it can be, so software development needs to work hard to find the right expertise. Software development is also faced with third-party integration and interface requirements, which increases the complexity for development teams.

Additionally, development teams are also having to deal with multiple complex user-level requirements. Stringent industry-specific, security, and compliance standards might need to be integrated into the software, which further increases complexity for development. Software development needs to wrestle with the restrictions of programming languages and development frameworks while ensuring the end product is sufficiently user friendly for its purpose.

The agile working solutions for software development

Agile methodology could offer an effective working solution for the intricate needs of software development. This is because agile emphasises assessment – through testing and incremental improvements – throughout the development lifecycle.

Agile includes specific methodologies like DSDM Atern and Scrum. These and other agile methodologies share the same values.

The Agile methodology requires software development teams to work in a “time-box” of one-month or less create a “Done” useable, potentially releasable Product Increment. The agile methodology requires software development teams to reassess the product, reiterate, and develop incremental improvements.

The iterations happen quickly, allowing continuous testing and rapid shipping of the product. As a development team, you have an opportunity to reassess the product at multiple stages to ensure it’s still meeting objectives and to change direction if necessary.

Agile gives you a structured way to approach software development projects. Along with rapid iterations, you could have a chance to reassess project priorities, track workflows, create development opportunities that lower errors, and work successfully to strict budgets and timelines.

In a challenging environment – thanks in part to globalised competition and technology advancements as outlined above – this could allow software development teams to get ahead of the competition more quickly. The result could be greater adaptability, improved communications and trusted teams. You could also end up with more efficient project planning and management.

5 ways agile management improves software development

1. Individual pieces or parts

Agile, in contrast to the waterfall methodologies traditionally used, focuses on delivering individual pieces of parts of the product where relevant. Instead of having to complete the entire application, development teams have a chance to work on incremental improvements of individual pieces or parts.

Though this could require a major cultural shift, it could make the team much more flexible and dynamic. Without the need to have a “big bang” launch, you’re working on smaller, more manageable increments with a lot more flexibility to change and adapt. You can change requirements, plans, and results as necessary for a better outcome.

2. Acceptable application response time

Another key working solution of agile could be the fact the development team works to acceptable application response times instead of industry standards. Using faulty industry standards could lead to frustrating applications rather than drive higher customer satisfaction.

3. People and communication

Another centrepiece of agile as a working solution for development teams is its prioritisation of people and communication over processes and tools. This could enhance teamwork and lead to better product outcomes.

The kanban framework, for example, is a agile working solution that facilitates real-time communication and full transparency on teams. All work items are shared visually on the kanban board so team members know what’s happening with each team member in real time.

The Scrum framework is another example of an agile working solution that facilitates real-time communication and full transparency on teams. Scrum prescribes four formal events for inspection and adaptation:

  1. Sprint Planning (what can be done and how?)
  2. Daily Scrum (what have we done today? what will be done  tomorrow?)
  3. Sprint review (what has been “done” in this sprint?)
  4. Sprint Retrospective (how did we go? How can we improve?)

4. Extreme programming

Extreme programming is a practical working principle that focuses on regular testing, a core feature of agile.

5. Lean development

Lean programming is another agile principle that strips software development down to its basics. Teams focus on features, testing, and behaviours to achieve the specified goals.

Adopt agile for your software projects

The tools of agile project management could empower development teams for only surmounting the complex challenges of the software-development environment but also achieving great product quality and customer satisfaction.

ALC Training is a leading national provider of Agile Training courses. Sign up to our AgilePM® Foundation / Practitioner Course and you can master the Methodology of Agile Project Management. Or sign up to our Professional Scrum Master Course and become an expert in Agile Product Delivery.

How To Select A Cloud Adoption Roadmap in 10 Steps

Many CIOs, CTOs and business leaders are all working through their cloud strategies. Most large companies in Australia have adopted a hybrid cloud approach, using both private and public cloud services. In this blog, I’ll  outline 10 critical steps on how you can create a cloud adoption roadmap and then align this roadmap to your current execution path.

A cloud adoption roadmap is a really important tool, as it serves to visualise and communicate your plans to all key stakeholders in your organisation. The important part of the roadmap is to ensure you have a clear 1 page visual outlining the key milestones and decisions points, backed up by clear definitions behind the roadmap of what each component on the roadmap means. My suggestion is to use a modelling tool to create your roadmap and my top pick is the Abacus tool from Avolution.

Before we delve any deeper into our cloud adoption roadmap, let’s be clear on some basic terminology, to ensure we’re all on the same page:

Software as a Service (SaaS)

These are services that end-users consume. Examples include: Social Media Tools, Salesforce, Office 365 and Xero. The apps that you download to your mobile phone are predominantly SaaS.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

These are services that developers consume to create SaaS products.  Examples include: Development Tools, Testing Tools and Datastores.  Apps that you download to your PC or laptop at home to allow you to write code, test code and setup datastores in the cloud are all examples of PaaS.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

These are services that operations teams will build, test and commission to support developers, who consume PaaS and end-users, who consume SaaS on the PaaS, or SaaS via a 3rd party.  IaaS can be virtual machines, networking or basic storage.

If you’re interested in digging deeper in cloud definitions, there is a simple whitepaper that the National Institute for Standards and Technology have produced. It covers everything in 3 pages.

I’ve also created a simple reference model below:

 

DevOps

This is cultural change centred around ensuring that the developers (working on PaaS) are collaborating and communicating effectively with the operations teams (working on IaaS). This is important to create secure, reliable and engaging SaaS apps.

The DevOps Institute have a great video on DevOps that can teach you more. 

Or you can read my further thoughts here.  

Hybrid Cloud

 

All organisations I have worked with in Australia, that have more than 100 employees will have a combination of private and public clouds in their environment. This is the definition of hybrid cloud. Probably 99% will have an on-premise (or 3rd party hosted) private cloud for Active Directory and using public cloud for Office 365 with Azure Active Directory. The 1% is a single instance of G Suite I have come across. 

Great video on hybrid cloud here:

10 steps to set up a cloud adoption roadmap

Now that we have defined these terms, we can take a look at our Cloud Adoption Roadmap and our 10 steps:

  1. Perform a current state architecture analysis to understand how each department / business area is already adopting SaaS apps in your organisation.
  2. Understand the needs each department / business currently has and develop a feature-centric SaaS cloud adoption roadmap to cover the next 12 months.
  3. Communicate and seek feedback with the key stakeholders regularly, to guide your cloud adoption roadmap, particularly as the business investigates and pilots new SaaS apps and develops new business capabilities.
  4. Define a clear strategy at the CTO / CIO level as to whether you are going to adopt PaaS and/or IaaS services, or simply remain with SaaS-only services.
  5. Ensure your IaaS / PaaS strategy includes key business drivers and evidence of business need.
  6. Feed in your IaaS and PaaS strategy into the cloud adoption roadmap and socialise with key stakeholders.
  7. Based on business situational awareness and factors that are important to the key stakeholders, embark on a short IaaS / PaaS cloud service provider shortlist selection.
  8. Once the IaaS / PaaS shortlist is down to say 2-3 candidates run a proof of concept for each cloud service provider to determine the value, test your hypothesis on how you may transform your legacy IT and seek input from key stakeholders.
  9. Extend the IaaS / PaaS proof of concept to a pilot with a single cloud service provider, to further strengthen the more complex hyposthesis you’ve made with your current legacy IT investments.
  10. Extend your cloud adoption roadmap to include how you will transition your current private cloud and/or legacy IT investments to IaaS, PaaS and SaaS services, being cognisant that this may be a 2-5 year journey.

I recommend using the Lean UX method for testing out your hypothesis when validating your cloud adoption plan.  This can be found in the Scaled Agile Framework.

 

You can learn more about Scaled Agile on my own blog. 

If you’re interested in learning more, I offer a range of Cloud, DevOps and Scaled Agile courses at ALC Training:

Online Voting – Why are we so afraid?

We live and breathe in a world that is a bizarre dichotomy.

On one hand, we want anonymity and privacy, on the other, many people pump full details of their private lives into social media and online services, happily enrolling personal questions such as mother’s maiden name, favourite colour, first pet, streets names, and so on; site after site after site. These are mostly in the hands of private enterprise, and we happily and blindly use these online services, placing trust in the hands of a third-party to get it right.

And so it is, that there is an apparent distrust when we come to think of electronic voting, because these are in the hands of the government. Claims abound of errors, outcomes being rigged or platforms being hacked. These are all valid concerns, and let’s face it, can happen.

On the path of being honest, in the physical world, I can be also coerced into voting through bribes or incentives; papers can go missing; votes can be added up incorrectly because the process is manual, I can be threatened in some parts of the world just because of who I am, who I want to vote for or perhaps because of my gender. Some of this happened in our most recent elections here in Australia; not too sure about the bribes though – my bank account remains incredibly thin.

I have had the benefit of working on one of the world’s largest electronic voting systems, consulting to the Electoral Commission of NSW in Sydney, Australia. At the time, late 2013, we were asking, why would anyone be interested in swaying the outcome of an election using electronic or any other means? Fast forward to 2016, and we had our answer – Donald vs Hillary. The Medicare scare by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) on the morning of the federal election in 2016. They term is being labelled cyber tampering.

However, it wasn’t any electronic voting platform to blame. In the first instance, it was social media (Facebook) being used to leverage data mined from potential voters (Cambridge Analytica) who would ultimately show up in their masses to vote for the Don. In the second instance, it had enough of a disruptive impact to sway voters in Australia to move their vote away from the Liberal National Party (LNP). Sure, the ALP was fined, but did the level of the fine send the right message? Did anyone go to gaol?

Voters complain in Australia how long it takes to produce an outcome for the federal election, or even state elections. How can we solve the problem? We are smart people, aren’t we? Secure software development. Dedicated voting systems. Apps for mobile devices. Good Governance. The ability to tabulate results in the blink of an eye.

Can a vote in the electronic world be discounted just like a vote in the physical world? Yes it can, and the electoral commission knows this. Ever put “Jon Snow – King of the North” on your ballot paper in the House of Representatives? If so, your vote is not legal. Ever written a kebab menu on your Senate ballot paper? If yes, then provided you filled out the rest of the form correctly, your vote still counted. Ever done a donkey vote? 1234567 or 7654321? Your vote still counts, but it is an “I don’t care” vote.

In many ways, good governance and a well-developed secure software development lifecycle with well-tested, reusable code would steer voters into not spoiling ballot papers.

Now I hear you cry, but it is my democratic right to show up and vote for Jon Snow or order a kebab. I hear you. And we need to include an option for “I showed up because we have mandatory voting but I am selecting the DO NOT CARE” option. Or just use 1234567.

We have to get over our phobias in order to transcend and embrace the inevitable of electronic voting. It is not a matter of if, but when it will happen. I am a big proponent of it happening here in Australia, and just like we showed the world when it came to WiFi, the Lawnmower and bionic hearing, I am sure we here in Australia can be world thought leaders to make a secure, online voting system.

Employee engagement still out of reach for many companies

While many people sing the praises and benefits of employee engagement, reports have shown that some businesses are falling behind when it comes to holding the hearts and minds of their workers. 

Temkin Group performed analysis on over 100 large companies and placed each in one of five tiers based on how developed their employee engagement was. Only 3 per cent of the companies had the highest classing of “maximising”. The next stage down (“enhancing”) was home to 16 per cent of businesses analysed. 

Engaged workers were 2.5 times more likely to stay late at work to finish tasks.

The most common classification was “neglecting”, the second rung on the employee engagement ladder, earned by 37 per cent of the companies studied. In the bottom-most rung, there was an equal number of companies compared to the top two categories combined (19 per cent). A quarter of organisations occupied the middle ground of “maintaining”. 

In previous studies, Temkin had suggested that engagement was a worthy endeavour that offered huge potential benefits. Engaged workers were 2.5 times more likely to stay late at work to finish tasks, more than two times more likely to demonstrate a helpful attitude to other employees and more than three times more likely to show altruistic behaviour towards their company.

In terms of financial performance, 75 per cent of firms with developed employee engagement outpaced their competitors, compared to just 50 per cent of companies with immature employee engagement. 

Are companies hitting the mark?

Despite the lip service that employee engagement sees, many companies are not putting their money where their mouth is. In a recent survey conducted by Changeboard, only 52 per cent of companies have a dedicated employee engagement plan in place.

Updated HR technology could help raise employee engagement levels.Updated HR technology could help raise employee engagement levels.

More concerning was the fact that five per cent of companies didn’t even have a department designated for this important factor. As a result of this lack of proactivity, 52 per cent of companies reported that were was stasis in the levels of employee engagement.

However, with a large number of companies planning to change their HR software this year, this may be the perfect time to re-evaluate employee engagement schemes that are aided by technology. 

Towers Watson surveyed nearly 800 participants in 37 countries and found that 30 per cent of companies plan to completely change their core HR systems. With appropriate IT project management training, many of these companies could integrate talent management solutions into their new systems and gain the benefits of employee engagement. 

Modern Social Media Platforms are the next generation of Television?

I’ve been drawn to becoming more skilful with social media platforms over the past 2 years. Mainly because I enjoy my social interactions online, but also because it gives me a unique window into the world we live in. 

So what do I mean when I say ‘unique window’? Well, we are living in an age that has been coined as ‘disruptive’.  A world where harnessing digital technologies is now giving smaller companies the leverage they need to compete with much larger competitors. This phenomenon is best known as Digital Disruption. Smaller companies that displace larger and older companies is nothing new. But what is new, is that our technology is very adaptable, very agile, changes frequently but more importantly provides scale over people.

The most potent example of this is social media, which continues to be a key influencer on customer decision making and brand awareness.

 

In the old days, if I were to start a small business, let’s say it is a martial arts school, I’d place a series of small adverts in the local paper. This would generate some initial interest and possibly generate 5 new members.  I would augment this with a targeted flyer drop, let all my friends in the area know about the club and invite them to spread the word. If I’m lucky, after a few months of hard work I may have a class of 10 people. I then need to find a way of regularly signing up new members to scale my business.

This used to be achieved mainly through local paper placements and by ensuring I listed my business under ‘Martial Arts’ in the Yellow Pages. I found these to be most effective in helping growing numbers, coupled with word of mouth.  The picture below, shows the Yellow Pages in action, prior to going online:

Today, things have changed dramatically.  Yellow Pages as a big, thick directory, has been replaced with Google, which in turn needs to link to a website and content showing my martial arts prowess.  I would also use Facebook to target my local people, as a replacement for the local newspaper and also ensure my profile is updated in LinkedIn.  Twitter is a great platform for spreading my name across a global landscape, where I would also target locals.  And then finally, I would need to target my established client base, through a series of newsletters sent via email, outlining the various activities they can do in the club.  Things like competition days, gradings and special events or seminars.  

But where is the next phase of social media marketing going….well I believe that social media platforms are already disrupting our traditional broadcasting channels.  First it was print, illustrated by the Yellow Pages directory and the local newspapers, now it’s television, illustrated by the rise of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Tomorrow, social media platforms are becoming channelised and highly interactive, offering a replacement for traditional television stations. We see this with YouTube channels, Twitter Lists / Periscope Video broadcasts and of course Facebook Live.  Just look at the growth of Amazon Prime in the US over the past few years:

“The 2017 Academy Aware ratings were the lowest in nine years at 32.9 million viewers, down 4.4 percent from last year. Even the Super Bowl didn’t break any records despite the fact that it had all of the makings of a ratings blockbuster.” 

Source: https://www.adweek.com/digital/kurt-abrahamson-sharethis-guest-post-social-media-is-the-new-television/

The business counter-action to this growing threat or disruption has been very slow…in fact it appears to have gone unnoticed by all the major television stations.  Government channels such as SBS and ABC are ahead, in that they don’t have adverts placements, they continually invest in securing great content, particularly in the areas of current affairs, technology, news and documentaries. Freeview is one of the the most visual examples of how the Australian market has reacted to this disruption:

https://www.freeview.com.au/freeviewfv/

Whereas the commercial channels such as ten, seven and nine seem to be putting on more adverts, which last longer and help turn off their customers, who in turn switch to channels, such as Netflix with zero adverts for a small fee.  I know…because I am one of them.  Here is a great diagram that illustrates the comparative reach costs between traditional and social media channels.  Remember this is reach, not actual engagement or lead generation, that’s a different story:

So what is the moral of this story…..well I’m seeing all these trends because of my use and consumption of social media.  The mainstream television stations say little about the latest disruptive technologies, such as distributed ledgers (#Blockchain), Artificial Intelligence (#AI) and social media advertising.  Instead I’m seeing this awareness and coverage expand across many social media players.  Mainly because I can choose how I interact with the services, but also because I can filter the services in any way I wish.  

It will be interesting see the first casualty in this disruptive war…any bets on which channel may go out of business first?

Australia’s TV ‘Channel 10’ share price over the past 5 years….