I am Charlie Bess an HP Fellow that currently works out of the HP labs organization in the services and solutions lab. I have little over 30 years working in the applications development and maintenance area with a significant portion of that dealing with the technical leadership issues associated with Enterprise and application transformation.I’ve also spent quite a bit of time dealing with Cloud related issues even before it was called cloud.Feel free to ask questions at any time…
talk through a few areas starting with an introduction tochanges underway in the technical and the business world and why planning for those changes can be so critical to the success of organizations today.
If you’ve been in many presentations this year at HP Discover you’ve probably seen this slide -- showing how technology has shifted since the dawn of the Information Technology. These changes are not likely to slow down because it is all fueled by exponential technology growth. The best illustration that I can give you of what ahead is an little story that Ray Kurswellused in his book called the Singularity is Near.It is about the unimaginable change that is possible when driven by exponential growth. The story starts with the man who invented chess. When he showed it to the king of India the game, the king was so entertained and excited by the game that he told the man he’d give him anything he asked for – within reason. The man made what appeared to be a simple request. I ask that every year for the next 64 years (the number of squares on a chess board) for a few grains of rice in the following manner: the king was to put a single grain of rice on the first chess square and double it on every consequent one each year.The king quickly agreed.The first year the inventor received 1 grain, the second 2, the third 4… It doesn’t get interesting until you cross over into the 2nd half of the board. On the 23rd square we are talking about 8M grains. A still reasonable amount of rice, that is possible to be delivered by a small field. The next square when crossing over to the 2nd half, the king finally took notice, because now it would be impacting his grain inventory. The king realized by the time they would have reached the end of the board, it would have required enough rice to cover all of India one meter thick with Rice. he’d been had and the inventors head was soon cut offand the rice deliveries were no longer a problem.I bring this up because all these exponential trends that we’ve been taking advantage of in IT like Moore’s law, Edholm’s law etc. Are now reaching into the 2nd half of the board. Now we’re the ones who need to understand and take advantage of the change since it is quite different than what we’ve seen to date.How many of you have already felt the constraints of your own thinking getting in the way of technology adoption? I know I for one need to take a step back every once in a while and say “what does this really mean?” And ask myself What can be done with this abundance of capability that has never done before?We are entering into a different world where there is an abundance of data – with all the sensors and mobile devices… We don’t worry as much about if the data is available, but more about what we can do with it.We don’t worry as much about if we can transport the data to the processing location. The networking is typically there, although it may still cost more than we wish.With cloud the computing is definitely there as cloud comes into fruition.And our access to intellectual property is more than we’ve ever seen before – I’ve got an app for that.Yet for most of us all our systems were designed with a very constrained view of the world. They were based on scarcity of data, computing… and it is time to take a step back and really look.
In addition to all that exponential technical change I just mentioned, business expectations are shifting as well. We’re moving from a traditional structured view of applicationsto one that supports the aggregated, untethered ecosystem that we call an enterprise today,where numerous conflicts need to be resolved.Organizations want to be:Standardized -> customizableMobile -> powerfulLow cost -> high qualitySecure -> collaborativeOrganizations want services anywhere they can be used. So system requirements can’t constrain the enterprise the way they used to.Innovation is the answer to these kinds of conflicts. Our applications need to be flexible and yet affordable. With about 80% of most organization’s budgets locked up keeping the lights on, something will need to change and talking through that issue is what the rest of this presentation is about.
When I talked about cloud computing and specifically converged cloud -- HP’s approach, I always mention is that HP focus in the cloud space is about enabling choice. It is not about making choices for you, but giving you the tools and support you need to make the choices right for you.One of the first things we need to do to overcome the conflict I just mentioned on the previous slide is to realize that we’re moving to an “and” world, not an “or” world. People want to choose among things, not between things.This means that in this services anywhere world there is no “one right answer”.And IT organization need to <READ THE SLIDE>Cloud solutions are not about applications in isolation – those days are over. One of the key issues will be integration. Knowing that there is a system of record for a piece of data and ensuring that all the solutions that need that information have the right version of it for their needs.So architecture and governance become more important in the cloud than ever before – although they may be different thanhow they were performed in the past..
Although the journey may be different for everyone, there are some expectations that will be the same. HP’s view is that organizations will still require:Well defined Common ArchitectureConverged Management & SecurityFlexibility & Portability solutions enabled though the use of Open & Standards Based approachesSupport for mobile based interfacesI just got through completing an article for Cutter (an industry analyst group) about how BYOD is not about devices. It is more about HR policies, security issues and data management as well as the applications that deliver the value. The device is actually secondary, since it is the data we’re trying to protect, not the devices.All this is going to require a hybrid approach for delivery, since there are many ways that computational capability can be delivered. Different parts of the work that needs to be done will be completed using a variety of techniques. However one thing that is clear – if the data integration for the organization needs to take place in the mind of the user – we’ve failed.Users demand more intuitive interfaces on devices that they can use. After all the computer that most of us have with us all the time, is our mobile device. This needs to be the target for cloud deployment. In order to effectively generate that value, the user needs to have access wherever and whenever they need it.
Earlier I mentioned the world of abundance that IT organizations currently have. With all that abundance some things will still be scarce, like the human attention span.Or good questions that challenge the existing environment… and make you think.<READ THE SLIDE>I’ve got a question for you – Raise your hand if you think your application portfolio is meeting the business needs today?Keep it raised if you think the current solutions will address the needs 5 years out? 10?For those of you with your hands still raised you either are working in a very stable business environment, or you should be up here talking. We all probably Know there is a great deal of opportunity for improvement.
Now I’d like to move beyond the view of the future into some of the things HP can do to help you.
HP’s Application Transformation offering is a full lifecycle solution, from analysis -> the modernization and implementation of applications on cloud infrastructure -> approaches to help manage them once in production.It is comprised of 3 core units of work:1.) Assessmentis the start and this is a critical step since we firmly believe that not all applications should be moved to the cloud. Applications whose demand is highly dynamic or that can take advantage of the parallel nature of cloud computing are ideal candidates but that is probably not your entire portfolio. This is a collaborative process where the business and IT come together to reach a common understanding of what will work best.2.) Once we have the applications profile data from the assessment process and the Cloud Advisory tool, we can now identify the target architecture for the applications portfolioand the transformation plans needed to get them there. In this step, we assist organizations in addressing questions like:What type of platform should I migrate to? (ECS, HP Cloud System, other external providers?)How do I make applications ready for the cloud?How do I integrate applications in the cloud with my other applications?As I mentioned standalone application are long gone, so this integration strategy effort will provide greater flexibility down the road.3) Once we have a plan, the actual modernization and migration efforts can start in a way that can be governed effectively.
I’d now like to go a level deeper into each of these steps.Many times an interaction will start with HP Cloud Planning Services. These are short, facilitated sessions where HP consultants lead organizations through a proven process to determine the goals of the modernization effort.You can see the approach and have someone walk you through it in the discover area.These goals will help prioritize where modernization efforts will be applied and how success will be measured.Next we’ll talk about is the assessing your IT…
A question in everyone’s mind is how do you decide where modernization efforts should start:Business Value generated per maintenance $$ consumed?Value per watt?Intuition?For the assessment of the portfolio, HP has a software product specifically focused on Application Portfolio Management that creates a comprehensive view of the portfolioHP Enterprise services has a modernization consulting offering that uses this tool to provide work products that explain what and why changes should take place. Some of which are shown on this slide. If specific applications are identified as too complex & expensive to maintain then HP SW’s Visual Intelligence Tools can ‘X-ray’ an application to identify the internal structures & hence the potential reasons for the application’s size and complexity.
The assessment phase also enables organizations to assess and understand sourcing options and how cloud solutions fit into their plans, helping them to:Manage risk with safe and non-disruptive approach to assessing and transforming applications.Increase speed to market with a plan built to drive the optimal benefit to the enterprise (i.e. selectively targeting apps which will drive the most business value).Increase responsivenessto enterprise priorities and changing demands of customers and constituents by matching service requirements to sources.Especially in cases where there are redundant systems, supporting the same value stream within an organization, this kind of alignment analysis can make it very clear where further effort is required.
The final output of the assessment phase is a Report that will contain guidance and help established the ‘Next Steps’ leading into the further phases of the effort.The report will also define a foundation for the business case to move forward.
The next phase is to dive right into the modernization effort. It can draw upon almost every business unit of HP, if needed
Since very few organizations can lift and replace their entire IT infrastructure, a triage approach is required to identify low hanging fruit to be addressed. Addressing situations like:too many appsduplicates appsExcessively expensive appsthose not aligned to a current business processIn most cases the bootstrapping of a modernization effort can be funded by cleaning out the deadwood – as long as the $$ saved is reinvested in the modernization effort.For larger organizations there can be quite a savings by just consolidating the development and tests environments since rarely are they all needed at the same resource level at the same time. Other delivery models may also help shift some of the capital spend into more flexible financial arrangements.Finally, real effort, needs to be applied to determine where mobile techniques are required – I’ve already mentioned that phones are the computer we have with us all the time. It is becoming the de-facto delivery channel going forward.
This modernization phase is where organizations need to decide what they want to:KeepChangeOr retireFortunately, with all the detail provided in the assessment phase this should be straightforward.One area that is often overlooked though is that when you retire applications, they are typically systems of record where the data history of the businessis kept.legislation may govern the timescale that the data has to be retained. We have people who can help with these needs as well.
Not all applications will require change, but for those that do…Our approach classifies applications into 4 domains for architecture life-cycle planning – that’s assuming something needs to be done:Re-Host: This is the most non-invasive approach and is for the most part a lift and shift. Migrating the application as—is over to a new infrastructure that would continue to be managed in a traditional fashion.Replace: With some applications it may not make sense to continue maintaining them. Alternative replacement or consolidation strategies may be possible. For example – if our client has a custom (or definitely if it has many) CRM application, it may make more sense to replace this with a cloud based CRM cloud offering. Such alternatives may provide more features and benefits at a more competitive total price.Integrate: The integration of off-premise cloud applications is frequently identified in analyst reports as a barrier to cloud adoption. For this reason, our approach may include the use of an enterprise integration platform enabled via an enterprise service bus, or it may require the wrapping of existing legacy applications to expose them as web based services. This domain would leverage our SOA and Integration Services.Re-Architect / Re-Factor: These two options are the most intrusive, but may be required for applications written in a legacy language (COBOL, IMS, PL/1, etc.). I’ll talk about it more on the next slide.
If your applications have been around for a while, they were likely hand-crafted and may even be on unsupported operating systems. They have probably built up layer upon layer of changes making them fragile and hard to understand. Refactoring or re-architecting may be required and HP software has a number of tools to help filter out the business rulesas well as propose improvements to reduce the size & simplify the programming structures. Even if the system remain in place, this effort can significantly lower the maintenance cost.These are all options to be considered in a modernization effort.
So we now have a plan of how to tackle the application portfolio and its underlying infrastructure. We’ve probably already done some work to improve the environment, but now it is time to tackle the on-going operational issues of the organization.
Many of the best practices in industry today can be quite different than the development and management environments of the past. The formation flying that is implied with Service Oriented Architectures or the rapid turnaround of agile development can leave organizations used to traditional processes in a state of confusion.More than just the application portfolio and the underlying infrastructure need to be assessed. The whole approach to Application Lifecycle Management needs to be evaluated and agreed upon. Fortunately, there are tools and techniques to help make this happen.
Looking at the application portfolio and its management from a holistic perspective can have significant long term effects.These numbers are representative of those delivered when the management processes used in a traditional business environment are modernized.
It is clear that application management and the relationship with service providers is undergoing significant change. As a more service oriented approach develops the whole concept of end-to-end management should increase in importance to organizations. In some ways this flies in the face of the IaaS cloud trend, since those offerings focus on providing commodity computing cycles without regard for how the value is generated and services integrated. There are many situations where a low cost solution can be ideal, but many more where this can be a problem. It will be interesting to see how this is valued by the market over the long haul. A provider or 3rd party management approach needs to become a core competency going forward.
Some areas that are becoming important are an enterprise consistent approach to having:A Service catalog – Especially as mobile employees need to know what corporate applications are available, but also at a different level for developers that need to knit together systems of engagement from the various services within the enterprise.Having the visibility into how things are running and how much they are cost based on the configuration of the day will increase in importance. We are no longer talking about static infrastructure but a more dynamic environment that adjusts to business needs. Management in this new environment needs tools to enable greater transparency and visibility than what current solutions provide.As part of converged cloud, HP is trying to ensure that these tools work across suppliers and deployment types.
So now to sum it all up…
Architecture issues are more important in today’s cloud oriented environments than they have ever been. This demand is driven by the changing, interconnected nature of both the business and the underlying systems that enable the business.
If you plan to go to the cloud, HP has the tools to enable you to decide for yourself, or (if you’d like) the processes to help out if a consultative approach is desired.If applications need to be reengineered or migrated, HP ES has offerings to assist with that as well.There is not one right answer for everyone, so having a documented process to work through these issues can be beneficial.
HP has workshops and training to make it clear in your mind what you should do.The important thing is to start down this process. Old applications don’t age well, so it is not something you can ignore. You might as well get started.
It is a journey and knowing where you are is the first step to heading down the path: Getting a grip with the application portfolio is a must for businesses For many there are options to start saving money now– no change to the business code may be required to exploit the advances in infrastructure technology App Modernization can further focus your spending on areas that maximize business value generation and for those trying to develop a strategy for Cloud & Mobility – we can help out with that as well.
Choice through an open, standards-based approach supporting multiple hypervisors, operating systems, development environments, heterogeneous infrastructure and an extensible partner ecosystemConfidence through a management and security offering that spans information, applications and infrastructureConsistency through a single common architecture, portability across deployment models, and one simple consumption experience.
Slide objective: Highlight the key points of the Italian Ministry win from the customers point of viewMajor messages: Business driven due to change in operational process & structure – de-centalization Need to lower costs & offer new services to over 70,000 users Project completed on-time & on-budget ROI achieved in 18 months Savings will continue for many years ahead Reduction of maintenance spend allows for reinvestment into new projects – driving Innovation 38% reduction in application development costs 12 million euros will be saved in 3 years from migrating from the mainframe & associated software licensesKey takeaway: A clear demonstration of attacking the cost of doing nothing by the reduction of maintenance spend whilst driving innovation
Why are we uniquely positioned to win with HP Converged Cloud:We have the industry’s most complete portfolio with best in class technology and integrated solutions. We are #1 or #2 in all markets.HP Converged Cloud is the industry’s first hybrid delivery approach and portfolio based on a common architecture spanning traditional IT, private, managed and public clouds. Engineered for the enterprise, HP’s Converged Cloud extends the power of the cloud across infrastructure, applications and information.We’re bringing an open and extensible architecture…that enables flexibility and portability across deployment models. We provide un-matched heterogeneous support and choice: multiple hypervisors, multiple operating systems, multiple development environments, and multi-vendor infrastructure. And we’ve built the Converged Cloud architecture with partners in mind..allowing us to leverage an already second to none partner ecosystem and deliver the broadest set of solutions in the industry.Our culture is all about collaboration and partnering…..our ISVs, SI, outsourcers, VARs and Service Providers will all play a key role in this emerging market….and we will embrace them all with the Converged Cloud. We also provide customers with a single point of accountability for the spectrum of solutions – versus partnerships that drive complexity and cost up.And finally, as the largest IT vendor on the planet, our experience brings learning from thousands of customer engagements….these customer interactions have helped us create and shape our strategy….and focus our efforts on delivering innovation and value. We will also take our experience in operating large scale cloud environments (e.g. Snapfish, Autonomy) – and transfer this knowledge to our customers; helping them manage, secure and scale with industry best practices.