28 May - 3 June 2013 | ComputerWeekly.com
Home
News
Indian IT services companies must evolve to prosper
Blackberry takes messaging cross-platform
Eurac mixes ERP and BI for more agile reporting
Lotus F1 team stays ahead with data analytics
editor’s comment MoD gets agile Opinion How agile development is helping to deliver complex military software in the battlefield
Buyer’s Guide to mobile device management
It Innovation challenges in the financial sector
MOD uses agile for lifesaving combat IT system
Downtime
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 1 the week in it
Home Virtualisation software Innovation, research & development Citrix adds mobile functionality to push Start-up competition launches to News into smartphones and tablets attract technology firms to London Mobility has been touted as the key The Million Pound Startup competition Indian IT services theme at this year’s Citrix Synergy confer- – a global competition companies must ence, with Citrix announcing a number of to bring high-growth access the latest evolve to prosper it news via rss feed products and updates to push its offerings technology companies onto tablets and smartphones. “I don’t to London’s Tech City Blackberry takes have to spend a lot of time telling you – launched last week. The winner will messaging cross-platform how important this topic is,” said Mark receive £1m equity investment to build its Templeton, CEO of Citrix. company in London.
Eurac mixes ERP PC hardware Outsourcing and BI for more agile reporting Lenovo revenues increase Atos fights off HP and Capita to 15% amid PC market crash retain NS&I IT outsourcing contract PC manufacturer Lenovo has increased Treasury-backed National Savings and Lotus F1 team stays ahead with its sales as competitors suffer in the PC Investments (NS&I) has awarded Atos a data analytics market slump. It reported worldwide sales seven-year IT outsourcing contract, with of $34bn in its fiscal year ending March plans to increase digital services to cut 2013, up 15% year-on-year with a 15.5% £400m costs. The services contract was editor’s comment share of the PC market. It made a pre-tax originally awarded in 1999 to Siemens income of $801m. This equated to earn- IT Solutions and Services, which Atos ings of $635m, a rise of 34%. acquired in 2010. Opinion Mobile networking Education & training Buyer’s Guide O2 questions CWU redundancy claims John Lewis launches technology to mobile device management as union threatens industrial action apprenticeship training programme O2 has questioned a claim made by the John Lewis is to launch a technology Communication Workers Union (CWU) apprenticeship programme. Apprentices It Innovation that there will be 600 redundancies as on the scheme will be based in John challenges in the financial sector a result of O2’s customer services out- Lewis’s head office and will work with sourcing deal with Capita. The CWU had the retailer’s IT teams. The training reported that up to 600 O2 staff would programme will last for 18 months and MOD uses agile for lifesaving be made redundant while over 3,000 will is supported by training provider QA combat IT system transfer to Capita. Apprenticeships. n
Downtime Insurance firms’ Computer services spending
£14,000 General insurance £12,000 All UK organisations £10,000
£8,000
£6,000
£4,000
£2,000 Services spending per employee
1-9 10-49 50-99 100-999 1000+ Number of employees Source: Kew Associates
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 2 the week in it
Home Government & public sector Government & public sector Government hands Whitehall service Government spends £260m on News design manual for digital services e-prescribing to improve accuracy The government has released a design The government is to spend £260m on Indian IT services manual for CTOs redesigning Whitehall e-prescribing, as part of its plans to make companies must digital services, as contracts with existing the NHS paperless. The evolve to prosper system integrators begin to expire from funds will be used to access the latest it news via rss feed 2014. The Government Service Design increase the use of tech- Blackberry takes Manual has mapped Whitehall technology nology to stop drugs messaging cross-platform into four areas: mission IT systems, digital being prescribed incorrectly in hospitals, public services, infrastructure and after 11 people died last year as a result of back-office functions. incorrect prescriptions. Eurac mixes ERP and BI for more agile reporting E-commerce technology Cloud computing services Economic future depends on e-ID, Publisher Pearson integrates Google claims Security Identity Alliance Enterprise and Office 365 Lotus F1 team stays ahead with The digital economies of Europe could Publisher Pearson, which owns the data analytics comprise 28% of their countries’ GDP by Financial Times, book publisher Penguin 2020, but that depends on electronic and Pearson Education, has introduced identities, according to the Secure Identity cloud-based collaboration using Google editor’s comment Alliance (SIA). “Trust has to be estab- and Microsoft products. The cloud- lished, but that relies on how electronic based IT platform uses a charge-back identities are managed,” said Frederic system to provide desktop IT software Opinion Trojani, chairman of the SIA. for 45,000 employees.
Buyer’s Guide Server hardware Cloud computing services to mobile device management Moonshot fails to lift HP’s server UCL turns to private cloud in a bid to business as revenues slump 12% solve its research data storage woes HP’s plans to use the low-powered University College London (UCL) is build- It Innovation Moonshot servers to rekindle its ailing ing a storage infrastructure on the cloud challenges in the financial sector commodity server business has yet to that will scale up to 100PB to overcome deliver meaningful benefits. In the com- storage problems around research data. pany’s second quarter financial results, The growing demand from its 3,000 MOD uses agile for lifesaving revenue in its commodity server business researchers for more storage infrastruc- combat IT system was 12% lower than the same period last ture, combined with moves towards year, while its Itanium business-critical increased collaboration, have triggered n Downtime systems revenue was down 37%. the organisation’s move to the cloud.
Formula 1 turns to data analytics
The McLaren Group has turned to high speed data analytics as it seeks a competitive edge for its F1 business. Stuart Birrell, CIO of McLaren, said the racing team’s engineers are beginning to use SAP’s in-memory database HANA. “We are still in test mode, but seeking to give the engineers access to a wide range of data that it has taken time to get to before; that is, not quickly enough.” Read our interview with Lotus F1 CIO on page 11
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 3 analysis
Home
News Indian IT services firms /T hinkstock
Indian IT services must evolve to prosper companies must evolve to prosper istockphoto
Blackberry takes messaging cross-platform
Eurac mixes ERP and BI for more agile reporting
Lotus F1 team stays ahead with data analytics Indian outsourcers face the challenge of
editor’s reshaping their businesses for continued growth comment in a maturing market. Karl Flinders reports
Opinion ndian IT services firms need to reshape rapidly. According to ISG, between 2005 and Buyer’s Guide their businesses if they are to continue 2008, Western suppliers’ revenues grew at a to mobile device to grow at the rates experienced over 7% combined annual growth rate, compared management I the past decade, as traditional markets and with a rate of 32% for India-heritage provid- service offerings reach maturity. ers. But since the recession began in 2008, It Innovation Research from ISG reveals that Indian IT annual revenue growth for Western firms challenges in the financial sector service providers have increased their global has been 0.4% and Indian firms have experi- market share by 13% over the past 10 years, enced half the growth rate, at 16%. ISG said compared with a decline of 7% for their mul- this is the result of a maturing market. MOD uses agile for lifesaving tinational equivalents. Pai said things are changing, however, combat IT system But growth will slow for the Indian compa- and the India-based firms are reinventing nies unless they establish services that offer themselves. ”They are trying to cut the link
Downtime non-linear growth, spread geographically between bodies and revenues,” he said. beyond their main markets in the US and UK, “India-heritage providers have been increas- win government contracts and develop core ing their market share in an overall static software and business process outsourc- market. Their growth is now slowing, since ing (BPO) aimed at specific vertical sec- they have begun to reach high levels of mar- tors, according to Sid Pai, president at ISG ket penetration, so the onus on them is to Is the Asia-Pacific. find ways to continue progressing by expand- honeymoon ing into solutions and industry-focused over for India’s Linear growth software products.” IT services Over the past decade, Indian suppliers have companies? differentiated by offering lower costs, made Non-linear growth possible by cheaper labour in India com- Pai said Indian outsourcers need to start The end of pared with the UK and US. Businesses have developing core software for particular indus- offshore grown in a linear manner, through a time tries rather than platforms that sit in the outsourcing? CIOs quietly and materials model, with extra staff being periphery of businesses. For example, they reshoring added at a fixed rate. could build core billing platforms for telcos or IT jobs This has helped the Indian suppliers grow core banking systems for finance firms.
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 4 analysis
Home He said there are already examples of But Pai said the question is, are the Indian this, with Infosys and TCS having their own outsourcers doing enough? “None of this is News banking platforms, but there are not enough. new to them, but are they willing to step up These developments would help achieve the pace?” Indian IT services non-linear growth, with revenues linked to He added that despite Indian suppliers companies must use rising at higher rates than costs. being aware of the need to change, they evolve to prosper In its latest results, Cognizant talked about might be hesitant because the current model its increasing success in service lines offering is still working. “It is difficult to cut down on Blackberry takes non-linear growth. CEO Francisco D’Souza the existing business model, which has been messaging cross-platform said: “We continue to make solid progress successful for so long. They think, ‘Why fix developing emerging offerings in new mar- something that is not broken?’” kets, such as social, mobile, analytics and Eurac mixes ERP cloud technologies and new non-linear solu- Already maturing and BI for more agile reporting tions and services.” Peter Schumacher, CEO of management He highlighted Cognizant’s Business Cloud consultancy Value Leadership Group, said portfolio as an example of a service offering Indian suppliers are more mature in their Lotus F1 team stays ahead with non-linear growth. evolution than they are given credit for. data analytics Mark Lewis, outsourcing lawyer at Berwin “The traditional players in Europe and the Leighton Paisner, said that big, India-based US have been more static than the offshore service providers are attempting to move suppliers,” he said. editor’s comment towards non-linear growth models. “They Like Pai, Schumacher highlighted the work will all have to do this – they cannot continue of TCS and Infosys in core banking as a good with linear models because it’s a fight to the example. He said the India-based offshore Opinion bottom in IT outsourcing and BPO,” he said. suppliers invest more in research and devel- Lewis said falling prices, automation and opment than their European counterparts, Buyer’s Guide cloud computing are examples of the pres- to mobile device management sure on traditional linear models such as time and materials. Another growth area, according to ISG’s “Traditional IT It Innovation Pai, is in BPO. He said Indian-heritage com- challenges in the services firms face huge financial sector panies need to create industry-specific BPO services, rather than one size fits all that is challenges to evolve to used horizontally. MOD uses agile market needs” for lifesaving Geographical expansion is also required, combat IT system with a necessity for suppliers based in India to move beyond their main markets in the UK
Downtime and US. Companies such as HCL and Infosys citing TCS, which has had a research centre have increased their continental footprints, since 1981, as an example. with the respective acquisitions of UK SAP In recent research of 125 European firms specialist Axon for £440m and Switzerland- with IT budgets ranging from €20m-€2.1bn, based SAP consultancy Lodestone for £218m. IT buyers were asked whether they thought it would be easier for Indian offshorers to move Public sector up the value chain or for European compa- The Indian suppliers have focused on the nies to move down the cost chain. private sector and most large Western The response was unanimous – they corporates now have some work completed believed it would be easier for the Indians to offshore in India. add value. But the public sector in Europe presents The research, which was carried out by an opportunity for growth. TCS has been the Value Leadership Group and Deutsche included in the government’s latest G-Cloud Bank through in-depth interviews, revealed framework, and it recently won a contract that traditional IT services firms, particularly with the Home Office. As part of this deal it those in Europe, face huge challenges to is setting up a delivery centre in Liverpool. evolve to market needs. n
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 5 analysis
Home
News BlackBerry to take messaging Indian IT services across multiple mobile platforms companies must evolve to prosper Making BBM available on iOS and Blackberry takes Android is an ‘acknowledgement of messaging heterogeneous environment we’re cross-platform living in’. Caroline Baldwin reports
Eurac mixes ERP and BI for more agile reporting
Lotus F1 team stays ahead with data analytics
editor’s comment
Opinion
Buyer’s Guide to mobile device management
It Innovation challenges in the financial sector
lackBerry has announced plans to take Andrew Bocking, executive vice- MOD uses agile for lifesaving its messaging solution, BlackBerry president of software product manage- combat IT system BMessenger (BBM) across multiple ment and ecosystems at BlackBerry, mobile platforms. said: “If you look at the support for iOS
Downtime The messaging tool – which BlackBerry and Android with BlackBerry Enterprise claims has 60 million monthly active users, Service 10.1, it’s an acknowledgment of sending 10 billion messages a day – will be the heterogeneous environment we’re liv- available on iOS and Android by the summer, ing in, so supporting our services across with other operating systems (OS) following those platforms in this environment will later in 2013. allow us to service our customers. Thorsten Heins, CEO of BlackBerry, “It’s also the first thing our customers have BlackBerry revealed the move at BlackBerry Live in asked for, if you look at it from an enterprise Live 2013: Orlando, Florida. Heins said 50 million BBM perspective. As well as BBM, they’re looking Blackberry users were on the tool for 90 minutes per at the support from us and we’re really deliv- launches Q5 device day, and over half of messages received were ering on what they’ve asked for.” read in 20 seconds. While BlackBerry has not disclosed any BlackBerry’s announcement raised ques- statistics on business usage on BBM, Bocking Review: BlackBerry 10 tions surrounding handset competition and said it was “a common-use case, especially and the whether BlackBerry intended to compete BBM Groups” which BlackBerry claimed was BlackBerry Z10 with other over-the-top (OTT) messaging being used in small businesses. smartphone services, such as WhatsApp and Skype. “BBM as an OTT cross-platform service
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 6 analysis
Home might make much more sense,” said Rob strategy to put the company back into the Bamforth, principal analyst at Quocirca. spotlight as a leading mobile force. News “BlackBerry has a good track record of adop- tion with BBM and a loyal base for the app – Social media platform Indian IT services even if some would prefer different hardware. During the BlackBerry Live keynote, the companies must “However, many hardware-focused com- company also announced an upgrade to evolve to prosper panies struggle when making some of their BBM to include a social engagement plat- software available for competitive platforms. form, allowing users to connect with brands, Blackberry takes It will have to create suitable separation in artists and communities in real-time – not messaging cross-platform marketing messages and route to market to unlike Twitter. ensure prospective users are convinced it is Named BlackBerry Channels, the platform in it for the long term.” provides companies with a marketing oppor- Eurac mixes ERP tunity to communicate with fully opted-in and BI for more agile reporting BBM threat to OTT competitors For iPhone and Android users, currently using apps such as Skype and WhatsApp, t s the first thing Lotus F1 team “I ’ stays ahead with they will have a new service to consider, so data analytics will BlackBerry become a threat to these our customers have companies? In April 2013, WhatsApp claimed to have asked for if you editor’s comment more users than Twitter’s 200 million, sending look at it from an eight billion inbound and 12 billion outbound messages per day. If BlackBerry users alone enterprise perspective Opinion ” are sending 10 billion messages, when BBM rolls out to other platforms this may attract Andrew Bocking, BlackBerry Buyer’s Guide users away from these other OTT services. to mobile device management “Opening up BBM to Android and iOS might help to drive more device sales, BlackBerry users, posting content with BBM. appealing to those users who are interested Bocking said BlackBerry will monetise It Innovation in the free messaging service but had not Channels using a “traditional social media challenges in the financial sector considered it before because most of their business model” including sponsored posts, friends were not on BBM,” said Carolina invitations and advertising for brands who Milanesi, research vice-president of con- wish to increase their subscriptions. MOD uses agile for lifesaving sumer technologies and markets at Gartner. This move into social media has so far got combat IT system “But I really do not see this as BlackBerry brands such as Mercedes and artists including positioning BBM as a WhatsApp.” the Goo Goo Dolls and Alicia Keys on board.
Downtime Bocking added: “We are great partners That BlackBerry is investing in the platform with Skype and WhatsApp – Skype is now and extending it to other platforms suggests available on Q10 and Z10 devices – we’ve the company sees it as a means of differenti- been focused on building great partnerships ating the brand. and we’re continuing to do that. Heins said offering BBM to other platforms “We don’t view them as competitors. We now comprises a statement of confidence. see this as a “It’s so strong and the response has been broad market so good, we are confident the time is right for › Hands-on with the BlackBerry Q10 of opportu- BBM to become an independent multiplat- › Can BlackBerry 10 woo the business world? › Getting started with BES 10 nity and we form messaging solution,” he said. think mobile Releasing a new OS and multiple handsets messaging is an obvious way to try and regain custom- is going to be a broad opportunity for many ers after a rough couple of years for the com- partners.” pany. However, it could be the little changes While BlackBerry may say it is not releas- the company makes to its well-respected ing this software as a direct competitor in features that makes the big difference to the OTT market, some claim the move is a BlackBerry’s future. n
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 7 CAN I MANAGE BUSINESS APPS AND DATA AND NOT THE DEVICE?
…with Enterprise Mobile Management from AppSense, the answer is
AppSense next-gen Enterprise Mobility Management is the first and only on- demand solution that delivers turnkey enterprise mobility management with end-to-end security and control IT needs and the freedom of choice - devices, apps and data - users demand.
Take your Free 30-Day Trial & see for yourself: http://mobile.appsense.com/try
n 100% SaaS delivered n Access to all features – no restrictions n Set up takes minutes case study Home Brake manufacturer combines BI News
Indian IT services and ERP for more agile reporting companies must evolve to prosper Eurac’s experience shows how the right combination of business intelligence tools can complement existing ERP investments. Lindsay Clark reports Blackberry takes messaging cross-platform hen the IT department gives an 100,000 tonnes of grey iron castings per intern some free software to play year, as well as making brake discs. Three Eurac mixes ERP with, it does not expect the result years ago, it opted to install a new ERP sys- and BI for more W agile reporting to be a new business intelligence (BI) dash- tem based on the SyteLine software from board across the company. So, European brake Infor. Two sites in the UK went live in April manufacturer Eurac was taken aback with the 2011, while Germany started a year later. Lotus F1 team stays ahead with result from a trial of Logi Analytics software. But in the Czech Republic, the roll-out met data analytics “An intern in IT downloaded it and created with difficulties in accommodating local a dashboard with real, live data within the financial regulation, says Perrott. period of the demo,” says James Perrott, At this stage, the implementation was editor’s comment group IT manager. “We thought if someone halted so that an upgrade could be installed with no experience in business, but with to allow a localisation pack to be included at decent programming skills, could create a the Czech site. Opinion dashboard far beyond anything we had been The hiatus allowed Eurac’s IT team to able to create in our enterprise resource assess BI reporting on the new ERP system. Buyer’s Guide planning [ERP], then we could go with it.” SyteLine includes Crystal Reports, which to mobile device management Eurac found difficult to adapt to the busi- BI reporting complexities ness’s needs. With four factories in the UK, Germany “It is a bit cumbersome and it is difficult It Innovation and the Czech Republic, Eurac produces to modify existing reports. It took a highly challenges in the financial sector
MOD uses agile for lifesaving
combat IT system /T hinkstock
Downtime istockphoto
ERP Systems, BI Tools Help Chemical Manufacturers With Logi Analytics, Eurac managers Face Global can get access to the latest figures as Issues soon as they are available
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 9 case study
Home technical person to be able to modify the Because running reports on the old system report to how you wanted it,” says Perrott. was time consuming, managers would only News Although the company configured Crystal load them on a weekly basis – now they can Reports, owned by SAP, so it could produce get access to the latest figures as soon as Indian IT services external-facing information for invoicing and they are available, says Perrott. companies must customer statements, the task was more diffi- “We have changed the mindset so that evolve to prosper cult when preparing internal business reports. people are looking at things more often Eurac needed a system that could access because they can. They can log in to a web- Blackberry takes a variety of data sources as well as the ERP site and look at reports on an hourly basis,” messaging cross-platform system, because managers were still stor- he says. ing their own data in Excel spreadsheets and Access databases. It also needed data Eurac mixes ERP describing pay and time-in-attendance from and BI for more In an era when agile reporting human resource systems. Meanwhile, the company wanted to give managers access businesses are being to business reports on the move, without Lotus F1 team encouraged to act on stays ahead with the need to log into a virtual private network (VPN) to get to the ERP client. data analytics data to make decisions, Dashboard building editor’s business reports need comment Following the intern’s demonstration of its capability, Eurac purchased Logi Analytics. to get to the right The IT team gathered key performance indi- Opinion cators (KPIs) from business executives and people, at the right set about building a dashboard. time wherever they are Buyer’s Guide Data from a variety of sources were drawn , to mobile device management into an intermediary SQL database, which helped cleanse the data for the BI tool to exploit. It mainly presents sales data, sliced “It is making the business look at itself in a It Innovation by category, customer or date range, and different way. People who were not aware of challenges in the financial sector compares this data with budget figures in a situations are now aware of them. You can format that is easy on the eye, says Perrott. be sure that people are talking about situ- The tool was rolled out with the ERP ations on an active basis, rather than being MOD uses agile for lifesaving upgrade in the UK and training for the two reactive at the end of the month when the combat IT system systems was combined. figures come out.” Because Logi Analytics builds HTML The system is currently being used at the
Downtime pages, managers were able to access their UK sites and will be implemented across the data from home or while on the move. It other sites in due course. also renders well in the browsers of other devices, including iPhones, iPads and Improved reporting Android devices, according to Perrott. The BI tool has also affected other areas of “With the the business. Whereas previously budgeting previous was monthly, now accounts teams are look- › ERP versus ‘best of breed’ BI tools: what is the right fit? system, we ing to create more accurate figures for each › The Road to BI Success had to be on a shift to provide better comparisons with more client pressing detailed reporting capability, Perrott says. buttons. In an era when businesses are being Now, all the data is accessible through any encouraged to act on data to make decisions, medium, so you don’t have to be in work business reports need to get to the right to look at the data. When we presented it people, at the right time, wherever they are. to users, it revolutionised how people think Eurac’s experience shows the right mix of about the information they need to look at on tools can complement existing ERP invest- a daily basis,” he says. ments to help meet these goals. n
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 10 Interview Home Big data analysis helps race team News
Indian IT services make crucial decisions at high speed companies must evolve to prosper Lotus F1 CIO Graeme Hackland talks to Cliff Saran about managing a winning strategy on the racetrack, adopting technology early and moving into the cloud Blackberry takes messaging cross-platform
Eurac mixes ERP and BI for more CW500 wikicommons agile reporting interview
Lotus F1 team stays ahead with data analytics
editor’s comment
Opinion
Buyer’s Guide to mobile device management
It Innovation challenges in the financial sector raeme Hackland, CIO of Lotus F1, has workstations to the races. We had five laptops been working for the race car team on track and green terminals in the factory.” for 16 years and seen major changes MOD uses agile G for lifesaving in how IT is used both on and off the track. Leading the adoption of technology combat IT system He started as a network engineer and But F1 is highly technical. So, while this moved up to an IT infrastructure manager role setup looks primitive by today’s standards,
Downtime when the team was taken over by Renault. in his experience of the sport: “F1 is always The Lotus F1 head office is in Oxfordshire leading the adoption of IT technology.” where Hackland spends much of his time. Success in F1 comes from high-speed data He says: “I used to support the guys at the analysis. Data from the car used to fit on a track. But these days there are restrictions.” single floppy disk but now F1 cars produce Hackland is responsible for the provision of gigabytes of data. What to expect from application and infrastructure to support the “The big data challenge is using multiple the upcoming IT needed for the race team including design, data sets – such as data from aerodynamics Microsoft manufacturing, wind tunnel systems and the and CAD – to create performance from the Dynamics supercomputer which runs complex fluid car,” says Hackland cloud services dynamics (CFD) simulations for optimising Such analysis is not restricted to the race the cars’ aerodynamics. He is also responsi- track. “I see a lot of similarities to real-time Rugby ble for security and is a member of the senior data analysis in financial services. When you Football Union management team. are on the track you will have, at most, 90 uses IBM predictive “When I joined the team, we mainly ran seconds to make a decision, based on ana- analytics for big Unix system for CAD [computer aided lysing hundreds of parameters,” he says. Six Nations design],” he says. “We’d take the Unix These decisions cover everything from tyre
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 11 Interview
Home pressure, the state of the weather, to the posi- Strategy leads to victory tion of rival teams, and their tyre strategies. In Australia, he says the race strategy News The team replaced siloed systems with helped driver Kimi Räikkönen win the race. Microsoft Dynamics to deliver an end-to-end “We have been very good at managing Indian IT services view of the manufacturing process. Hackland tyres. Kimi did two pitstops, rather than companies must uses IT consultancy Avanade for software three,” says Hackland. evolve to prosper development and testing and software is Much of the analysis is run at trackside but built using a service-oriented architecture Hackland says Lotus F1 is building a dedicated Blackberry takes (SOA) with Microsoft .Net. room at its head office where people can work messaging cross-platform Lotus F1 uses some off-the-shelf software, with real-time data from the factory. like Dynamics, but where there is a competi- This would have been impossible a few tive advantage, it uses bespoke systems. years ago, given the state of UK broadband. Eurac mixes ERP “If we see there’s a competitive advantage He says: “We are in the middle of the and BI for more agile reporting such as in CFD, the wind tunnel and statis- English countryside and there is no industry tical analysis, we write the software our- around. In the past, getting communications selves,” says Hackland. was difficult. But we now have a dedicated Lotus F1 team stays ahead with Avanade is developing a system, called data analytics Strategy, which combines engineering and data with Microsoft Dynamics. The Strategy hen you are on the system is a statistical engine that takes race “W editor’s comment information, engineering and simulation track you will have, data, to enable the team to make continual improvements to the car and race strategy. at most, 90 seconds to Opinion The system will enable Lotus F1 to get an end-to-end view covering PLM (product make a decision” Buyer’s Guide lifecycle management), ERP (enterprise to mobile device management resource planning) and the race performance application.
It Innovation Streamlining analysis 10Mbps link with high availability.” challenges in the financial sector Hackland plans to link CAD and Microsoft The reliability of the connectivity means Dynamics. This would help Lotus F1 stream- Hackland is giving serious consideration to line analysis of the car’s performance with using cloud services. MOD uses agile for lifesaving engineering data. “We started with putting the obvious combat IT system “Today it is very manual and it takes a few things in the cloud like email and CRM [cus- days to bring all the data together,” he says. tomer relationship management] – but we
Downtime Linking Dynamics with CAD would speed up can see huge potential benefits in terms of data analysis. racing team logistics.” Hackland says a race team can win a single After each race all the IT equipment is race without such data analysis, but win- packed up and shipped back to Oxfordshire, ning the F1 championship requires software before being sent to the next race. It is not like Strategy to help the team build a better possible to update software while the equip- car over the ment is in transit, which means Hackland season. only has a day to configure the systems › Christophe Lemaire, CIO Eurostar › Mark Hall, HMRC CIO But it will before race preparation starts. › Paul Freemantle, IT director, Arqiva be even more He says: “We cannot do application important updates until the Wednesday before the next season. race. It would be much better if we could pull “Strategy software will be critical due to this back to earlier in the week.” changes in regulations, such as the use of 1.6 Cloud computing could facilitate this litre turbo engines,” he says. “It won’t be so though Hackland admits that everything easy to look at the previous season’s data. trackside needs to run standalone, just in We’re almost baselining at zero again.” case the global communication link fails. n
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 12 editor’s comment Home HP and Dell must heed News Computer Weekly/ComputerWeekly.com 1st Floor, 3-4a Little Portland Street, London W1W 7JB
Indian IT services the changing times – General enquiries companies must evolve to prosper 020 7186 1400 before it is too late Editorial Blackberry takes Editor in chief: Bryan Glick 020 7186 1424 messaging [email protected] cross-platform pparently we are in the post-PC era. The PC is dead. Deceased. Ceased to be. An ex-market. Managing editor (technology): Cliff Saran 020 7186 1421 But nobody seems to have told Lenovo. Look at [email protected] Eurac mixes ERP A the latest quarterly sales figures. and BI for more Head of premium content: Bill Goodwin agile reporting PC revenues in Western Europe fell 16% in the first 020 7186 1418 quarter of 2013. PC sales at HP fell 20%. At Dell, profits [email protected] from its PC business were down 60%. Services editor: Karl Flinders Lotus F1 team 020 7186 1423 stays ahead with Yet here’s Lenovo – sales up 15% to $34bn, profits up [email protected] data analytics 34%, European shipments up 11% and market share in Security editor: Warwick Ashford the region up 12%. 020 7186 1419 The Chinese giant is doing something right, something [email protected] editor’s Networking editor: Jennifer Scott comment the fading PC giants of HP and Dell seem unable to do. 020 7186 1404 There’s no disagreement that the PC market is in [email protected] decline and will have to share buyers’ cash with tablets Senior reporter: Kathleen Hall Opinion 020 7186 1426 and high-end smartphones. But there is still money to be [email protected] made, and will be for some time, for those suppliers who Buyer’s Guide Special projects editor: Kayleigh Bateman have the necessary focus and customer understanding. 020 7186 1415 to mobile device [email protected] management And yes, that’s a not-even-vaguely-disguised criticism of Dell and HP, both of whom have taken their eye so far Datacentre editor: Archana Venkatraman 020 7186 1411 off the ball that you have to wonder if they can feasibly [email protected] It Innovation turn around their PC businesses. Michael Dell clearly challenges in the Storage editor: Antony Adshead financial sector does not think so, given his attempts to buy back the 07779 038528 company and transform into an infrastructure supplier. [email protected] Lenovo also points to an early move into tablets as a Business applications editor: Brian McKenna MOD uses agile 020 7186 1414 for lifesaving factor in its growth – and it still seems incredible that [email protected] combat IT system neither HP nor Dell have produced a genuinely competi- Editorial content assistant: Caroline Baldwin tive product for the tablet market. 020 7186 1425 [email protected] The IT market is rapidly diverging. It is going to be Downtime Production editor: Claire Cormack increasingly difficult to be a broad-based, do-a-bit-of- 020 7186 1417 everything supplier. You will need focus, specialisation, [email protected] agility – staying close to IT decision-makers and under- Senior sub-editor: Jason Foster 020 7186 1420 standing their needs. Obvious, really, you’d have thought. [email protected] Dell’s future is being decided in investor arguments Sub-editor: Philip Jones about whether or not to leave the stock market –a dis- 020 7186 1416 traction the firm could do without. HP’s future is being [email protected] decided, well, slowly. CEO Meg Whitman’s “multiyear DISPLAY ADVERTISING turnaround plan” is being given generous scope by Sales director: Brent Boswell investors, but it seems customers are losing patience. 07584 311889 The industry is reshaping itself, more big names will [email protected] fall by the wayside, and the suppliers that IT leaders Group events manager: Jonathan Palma 0207 186 1451 511161 turn to will be very different by the end of this decade. n [email protected]
Bryan Glick Editor in chief
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 13 opinion Home Byte Night 2013: Rain won’t stop play News Ken Deeks hopes Friday 4 October will be one of the most monumental nights Indian IT services companies must in the history of charity sleep-out Byte Night, with a fundraising target of £1m evolve to prosper he warm weather didn’t last very long, about it. Some 100,000 young people in the Blackberry takes did it? Every year it happens; a spell UK were homeless last year. One in three messaging of unseasonably warm weather sends attempted to commit suicide. We must cross-platform T us running to the barbecue aisle wearing last change this. year’s linen trousers, a paddling pool under Eurac mixes ERP one arm, under the delusion that summer Funding a better future and BI for more agile reporting has arrived and vanquished the snow, wind, By supporting Byte Night you are helping snow, rain and snow. Action for Children tackle the root causes Then within a week, the jetstream takes of youth homelessness, working with young Lotus F1 team stays ahead with a vicious swing south, and we’re back people at risk across the UK, such as those data analytics beneath our brollies, pointlessly cursing the weather forecasters: “YOU SAID IT WOULD BE MILD CAROL KIRKWOOD!” ome young editor’s S 100,000 It’s like it’s October already. comment people in the UK were Byte Night 2013 sets £1m target Opinion homeless last year. You’ll forgive me for looking forward to October, when we have a thoroughly under- One in three attempted Buyer’s Guide whelming British summer to negotiate to mobile device to commit suicide. We management beforehand. Friday 4 October will be one of the most monumental nights in the history of must change this Byte Night, the UK’s largest charity sleep-out. It Innovation This year we are aiming to raise more than challenges in the financial sector £1m in one night, cementing Byte Night’s leaving the care system, young people at position as one of the most important char- risk of family breakdown and those who ity events in the UK. This will take a truly are already without a safe place to sleep. MOD uses agile for lifesaving national effort, so we are launching sleep- Together we can keep vulnerable young combat IT system outs in Birmingham and Manchester, along- people off the streets and help them to build side events in Belfast, Cambridge, Edinburgh, better lives with access to education, secure
Downtime London and Thames Valley. accommodation and training opportunities. Registration for this year’s event is now A wet reality open and we are confident that more than Last year was tough. There is no getting 1,500 sleepers will join us on Friday 4 away from it – it chucked it down. Despite October at events across the UK, whatever this, more than 1,000 people braved relent- the weather. By doing so, they will help Read Ken less rain to raise £950,000 for children and us to make a real difference to the lives of Deek’s review young people, who could face night after vulnerable young people across the UK. n of last year’s night on the streets were it not for the fan- Byte Night tastic work of Action for Children. No doubt charity some walked away from last year’s event sleep-out mumbling “never again”. But for the vast majority, the weather last Sign up now to sleep year underlined why Byte Night is so impor- out for Byte tant – it forced people to face the grim reality Night 2013 on of life on the streets and, having done so, Ken Deeks is the founder 4 October made them determined to do something of Byte Night
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 14 Buyer’s Guide
Home
News T hinkstock
Indian IT services companies must evolve to prosper
Blackberry takes messaging cross-platform
Eurac mixes ERP and BI for more agile reporting
Lotus F1 team stays ahead with data analytics
editor’s Buyer’smobile device management guide part 2 of 3 comment Opinion Microsoft talks up Hyper-V Buyer’s Guide to mobile device management Software giant hopes to convince enterprises that its platform and tools offer the reliability needed for MDM in a changing landscape. Tim Anderson reports
It Innovation challenges in the financial sector ith Microsoft’s dominance of enterprise IT increasingly threatened by the growth of cloud, consumer technology and bring your own device (BYOD) strategies, the software giant is pushing harder with its own products for MOD uses agile for lifesaving mobile device management (MDM) and cloud computing. Some 5,000 IT combat IT system Wadministrators gathered at Microsoft’s Management Summit in Las Vegas in April to hear the latest on System Center, private and hybrid cloud, MDM and Hyper-V virtualisation.
Downtime Microsoft hopes to persuade enterprises its platform and tools are right for the cloud com- puting and BYOD era – where users access business data on personal smartphones and tablets. In the opening keynote, Brad Anderson, corporate vice-president of Windows Server and System Center, took constant shots at virtualisation rival VMware, referred to indirectly as “the other guys”. Case studies from companies such as Domino’s Pizza in the US – which is migrating to Hyper-V – show higher density, faster performance and greater reliability. “Microsoft workloads run best on Microsoft’s hypervisor,” Anderson said. There is no doubting the momentum behind Hyper-V, which is now getting strong third- Hyper-V party support, but it is apparent from delegates that VMware still has a strong hold. boost pushes Microsoft “The jury is still out,” said Chris Harney, president of the Virtual Technology User Group. virtualisation He sees strong interest in Hyper-V, but few migrations so far. Why the interest? “It’s coming closer to from the top,” he said. “Why am I buying two hypervisors? It’s always good to have choices in VMware your datacentre.”
Office 365 Azure adoption marks the One of Hyper-V’s biggest users is Microsoft itself, since it is the hypervisor for Azure, demise of Office package the company’s public cloud platform. After years of being suspiciously quiet about Azure
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 15 Buyer’s Guide
Home adoption, Microsoft is beginning to talk about its growth, as well as that of Office 365, which offers hosted Exchange and SharePoint, alongside other services. News Azure storage is doubling in capacity every six to nine months, said Anderson. Some 420,000 domains are now managed in Azure Active Directory (also used by Office 365), Indian IT services which has just come out of preview into general availability. Office 365 is now used in some companies must measure by over 20% of enterprises worldwide. evolve to prosper In System Center, Microsoft is drawing attention to the MDM capabilities introduced in Service Pack 1, released in January, which adds support for Windows RT, Windows Phone Blackberry takes 8, iOS and Android devices via integration with the messaging cross-platform cloud-based InTune management service. “Modern devices should be managed from the cloud,” said Anderson. After years of Eurac mixes ERP Features include application deployment via a and BI for more being suspiciously agile reporting self-service portal as well as remote wipe for lost or stolen devices, although Android support is less quiet about advanced than for iOS or Windows Phone 8 and Lotus F1 team Azure adoption, stays ahead with Blackberry is not supported at all. data analytics icrosoft is Recent acquisitions M Microsoft made a couple of acquisitions in October editor’s beginning to talk comment 2012, both of which were a talking point at the Management Summit. about its growth One was StorSimple, a company which offers a Opinion storage appliance that integrates cloud and on- premise storage. Cloud integrated storage (CiS) lets you access storage via the standard Buyer’s Guide iSCSI protocol that is partly on-premise and partly in the cloud. to mobile device management Performance is good for most workloads, thanks to a technique called data tiering, which places the most active data on the fastest storage (local SSD), less active data on local SAS drives and the coldest data in the cloud. It also offers cloud backup and archiving. It Innovation The other acquisition was Phone Factor, which offers two- or three-factor authentication challenges in the financial sector via automated phone calls or text messages rather than using dedicated token devices. This approach is ideal for adding two-factor authentication to public cloud services and rumours are swirling about how something like this may come shortly to Outlook, Microsoft’s con- MOD uses agile for lifesaving sumer cloud email offering. combat IT system It would make sense if Microsoft were to integrate these services into Windows Server and Active Directory, although there are no specific announcements yet.
Downtime Microsoft’s overall strategy is based on the belief that enterprises need private or hybrid clouds, a supposition readily confirmed by the companies represented at the summit. System Center 2012, which focuses on creating and managing private clouds, has struck a chord with many organisations despite its complexity. There was also strong attendance at sessions on Active Directory synchronisation and single sign-on, and virtual networking for integrating internal networks with Azure. The pieces are coming together and Server 2012, as the foundation operating system is well-liked, but there is recognition that Microsoft’s private cloud solution is not yet mature. In 2008, Equifax, a credit intelligence specialist based in Atlanta, Georgia, is adopting System Center Azure was an and Hyper-V for its private cloud. The goal is that users requiring computer resources will be operating able to self-provision through automated systems and a company portal. system for “It is not an uncomplicated journey,” said executives working on the project, who also the cloud expressed frustration that the technology in Microsoft’s public cloud offering, Azure, is dif- ferent and in some respects ahead of what is available in System Center: “We want to see CW buyer's convergence.” guide: mobile Nevertheless, they believe that even today System Center delivers significant benefits: “The device management win that we’ll have on being able to provision in a self-provisioning way is huge.” n
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 16 CW500 in the city
Home
News IT decision-makers in the City
Indian IT services companies must must face innovation demands evolve to prosper IT leaders at CW500 in the City event hear about the challenges facing the Blackberry takes financial sector as it seeks to keep up with technology. Karl Flinders reports messaging cross-platform
Eurac mixes ERP T hinkstock and BI for more agile reporting
Lotus F1 team stays ahead with data analytics
editor’s comment
Opinion
Buyer’s Guide to mobile device management
It Innovation challenges in the financial sector
MOD uses agile for lifesaving combat IT system
Downtime
inance firms need to overcome their fears First tech start-ups of regulation if they are to innovate and IT CW500 IN THE CITY – chosen for must be ready to support them when they THE EXPERTS financial do, according to IT leaders from the financial services servicesF sector who met at Computer Weekly’s inau- n Mike Wright, global head of innovation lab gural CW500 in the City event. technology at asset manage- IT leaders in financial services face a unique set ment company Man Group Mobile of challenges: The web and mobile technologies are Video interview banking changing the face of sectors such as retail banking n Jem Eskanazi, experienced demand drives app and insurance; the complexity of legacy IT systems financial services CIO, former development remains a major consideration; and growing lev- CIO of Groupama Insurance innovation els of industry regulation means that the job of IT
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 17 CW500 in the city
Home decision-makers in the City is under ever-increasing scrutiny. As a result, innovating with IT is an increasingly critical factor for success. News According to Mike Wright, global head of technology at asset management company Man Group, there are three key questions that have to be addressed: What is innovation? Why Indian IT services does it matter? And, what does “good” look like? companies must “Innovation is about doing something differently, but is also about the process by which you evolve to prosper get that different result,” Wright told the meeting. “With the best will in the world, it doesn’t often happen. Trying to work in management to Blackberry takes foster an environment that encourages innovation is difficult.” messaging cross-platform When innovation happens Sometimes innovation happens even when experts do not expect it. Eurac mixes ERP Wright quoted Ken Olson, founder of former industry giant Digital Equipment Corporation and BI for more agile reporting (DEC), who in 1977 said: “There is no rea- son why anyone would want a computer in their home.” He went on to help make Lotus F1 team stays ahead with computers a household item. data analytics Aviator Wilbur Wright famously said: “Innovation and “Man will not fly for 50 years” – just two years before he and his brother made experimentation is editor’s comment their first flight. constantly being pooh- Man Group’s Wright said the point was that even the people that have innovated, poohed and one of the Opinion have been pessimistic at times. “Innovation and experimentation is joys of humanity is we Buyer’s Guide constantly being pooh-poohed and one of to mobile device constantly prove this management the joys of humanity is that we constantly prove this wrong,” said Wright. wrong” But he added, innovation matters more It Innovation today than ever: “In the commercial envi- Mike Wright, Man Group challenges in the financial sector ronment, shareholders expect it.” Wright said it is not just about share- holders but also staff, including the CIO: MOD uses agile for lifesaving “If you want to work for a thriving organisation, you want to be doing something genuinely combat IT system better than the competition and challenging yourself. You don’t want to just look at cost cutting.”
Downtime If anyone can achieve true innovation they will be held in high regard. “Innovators will get celebrated,” he said.
What is ‘good’ innovation? But what does “good” innovation looks like? ”I am not sure you can define it,” Wright said, because it is specific to the industry you work in. He did, however, give some pointers. “Innovation seems better in smaller organisations, probably because people working at smaller companies don’t follow the rules like those in big companies,” he said. “If you are going to have a real breakthrough, you need to have innovation on two or three dimensions simultaneously. [Insurance firm] Direct Line changed the channel to telephone and the way they were underwriting at the same time. “Often it costs very little and the genuinely great innovations are surprisingly simple. But it is hard to mandate innovation.” He said businesses have three basic options to becoming innovative: They can buy it in by acquiring innovative companies; use a network of partners to innovate; and you can incubate internally.
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 18 CW500 in the city
Home He also had some advice for those that try to innovate: Don’t expect the wider firm to do anything to help you; be psychologically prepared to do it yourself; don’t expect a big budget; News be persistent; and praise failure as well as success so people do not feel personal risk.
Indian IT services Supporting innovation companies must Jem Eskenazi, an experienced financial services CIO, told the CW500 in the City audience evolve to prosper that he doubted whether IT departments can lead innovation at all – they are there to sup- port innovation. Blackberry takes “In financial services, IT is at the heart because we deal with information,” said Eskenazi. messaging cross-platform But he said it is difficult for the IT depart- ment to be innovative by itself. He took a different view of innovation to Eurac mixes ERP Man Group’s Wright. and BI for more “I have heard agile reporting “It is not good enough to describe anything new as an innovation. It is the CIOs say they process of translating an idea or invention Lotus F1 team are innovative by stays ahead with into a good or service that creates value - data analytics that is innovation,” he said. deploying iPads in For example, a tablet computer is an invention but turning it into a device that the organisation editor’s . I comment people queue through the night to buy is innovation. don’t think this is “I have heard CIOs say they are innova- Opinion innovative” tive by deploying iPads in the organisation. I don’t think this is innovative,” he said. Jem Eskenazi, experienced Buyer’s Guide “Is there such a thing as IT innovation? I to mobile device financial services CIO management would argue almost that there is no such thing because innovation is a business idea or business process improvement. IT helps It Innovation it but IT does not necessarily create it.” challenges in the financial sector He said that mobile banking is an innovation; data mining and cross-selling products is innovation; redesigning branches is innovation. But he added that few banks can raise their hand and say they came up with the idea - it was just a few leaders in the industry that did MOD uses agile for lifesaving and the rest adopted it. combat IT system Regulatory fears
Downtime Eskenazi said fear is a huge hurdle to innovation: “Financial services fear regulators, fines and risks.” He added that legal and compliance departments – which get to have the final say on ideas – are hurdles to coming up with and implementing innovative ideas. To get real innovation in-house, businesses must set people free and not put time and money limitations on them, he said. But if you want to come up with good ideas – go and play. › Social media drives innovation “In financial services, we are not prepared to let go too › Mobile banking stimulates banks’ IT spending › Banks ramp up investment in innovation often,” he said. Eskenazi said IT can do great things without being innovative and IT departments need to be ready to support innovative ideas. But does innovation always have to be disruptive and can it be incremental? “You can innovate incrementally, but it is not that exciting and is really just business as usual. But this does not mean you shouldn’t do it. Innovation is more about bringing different things together,” said Wright. For successful innovation, it is important to understand the problem you are solving in an industry context, with creative thinking thrown in. n
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 19 Agile development
Home
News Lifesaving software gets T hinkstock Indian IT services companies must evolve to prosper the agile treatment
Blackberry takes Brian Wernham reports on how the Ministry of Defence messaging cross-platform used the DSDM agile development framework to manage the creation of a combat IT system
Eurac mixes ERP and BI for more agile reporting
Lotus F1 team stays ahead with data analytics
editor’s comment
Opinion
Buyer’s Guide to mobile device management
It Innovation challenges in the financial sector
MOD uses agile for lifesaving he US, UK and other Nato forces have been developing and improving combat combat IT system identification systems over many years. In 2009, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) initiated a project to create a combat identification server (CIDS). The
Downtime CIDS was needed to tightly integrate close air support with shared situational Tposition information. A contract was awarded to General Dynamics to develop the CIDS and have it in place and ready for use by July 2010. It needed to provide autonomous, accu- The MoD rate near real-time force tracking and location informa- chose an agile Using tion to direct fire away from coalition troops. Every few SSADM and seconds, CIDS would need to integrate data from all the approach for its DSDM for friendly forces in a battlefield and distribute it back to all rapid the nearby unit commanders. complex military application General Dynamics had only 18 months to integrate development its “Net-Link tactical gateway” with specialist technol- technologies ogy supplied by its subcontractors, Rockwell Collins CW500: Agile and QinetiQ. techniques for To meet its objective of an 18-month implementation of this lifesaving software, the MoD software chose an agile approach, through which it believed the complex military technologies could development be better delivered without delay or unexpected cost overruns.
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 20 Agile development
Home A decision was made to use the Dynamic Project phases Systems Development Method (DSDM) frame- in DSDM Atern News work because it gives guidance on the process for agile supplier delivery to a customer. The Indian IT services customer does not need to be a third party – it companies must could be the technology department within an evolve to prosper organisation. The important point with DSDM is that Blackberry takes because it uses a product-centric approach, messaging cross-platform it has the potential to be used to formalise payment milestones with suppliers based on product deliveries. Eurac mixes ERP and BI for more agile reporting DSDM avoids pitfalls of waterfall projects DSDM requires just enough design up front (EDUF), and the foundation phase should be as short as possible, while still ensuring an essential understanding and clarity of structure Lotus F1 team stays ahead with of the overall solution and to create an agile plan for delivery. data analytics This initial foundation phase created an architecture that gave both the MoD and General Dynamics an assurance that minimum acceptable performance levels could be achieved. For example, tracking information on the position of friendly forces needed to be collated from editor’s comment a minimum of 15 different units in any battlefield. The architecture also had to be flexible enough to allow near-real-time position informa- tion to not only artillery units, but also to nearby aircraft. The approach ensured that test Opinion and evaluation of the solution was a “constant and regular activity”, and allowed the devel- opment team and the stakeholders to gain more confidence with each iteration. Buyer’s Guide The project would run from February 2009 to July 2010. Overall plans were agreed at the to mobile device management end of the foundation phase, which took three months. Then the exploration and engineering phase started ,with three iterations, each about three to six months long: n Iteration 1: Create a simple version of the software that could deal with one friendly force It Innovation position. challenges in the n financial sector Iteration 2: Extend the software to process multiple position information. n Iteration 3: Make the solution robust and fast enough to deal with the operational num- ber of request responses and to interface with systems from other coalition partners. MOD uses agile for lifesaving Iteration and feedback is the core of DSDM, and it makes combat IT system it very different from waterfall approaches. Its strength is that it presents agile concepts from a management point Iteration and Downtime of view, using terms that traditional project managers feedback is the understand while avoiding a waterfall approach. Like many methods, though, it has little to say about leadership behav- core of DSDM, iour. Processes and outputs are defined that are amenable to traditional project management techniques, but have an and it makes it agile approach. very different The DSDM framework is an agile approach that guards against cost and time overruns by turning the baselining from waterfall model on its head. In a waterfall project, a detailed baseline for the scope of a project needs to be agreed on – sup- approaches ported by detailed design assumptions and theoretical estimates. Hence the phrase big design up front (BDUF). If the estimates are inaccurate – which they often are because they are made before work begins and actual progress starts to be measured – the FAQ: Agile only variables left in the equation are cost and/or timescales. Stakeholders flex their mus- management cles and ask for additional nice-to-have features, which cause the required amount of work and leadership to increase – a situation known as scope creep. This is why so many waterfall projects go
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 21 Agile development
Home over time and budget. Since the baseline is fixed, these mutually dependent parameters are allowed to run out of control. News DSDM is an agile method and therefore has a different philosophy from the waterfall approach. When it is used as the project management framework to guide the team, only the Indian IT services central core of solution features is identified at the outset. The scope is allowed to change, in companies must a controlled manner, as the inevitable mis-estimation evolve to prosper of time and cost becomes clear. The opposite of scope creep takes place – scope is reduced if difficulties Under the Blackberry takes are encountered, rather than time and budget being messaging DSDM method, cross-platform increased. The project comes in on time and cost because DSDM fixes these variables, and instead the scope is rescopes the “features to be delivered”. Eurac mixes ERP DSDM suggests that no more than 60% of the work allowed to and BI for more agile reporting expected for each iteration of development should be on features classified as “must-haves”. About 40% of change, in a the remaining work is split between “should-haves” and Lotus F1 team controlled stays ahead with “could-haves”. data analytics The should-haves are features that would be pain- manner, as ful to leave out, but a workaround could be found for them otherwise a must-have would be compromised. the inevitable editor’s comment Could-haves are features that bring additional value- add and business benefits, but can be delayed for future mis-estimation work without any immediate downside. To complete Opinion of time and cost the picture, and to ensure that limitations to scope are understood, some requirements are classified as becomes clear Buyer’s Guide “won’t-haves”. to mobile device management Developing the CIDS in timeboxes within each increment In the MoD project, each of the three to six-month long increments was divided into time- It Innovation boxes of a month. In each timebox, the team, which included domain experts, was encour- challenges in the financial sector aged to get on with the work without interruption. Deadlines were sacrosanct. If, within a timebox, it became apparent that any of the must-have requirements were at risk, then the team self-organised the redeployment of people away from development of solutions for MOD uses agile for lifesaving lower priority requirements. This is the essence of agility: decisions are delegated to the combat IT system lowest possible level – to those closest to the work at hand. The supplier project manager from General Dynamics led a multidisciplinary team
Downtime comprising staff members from the other subcontractors (Rockwell Collins and QinetiQ) and MoD staff and their specialist technical advisors. On this project the potential for “tit-for-tat” negotiations over points of detail and costing were considerable. Trust had to be built up between a potentially suspicious customer not used to an agile approach and a supplier under pressure to deliver. The MoD procurement division initially proposed a severe penalty clause to guard against the possibility that the supplier would not deliver all the requirements – even the could- › Transitioning a Waterfall team to an Agile development team haves. However, a collaborative approach was › Ten ways Agile development process, Waterfall approach differ › Waterfall versus Agile development: A case study agreed, following the DSDM principles of fixed cost rather than fixed scope. Any difficulties encountered were to be resolved by require- ment trading. In effect, the project contingency was held in the could-have requirements which could be traded out if unworkable or too onerous. n
Brian Wernham is the author of Agile Project Management for Government, published by Maitland and Strong. Click here for a discount on the full price
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 22 downtime
Home
News
Indian IT services companies must evolve to prosper
Blackberry takes messaging cross-platform
Eurac mixes ERP and BI for more agile reporting
Throatwobbler Mangrove “They are wrong. Lotus F1 team stays ahead with The twitterverse has whipped itself up “It is a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of data analytics into a Hyacinth Bucket-storm of indig- story.” As a Monty Python fan, Downtime nation after the creator of the Graphics is reminded of the famous pronunciation Interchange Format or Gif protested that sketch, where Britain’s leading skin special- editor’s comment his invention is actually pronounced Jif. ist, Raymond Luxury-Yacht, insists on an Despite the, err, evident “guh” sound in entirely different pronunciation of his name. the first word of the acronym. Well, Mr Steve Wilhite, that might be Opinion Inventor Steve Wilhite said: “The how your name is spelled but from now Oxford English Dictionary accepts both on we’ll be insisting it’s pronounced Buyer’s Guide pronunciations. “Throatwobbler Mangrove”. n to mobile device management
It Innovation challenges in the Printing cookies financial sector Downtime has nothing against eating healthily in principle – in principle – it’s just that all the things that taste so good, rarely seem to be calorie-light or good for the arteries. And, MOD uses agile for lifesaving as an office-dweller, Downtime is all too familiar with the chain effect caused when the combat IT system person next to you starts eating something deliciously tempting. So, good news comes from the 3D printing front. Jeffrey Lipton, a doctoral candidate at Cornell University, predicts that in the future the technology may be used to create tailor- Downtime made food for the user and perhaps even calibrated to the number of calories you burn over the day. Cornell University’s Fab@Home lab printed what Lipton calls “data-driven cookies,” where 3D printers were used to print two cookies that each accounted for 10% of their respec- tive caloric deficits. The cookies were the same size but composed of different ingredients, based on nutritional specifics. Resisting making a clever quip about cookies in technology (because we can’t think of one), Downtime looks forward to the days of rustling up some experimental snacks without ever Read needing to leave our more on the screens again. Downtime blog
computerweekly.com 28 May- 3 June 2013 23