Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Win an iPod Touch!
Win an iPod Touch!!! Solstice Consulting is conducting a social media experiment and we want your participation. Our goal is to get 500 fans added to the Solstice Consulting Facebook fan page in the next 5 days. What's the hook?? Besides staying in the loop on all the latest and greatest Solstice news and being part of an elite fan club, all those that become a fan are eligible to win one of 3 iPod Touches! The winners will be announced on the Solstice Facebook Fan page on Monday June 8th. Click here to become a fan of Solstice Consulting: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Chicago-IL/Solstice-Consulting/80947639113
Evolving Your Identity Management Program
Not able to attend my presentation at Financial Information Security Decisions on June 9th in NYC? Check out what I'll be talking about:
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Doing More with Less
WITH COST CUTTING EVERYWHERE THESE DAYS, PRIORITIZING IT SPEND HAS BECOME MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER.
To survive, IT managers need to find creative ways to meet customer expectations while keeping an eye on the bottom line. Many companies look at Open Source, SaaS and the Cloud for alternative software/hardware/development solutions to achieve strategic goals.
Yes, there are still some negative perceptions associated with implementing these options within the enterprise. Security, support, and customization capabilities are a few of the concerns that top the list. However, if a thoughtful decision making process is followed when working with these solutions, the perceived risks pale in comparison to the cost-benefit realization.
In a recent blog post my colleague has offered up some great guidelines for choosing the right low-cost or free technology alternative for your enterprise. We are also publishing some guidelines for ensuring that you a thoughtful decision making process is followed. Stay tuned or send me an email (kmanthey@solstice-consulting.com) if you’d like an advance copy.
So while Open Source, SaaS, and Cloud based solutions gain momentum as viable options for the enterprise, no matter the technical solution, the question of business impact and the costs associated with transitioning the enterprise from old to new needs to be considered. What can you do to minimize end-user impact when implementing these technical alternatives? Read on….
First, change the things the end users never see. Dip your toes in the water by transitioning lowest level infrastructure pieces first. Transitioning to an open source database solution or building a testing environment in the cloud are not likely changes that end-users will notice.
Take a lesson from Google…use the beta labeling to your advantage. When introducing a new technology look to your end-users are co-creators. Acknowledge that it’s not perfect yet but with some help from those that use it most it can be. The effect of end-users seeing their suggestions become functionality will be infectious. The positive internal PR generated by these people will help promote the tool, ease it’s adoption by others, and help bring a more intuitive application to the enterprise that in-turn requires less hand-holding and end-user training.
Enlist champions and give them responsibility. You can use beta labeling to organically create product champions or you can identify and enlist people upfront. Whatever your trying to implement –an OSS application server, SaaS CRM tool, or whatever – identify people from the stakeholder community that can help sow the seeds of change within their area of influence. Give the champions the responsibility of helping their functional area/business unit embrace and understand the new technology. You’ve now gained subject matter experts in each area that can lend the personal touch to helping with adoption issues.
Thoughtfully embracing low/no-cost technology alternatives coupled with strategies for leveraging your own resources to minimize end-user impact creates an unbeatable value proposition.
How are you being creative about your IT solutions so that you can achieve your goals while going easy on the budget?
To survive, IT managers need to find creative ways to meet customer expectations while keeping an eye on the bottom line. Many companies look at Open Source, SaaS and the Cloud for alternative software/hardware/development solutions to achieve strategic goals.
Yes, there are still some negative perceptions associated with implementing these options within the enterprise. Security, support, and customization capabilities are a few of the concerns that top the list. However, if a thoughtful decision making process is followed when working with these solutions, the perceived risks pale in comparison to the cost-benefit realization.
In a recent blog post my colleague has offered up some great guidelines for choosing the right low-cost or free technology alternative for your enterprise. We are also publishing some guidelines for ensuring that you a thoughtful decision making process is followed. Stay tuned or send me an email (kmanthey@solstice-consulting.com) if you’d like an advance copy.
So while Open Source, SaaS, and Cloud based solutions gain momentum as viable options for the enterprise, no matter the technical solution, the question of business impact and the costs associated with transitioning the enterprise from old to new needs to be considered. What can you do to minimize end-user impact when implementing these technical alternatives? Read on….
First, change the things the end users never see. Dip your toes in the water by transitioning lowest level infrastructure pieces first. Transitioning to an open source database solution or building a testing environment in the cloud are not likely changes that end-users will notice.
Take a lesson from Google…use the beta labeling to your advantage. When introducing a new technology look to your end-users are co-creators. Acknowledge that it’s not perfect yet but with some help from those that use it most it can be. The effect of end-users seeing their suggestions become functionality will be infectious. The positive internal PR generated by these people will help promote the tool, ease it’s adoption by others, and help bring a more intuitive application to the enterprise that in-turn requires less hand-holding and end-user training.
Enlist champions and give them responsibility. You can use beta labeling to organically create product champions or you can identify and enlist people upfront. Whatever your trying to implement –an OSS application server, SaaS CRM tool, or whatever – identify people from the stakeholder community that can help sow the seeds of change within their area of influence. Give the champions the responsibility of helping their functional area/business unit embrace and understand the new technology. You’ve now gained subject matter experts in each area that can lend the personal touch to helping with adoption issues.
Thoughtfully embracing low/no-cost technology alternatives coupled with strategies for leveraging your own resources to minimize end-user impact creates an unbeatable value proposition.
How are you being creative about your IT solutions so that you can achieve your goals while going easy on the budget?
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Art of Software Development
My company and our consultants have been using Scrum and Agile techniques on both internal and client projects for years. Our adoption has been in an ad-hoc manner and often times behind the scenes without anyone knowing that's what we were doing. Things just got done. I have had the pleasure of taking 2 days to formally learn the Scrum framework and become a certified scrum master. I am using the training to pull all the techniques together and gain a better understanding of how to best use the Scrum theory of delivery with my client projects. During the training I had an "AH HA" moment (as Oprah puts it) - software/product development is an art NOT a science! The principles of scrum center on communication, collaboration, and using a feedback loop with stakeholders to produce a quality product in a short period of time. Notice I didn't mention anything about stages, gates, documentation, or sign-off. Not that a paper trail can't be produced along the way but Scrum is more about focusing team energy on getting a usable product out the door than hashing through getting the right requirements in a document. With Waterfall there is a certain amount of risk mitigation built into the formality of the sign-off process. If the requirements are written down and stakeholders sign-off, the risk of not getting requirements right shifts from the development team to the stakeholders. From the development team's perspective "They (the stakeholders) told us what they wanted and here's the proof". In Scrum people collaborate and come up with the requirements together. The stakeholders provide some high-level product requirements/priorities to set the direction and the team uses demos and stakeholder feedback to make sure they get it right. It's so simple and uncomplicated! The Scrum Master is really more team psychologist than Project Manager. Tasked with enabling each individual team member to speak his mind and foster a sense of shared ownership to complete the team's goal. Not pouring over the Help documentation in MS Project to figure out how to do resource leveling. Team members and stakeholders (via the Product Owner) get to communicate directly instead of through the formality of requirements documents and change requests. Imagine what is possible when everyone is collaborating and developing solutions together. All the innovation that the different perspectives can bring! I'll admit, I may be a little drunk on the Scrum kool-aid right now, but what were thinking taking the human element out of software development and communicating through documentation that quickly gets outdated?
Agile or Waterfall - What is your company doing?
Take my LinkedIn Poll and let me know your thoughts:
http://polls.linkedin.com/p/30879/kgncy
http://polls.linkedin.com/p/30879/kgncy
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
What I've Learned
So I've been talking to thought leaders, technologists, and subject matter experts in Identity and Access Management for a little over a month now. I wanted to share some of what people are telling me. In researching the answer to how IT can help the business embrace IAM and sell the value, a few common themes have emerged. Here's a sneak peak:
- IT should lead and wants to lead - no one denies IAM projects are technically complex and, frankly, not that interesting to the business. Most folks I talked to agreed that it's the role of IT, more specifically Information Security teams, to explain the risks of not doing the work and talk about the benefits in terms of value to the customer
- Technology doesn't solve problems...people do - business process drives what IAM technology supports. If your identity administration processes were unclear and lacking accountability prior to implementing a new technology, your process gaps will only become more painful rolled into a slicker workflow technology. Devote the time to define processes, include the right people in process design, and establish process ownership.
- Perception is reality - if people don't see the value right out of the gate, IAM initiatives can can be viewed as just another "IT project" guzzling capital dollars. Involve those impacted right from the start, give them a voice in how the solution evolves, ask them to get others on board by helping to sell the value within their own functional areas.
More to come.....it's getting interesting........
Monday, January 5, 2009
IDENTITIES ARE PEOPLE TOO
There’s a people side of the equation that’s all too often overlooked when companies implement a new IT solution and expect it to be embraced. The people impacted may not want to use it because they don’t know how or they don’t fully understand the value. Sound familiar?
I have spent the past two years working in the Identity and Access Management (IAM) space – more specifically the user Administration and Auditing aspects of IAM. These areas of IAM allow for the requesting, approval, granting or provisioning, and verification of system access for an identity. When you consider that these aspects of IAM are the most visible to the organization and have a direct impact on the ability to carry out day-to-day responsibilities, it seems that any improvements to these processes and technologies would be embraced. However, this isn’t always the case.
How many business folks really understand IAM and how these concepts impact them? IAM can be very ambiguous to those on the business side, and therefore just not that easily embraced.
Identity and Access Management projects are most often driven by technology departments. Business sponsorship may be weak or completely non-existent. Business drivers aren’t always well communicated. The actual "people" impacted by IAM initiatives are often forgotten as the concepts and terminology of IAM are more technology focused. The constant reference to “identities” instead of “people” can further de-humanize the IAM effort.
The outcome of an IAM project should be viewed as a win-win for both the IT and business sides of an organization. Information Security has a centralized point for maintaining the "keys to the kingdom" and the business users are provided with a slick web interface and processes for requesting system access, as well as ensuring access remains current.
But when and how should the "win-wins" be communicated? And, am I accurate in suggesting that this communication will make or break the success of an IAM implementation?
To support an article on this topic I am writing for industry publications, I'd like to solicit your comments and help me to find answers to these questions:
1. What role does the IT organization play in breaking down the techie speak and ambiguity associated with IAM?
2. How can IT help sell the value of IAM to the business users?
3. How can business engagement be secured and maintained throughout an IAM effort?
The goal of my research is to define best practices for overcoming these implementation issues, helping to make IAM initiatives successfully deployed across the enterprise.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
I have spent the past two years working in the Identity and Access Management (IAM) space – more specifically the user Administration and Auditing aspects of IAM. These areas of IAM allow for the requesting, approval, granting or provisioning, and verification of system access for an identity. When you consider that these aspects of IAM are the most visible to the organization and have a direct impact on the ability to carry out day-to-day responsibilities, it seems that any improvements to these processes and technologies would be embraced. However, this isn’t always the case.
How many business folks really understand IAM and how these concepts impact them? IAM can be very ambiguous to those on the business side, and therefore just not that easily embraced.
Identity and Access Management projects are most often driven by technology departments. Business sponsorship may be weak or completely non-existent. Business drivers aren’t always well communicated. The actual "people" impacted by IAM initiatives are often forgotten as the concepts and terminology of IAM are more technology focused. The constant reference to “identities” instead of “people” can further de-humanize the IAM effort.
The outcome of an IAM project should be viewed as a win-win for both the IT and business sides of an organization. Information Security has a centralized point for maintaining the "keys to the kingdom" and the business users are provided with a slick web interface and processes for requesting system access, as well as ensuring access remains current.
But when and how should the "win-wins" be communicated? And, am I accurate in suggesting that this communication will make or break the success of an IAM implementation?
To support an article on this topic I am writing for industry publications, I'd like to solicit your comments and help me to find answers to these questions:
1. What role does the IT organization play in breaking down the techie speak and ambiguity associated with IAM?
2. How can IT help sell the value of IAM to the business users?
3. How can business engagement be secured and maintained throughout an IAM effort?
The goal of my research is to define best practices for overcoming these implementation issues, helping to make IAM initiatives successfully deployed across the enterprise.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
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