Cloud Computing | Leon Jackson

Speaking at IDC CIO Magazine Conference 2015. We had an interesting dialogue on the challenges we face and if we are becoming obsolete

I will be on the debate team at the CIO Magazine Conference on the 23/04/2015.

The question will be; “Soon, CIOs will become only operational and it will be the CXOs that will be the technology decision-makers!” Agree or Disagree?”

Here is how I plan to answer;

Saturation of IT

1. IT is a way of life, digital immigrants are still alive but the concept of migration has passed

2. Consumer IT is now more important then Enterprise IT because people bring their talent, capital and assets with them to work and much of these are embedded in some sort of IT

3. The concept of an IT specialist is quickly becoming archaic and somewhat quaint

4. In a sense connectivity, data and processing will become a utility like water and electricity, and no one will care how it reaches them, they will only complain when it doesn’t and try to get away with paying as little as they can

Software Engineering and Computer Science

1. Behind the utility there is serious science to keep the flow efficient, relevant and secure

2. Some services eventually will be recognised as critical national infrastructure and funded from the public coffers

3. Others will be platforms on which SAAS and BPAAS will keep being rolled out to create new opportunities for revenue

4. No matter how popular the notion of democratisation and decentralisation of IT becomes, there will always be a real science and engineering behind it that differentiates the professionals from the rest and the challenge will be one of funding from these talent and services

Evolution of the CIO

1. Some CIOs are purveyors of information and counsellors to the King – the one who knows where to find the answers and anticipates the questions. This type will always be needed and will strengthen themselves with data science and big data. Their also the type likely to move on to be CEO or be chosen to be an acting one when CEOs need to be replaced.

2. Some CIOs are operational mavens and lubricants of process – these will make the transition to be COO.

3. Some CIOs are covert business development and strategy generals – these will enjoy the new world of social and marketing possibilities and move on to be the new generation of CMOs. Marketing is a discipline that will soon transition from art to science and when it does, it will have more IT running it. For example, Google is the world’s biggest advertising firm by revenue today.

4. Some CIOs are seen as witch doctors, the ones who understand tech and deal with those impossible and socially inept programmers. These guys are at risk for loosing scope and value. Some in highly technical industries, will always be needed and may change their title to CTO to better reflect their role.

Who will choose Technology

1. I think its a given that as technology becomes popular and less mysterious, many other stakeholders apart from IT will want to be part of the decision and it will no longer be the sole domain of the CIO

2.The CIO though must continue to play the role of architect, making sure the company chooses technology that is efficient, relevant and secure

You can’t have a discussion about cloud computing in Malaysia without a heated debate on security and risk.

Image from http://ebizresults.com/what-is-the-cloud/

I have observed 2 root causes of the debate;

1. The cloud democratises large scale enterprise capability coupled with the ability to buy-as-you-need, even small businesses can now leverage on sophisticated enterprise grade IT. In the past, business could get away with low level talent enabling just basic IT services such as accounting, payroll and email. Now in this cloud enabled world of endless useful applications and networks like Facebook, sales force and google apps, even small to medium businesses are able to innovate and have IT capability on par with the global multinational titans. So a gap emerges, while the business units of a company can contract and outsource IT services equivalent to their larger counterparts, they don’t have access to the talent of these behemoths do to plan processes, policies, data governance, integration, architecture and security to manage this level of risk and exposure. The connected world is a two-edge sword, enabling unparalleled access to markets and communities while also increasing exposure to those with malicious intent. So companies can buy services on the cloud but not management. What is missing for Malaysian customers already sold on the commercial benefits of the cloud is someone they can trust and rely on to map their journey and steps to slowly migrate to this opportunity to get more with less.

2. Much of the IT leadership in the Malaysian corporate scene is dominated by technology management rather than actual information and intelligence. The former is the trusted resource to design, build and operate technology to provision assets to achieve limited information and automation goals but the later is a timely asset with an emerging demand. This new breed of CIO equipped with the latest technology and data science know-how and is ready to provide actionable insights to the business to gain a competitive advantage or address new market opportunities. Many vendors selling the cloud attempt to use language that resonates with the later but are selling components that still need to be pieced together by the former. So they end up running up against the wall of vested interest because they are asking the quarter master to reduce his/her scope.

I don’t have an all encompassing mitigation strategy at this point in time, but I suspect the solution will begin from driving more popular apps that will appeal to end users and providing more and more solutions on a Software As a Service or Business Process As a Service coupled by data integration services that will not leave users feeling siloed on your apps. Think about it, what kind of platforms and app stores can you build in your vertical industries that the current technology will enable, economically and securely.