The Cloud – Are Security Standards Coming?

What’s the main concern about the cloud? Security. Through the growth of mobile devices, remote access and the ever-increasing amounts of data, the computer security paradigm is shifting. The traditional approach to IT security revolved around securing the most important information inside a secure firewalled environment. Whereas before anything inside the center firewall was deemed secure and anything outside was questionable, it is now harder to define. With cloud computing, there is no center. The cloud is less of a physical place and more of a style of managing resources.

With the demand growing for the cloud, and the security shifting away from tradition, there is promise for industry wide security standards. One group that is hoping to establish itself in this arena is the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), a not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within the cloud. The group recently put out a new initiative to encourage transparency of security practices within cloud providers. Scheduled to be available in the fourth quarter of this year, the CSA Security, Trust & Assurance Registry (STAR) will be a free, publicly accessible registry that helps users look at the security of cloud providers use.

This is great for the industry. It will give consistency, reliability, and cost savings to users. With standards, buyers are able to hold cloud providers accountable. They will be able to execute around standards, which means lower operational costs. Plus, sustained confidence in the security of the cloud is essential for its growth.

Structuring Data: ERP & Social Media

It’s no secret that companies are using social media as a business strategy. But how are they capturing the data that they receive from tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn? Some companies are hesitant to spend too much time with social media because its hard to capture unstructured data.

The question is then, can unstructured data become structured?

Social media tools are finally being integrated into complex ERP applications, which will allow for easy and fast communications between businesses and customers. The largest benefit of this integration is clear – organizing and storing useful data that can be used for business strategy and analysis. Social media data can still be lost, but ERP social media applications is an evolutionary step for businesses.

ERP vendors were working on something called global search prior to this and it will likely help them with the ERP integration. Global search is a transactional search that allows you to type in an order number or customer number and then you can see every related transaction. If you can associate unstructured data such as social media with those related numbers, you’ll be able to organize and match that information. Eventually you will be able to create structured data out of unstructured data, giving value to something that today isn’t being valued.

“What they’re trying to do is to capture a lot of this unstructured communication which goes on between the customers and companies. So then you get all the traditional data from the ERP system but you also have captured the social media communications as well,” says industry analyst Kevin Prouty of Aberdeen Group.

And why not incorporate what the next generation of workers feel comfortable with? Those using ERP applications for the first time will have deep social media experience because they are already using tools such as Facebook and Twitter in their personal lives. But the best is yet to come.

“So many junior employees today use social media for communications in their personal lives and I think that has to be a bigger part of their professional lives as well. These workers have these skills so you might as well take advantage of them…The second generation, which is probably a year or two off, will bring fully integrated social media capabilities, and that’s where you’re going to track and integrate all of that unstructured communications with all the related transactions that are going on,” Prouty said.

Eventually this kind of social media integration with ERP systems could also make its way into other enterprise applications such as CRM because it could give companies much more customer information. The merger of social media and ERP will allow companies to get much more from their data, and social media apps will become one of the key features that vendors highlight when selling their systems to companies.

Introducing Google+

Yesterday, Google unveiled its highly anticipated new social network, Google+. Check out this video to learn more.

What are some key features of Google+ that makes it unique? Here’s the ones I like:

• “Circles” that users select and organize contacts into groups for optimal sharing. The UI for all of this is simple and intuitive — simply drag and drop people into different categories.
•  “Instant Upload” relies on the use of an Android devices to take photos or shoot video. From a new app, content will automatically be uploaded to Google+ in the background and stored in a private album (which you can share with one click later).
• “Huddle”  is a group messaging app that works across Android, iPhone, and SMS to allow you to communicate with the people in certain Circles.
•  “Hangouts” attempts to solve the social problem of video chat by making it easy for you to let others know that you’re interested in chatting. And if you’re already chatting with a Circle, everyone else in that Circle will get an alert to come hang out. This works for up to 10 people.

I’m excited to see how this catches on. Is this finally a competition to Facebook? What are your thoughts? “Hangouts” alone makes me want to sign up.

Hottest New Jobs in IT

CIO recently came out with an article which highlights the top IT jobs for the future. 10,000 IT jobs were added in May alone, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics. CIO searched listings on IT job sites like Dice and Modis and talked with executives about the skills they’re looking for. Overall, they found most new IT  jobs are being created so technology can be more agile, social and more intertwined with business.

Here’s a look at the top 6:

1. Business architect – focusing on the relationship between business processes and technology

“Business architecture is about making sure the whole business holds together,” says Forrester Research analyst Alex Cullen, who researches IT strategy and organizational planning. “It’s a role built around business planning, pointing out opportunities to utilize IT more effectively” in sales, customer service, and other key areas. Unlike the traditional enterprise architect, whose role is to organize technology to meet business goals, the business architect is a member of the business organization, reporting to the CEO and fashioning high-level company strategy with technology in mind. The successful business architect has a deeper knowledge of the company’s business model and workflow than the average enterprise architect. Think MBA with an IT focus…The job of the business architect is to arm managers with the knowledge they need to choose wisely.”

2. Data scientist – opening up new opportunities by uncovering hidden patterns in unstructured data

“There’s now an intellectual consensus in business that the only way to run an enterprise is to use analytics with data scientists to find opportunities…corporations now have an unlimited demand for people with background in quantitative analysis,” says Norman Nie, CEO of Revolution Analytics. According to Nie, data science jobs will require workers with all types of skills, from entry-level data cleaners to the high-level statisticians. The demand for people to analyze all the data coming from social networking will only increase. The saying that is going around supposedly is that “data is the new oil.” 

3.  Social media architect – building secure social communities within a business network and between businesses and customers

Social media is not just Facebook and Twitter anymore. IBM, Jive, and Yammer are offering social tools for public and private clouds that have expanded social media for business. Companies are increasing their social platforms which will require more IT professionals focused explicitly on social business. The click stream data and other user intelligence that these tools produce need to be accessible and searchable inside the business, yet secure from outside the business.

4. Mobile technology expert – making mobile apps, architecting mobile strategies, and securing mobile devices

With all the new mobile devices, companies are desperately seeking “mobile technology experts.”  They are looking for people with exposure to  BlackBerry, Android, and iOS devices. That means C and Java. They need people to evaluate mobile platforms for enterprise use, research and draft device specifications, and support users and developers within the enterprise.

5. Enterprise mobile developer – focusing on compliance and security while making apps and developing mobile strategies

“Companies are looking for ways to make sense of mobile data, develop apps, and ensure security compliance,” says Alice Hill, managing director of IT job site Dice.com. Hill notes that postings for Android developers have now surpassed those for iPhone developers while listings for BlackBerry developers are still around despite their slow growth.  HTML5 is a good skill to develop in addition to C and Java.

6. Cloud architect –  leading the charge to deliver on the increased efficiency and agility promised by the cloud

“There’s so much positive momentum toward cloud integration… the ultimate goal is the hybrid cloud, where cloud architects and business management decide which cloud services make the most sense to run internally and which should be farmed out on a pay-per-use basis.,” says Ron Gula, CEO of Tenable Network Security. “People who can really identify the architecture from a simplicity point of view are going to be in demand.” Most of the listings call for familiar skills with networking, virtualization, and SAN design.

Social Media Strategies

It is no secret that businesses of all sizes are using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but do they have a plan? I read a great article from InformationWeek dated April 27 that talks about the growing problem of social media usage in business.  Let’s face it, social networking sites are extremely easy to use, there is no barrier to entry, and very little, if any, cost. What isn’t there to like? Well, without assigning goals and having a strategic plan (as simple as it might be), there is no way for businesses to measure results of using these sites.

According to the article, small businesses are particularly prone to use social media without a plan. In March, Techaisle (a small business research group) published survey results that showed 70% of companies with up to 100 employees planned to use social sites for marketing purposes in the coming year, but 45% said they didn’t know how doing so would help them. That’s crazy – it seems that people are following a trend hoping for good things versus using these great tools strategically to produce positive results.

In order to have a social media plan, a marketing manager must know who is responsible for social media, which business functions it aims to serve, how much money should be budgeted, and how much time should be allocated for developement and updates. Also, what kind of controls does the business have for people at working going on to social media sites? If there is a plan for who should use what, this sure would make things easter. The plan doesn’t just have to be for external reasons, either. Take WorkSimple for example, the web-based tool for employee goal setting and tracking, an innovative way to measure performance. To learn more about the internal social networking and WorkSimple, click here.  The role of social site is emerging, and it’s not just for marketing folks.

How can you measure a social media strategy? According to the article, businesses should consider areas such as:

• Number of new leads generated
• Reduction in customer service calls
• Number of resumes received for job openings
• Feedback for new product development

No matter how large or small a company you are in, there needs to be some sort of strategy in place for social media. Facebook, Twitter, and the like are great sites. Businesses need to continue to use them, some just need to think things through.

Weber State Turns to Cloud

25,000+ Weber State University students out here in Ogden, Utah will no longer have access to their traditional email system. “Wildcat Mail” will move to a cloud-software solution through Google.  Weber State hopes the IT Division will save time and dollar costs and provide students and alumni a better email tool.

Backed by Google’s Gmail and Google Docs, the New Wildcat Mail system offers storage, calendars, collaboration tools, a chat feature, and easy access by personal computer, phone, or tablet computer. New Wildcat Mail has the same easy interface as Gmail. Each account has approximately 7GB of storage space. Neat thing is, it seems like a no-hassle change for students. Student email addresses will not change. Student accounts will be automatically created and available beginning June 26. From the eWeber portal a student clicks the Wildcat Mail icon to be directed to the new service where a terms of use agreement is required prior to accessing the services.

Why Google?

Student surveys and polls revealed a preference for Google’s services over other providers’. Google also integrates with WSU’s new learning management system, Canvas. Apparently, Weber was between Microsoft and Google, but decided Google was the best new system. I wonder if we will see a trend within universities and corporations moving to the cloud to cut custs.

Idea vs. Product

I read an interesting article the other day in the Economist explaining the difference between running a company based on an idea versus a specific technology. IBM has succeed over the long haul because it has adapted to businesss needs and has provided IT solutions. It hasn’t focused on a specific technology or product. IBM sells their idea, and have the right technology and products to back it up.

Looking at current technology players, who can be in it for the long haul?  

The obvious answer is Apple. They take the latest technology, make it look nicer than everybody else, make it easy to use, and sell their idea. Amazon: their goal is to make it easy for people to buy stuff. They started with just books, but have expanded into many different product segments. Facebook helps friends share stuff more easily. All of these companies have products that can be accessible on multiple platforms in the future. They are selling their ideas, and it is working.  

On the other hand, some companies are still struggling to make that shift. Dell is having a much harder time adapting to current technological advances. While their PC’s are still in demand, I can’t say that I would even consider buying a Dell smartphone. Cisco has been pretty single minded about internet routers. Microsoft is very dependent on Windows – good for PC’s, but can it be proven to succeed in mobile devices? Google knows the importance of an idea and has been very successful, but can they look beyond their single product of internet search and advertising?

Lots of questions, only time will tell. As for now, we can celebrate IBM and learn from their 100 year journey. To read more about the article I read from the Economist, please click here.