Predictive Analytics

#analytics

I came across this article from Raj Nathan and Joydeep Das which gives a good overview into the world of Predictive Analytics and how it is becoming a game changer for many organisations and industries.

From the article:

...It is, however, an advanced analytics activity that differs from conventional analytics and BI activities in that it focuses not on what happened or how it happened, but what might happen or could happen. It's not simply about uncovering insights, but gaining foresight.

In short, predictive analytics is primarily about examining data through a future-facing lens in order to predict future trends, behavior patterns, external forces and other factors that will determine future business results. It is a natural extension of many analytic capabilities we now have, all of which are ultimately intended to help us design innovative business strategies that will lead to improvements in all the key metrics - revenue, profitability, customer retention, market share, etc. - that define success.

Also check out our ZT.Analytics page.

Kevin
ZeroTouch

The Cloud and Vendor Relationship Management

#cloudcomputing

In a previous post from Nov 2009 (The Big Rethink) I expanded on a post from James Urquhart about the effect Cloud Computing will have on IT. In that post I mentioned several areas in particular which I believe will be impacted. One is:

How Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) will become a key discipline in IT organisations...

I came across this document [PDF] from 2000 by Eric Clemons and Elizabeth Gray which discussed the role of shared history and the value of return on trust in relation to Vendor Relationship Management. It's worth a read if you get some time.

To paraphrase some of the key points I took from it in relation to VRM:

A 3rd party relationship management / outsourcing program should consider at a minimum the following:

• Creating and retaining economic value over time while
• Controlling exposure and strategic risks.

Setting strategy for outsourcing is principally a leadership issue, not a technical issue. Managing sourcing is principally about setting a strategy, based on economic objectives, communicating those objectives within and between firms, and managing expectations if the high economic stakes cause communications to break down. Successfully managing expectations and maintaining effective communications leads to trust, which produces great and measurable economic benefits in strategic sourcing relationships.

For companies considering the use of Cloud Computing and/or SaaS (Software as a Service) they need to view their evolving IT environment like an Eco-system consisting of both in-house resources and external suppliers working together in harmony to create the best IT environment for the organisation. With that in mind they should consider the following around managing vendors -- I came across a version of these a number of years back (can't remember where) and adapted and enhanced them over time based on my own experiences.

Establishing relationships with vendors and making sure they are good relationships:

• Establishing and maintaining good vendor relationships takes time but helps mitigate many of the risks associated with integrating products or services
  
• Strive to establish a relationship built on mutual trust, which is not without cost, but the derived benefits can more than justify the cost
  
• The better the relationship, the better chance to influence the vendor product roadmaps or get them to work harder to deliver the services required
  

Motivation of vendors:

• Vendor relationships vary depending on the presence the vendor has in the market, the maturity of the vendor's product, how large a part you are of their customer base, and the importance of their product or service to you
  
• Strive to find out what motivates your vendors

The challenges around establishing and maintaining good vendor relationships:

• Vendors whose products work together today may become competitors in the future as they add features to their products or new products into their portfolio. Other customers who are willing to pay for changes (and who may not share your needs) may drive product evolution in a direction contrary to your best interests
  
• You must stay on top of the dynamics in the marketplace

This isn't a comprehensive vendor relationship strategy by any stretch of the imagination but it will get you started and thinking in a way that most IT organisations don't - but should.

Kevin
ZeroTouch IT

Where do you start with Analytics?

#analytics

Interesting question. Came across this post (from James Taylor) which gives a pretty good answer.

Quote:

With analytics – executable analytics, business analytics, predictive analytics or any other kind of analytics – begin with the decision in mind. Figure out what it is you are trying to do, which decision you are trying to improve and work into your analytics and data from there. Be driven by your business needs, not by the data you have. You may find that you don’t need to integrate this data source or clean that one to improve the decisions that drive your business. You may find that you don’t even own the data you need and will need to go shopping for it. But if you don’t start with the end in mind, you will never know.

Kevin
ZeroTouch

Cloud Computing Economics

#cloudcomputing

For anybody interested in the economics of Cloud Computing compared to traditional IT infrastructure environments you should check out this site from Amazon Web Services. Of course, it is biased to the AWS environment but still makes a strong point about how Cloud environments compare to traditional IT environments. This will be similar with all Cloud infrastructure providers (plus or minus a few $). GoGrid have a similar(ish) page around cloud scalability.

Kevin
ZeroTouch IT Ltd

A new kind of platform

#cloudcomputing

Redefining Software Platforms - How PaaS changes the games for software vendors. This is the title of an interesting report sponsored by Intuit published back in Oct '09 which is definitely worth a read.

From the report:

The rise of software as a service over the past decade has opened up new opportunities for independent software vendors to develop new applications hosted and delivered via the Web. But until recently, any ISV creating a SaaS offering has had to build its own hosting and service delivery infrastructure. That has all changed in the past two years with the rise of platform-as-a-service. PaaS is the online equivalent of conventional computing platforms, providing a ready-made infrastructure on which an ISV can rapidly build and deliver a SaaS application.

While many ISVs are understandably wary of binding their fate to that of an emerging platform provider, those who have stepped forward to become early adopters of PaaS have experienced dramatic reductions in development costs and timescales. By lowering barriers to entry and foreshortening time-to-market, PaaS supercharges SaaS, accelerating the pace of innovation and intensifying competition.

The advent of PaaS will change the game for ISVs – not only those who choose to introduce SaaS offerings, but also those who remain wedded to conventionally licensed, customer-operated software products.

The emphasis above is mine because this is a very powerful and important statement and should be heeded by all software vendors. Read the report if you get some time.

Kevin
ZeroTouch IT Ltd

The Big Rethink

Cloud Computing creates a fundamental paradigm shift for all actors in the technology business: buyers, software companies, service providers, infrastructure providers etc.

James Urquhart wrote an interesting series of articles recently on how the technologies encapsulated as Cloud Computing "...are enabling IT professionals to rethink the packaging, delivery, and operation of software functionality in extremely disruptive--and beneficial--ways". Read it here.

However, I like his 5th article in this series the best because it looks to the future - always my favorite topic! He considers several areas which are likely to significantly change. This includes:

1. How software is packaged...
2. How Enterprise IT will begin to bend technical architectures to align better with the cloud...
3. How new organizational structures will need to emerge within the IT department...
4. How the changing landscape of software development platforms will result in new philosophies of software architecture, deployment, and operations...
5. How the need for tactical systems administrators will be reduced...

Read the whole series if you get a chance.

I also want to add a few areas I believe will be severely impacted:

1. How IT Services companies need to evolve to embrace the Cloud...
2. How software companies need to turn themselves into services companies...
3. How IT management tools should change to allow for a holistic view of IT (internal and Cloud)...
   
4. How Vendor Relationship Management will become a key discipline in IT organisations...

I will discuss these areas in more detail in upcoming posts.

Kevin
ZeroTouch IT Ltd

Great Service is Hard

One of the hardest things a business can do is provide great service. For software companies moving into providing services in the Cloud, this is a big paradigm shift. It's not good enough any more to just throw out a new version of your product a couple of times a year. Now you have to engage in continuous improvement and engagement with your customers. That's not easy, especially if you haven't ever provided Services like this before.

Seth Godin has another great post on some of the balance required to provide great services. Read it here.

On a separate point, I don't really like the term SaaS (Software as a Service) for the simple reason that it should be less about the software / technology and more about the services. I would like to see this acronym fade over time and get replaced simply with Services. That's what it's really all about for customers.

Kevin
ZeroTouch IT