The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA)

If you haven’t come across the CSA before, then here’s a brief introduction and few interesting bits to go with it….

Who are they?
“The Cloud Security Alliance is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing, and to provide education on the uses of Cloud Computing to help secure all other forms of computing. The Cloud Security Alliance is led by a broad coalition of industry practitioners, corporations, associations and other key stakeholders. For further information, the Cloud Security Alliance Web site is www.cloudsecurityalliance.org.”

Trusted Security Certification
Novell and the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) announced in March 2010 the vendor-neutral initiative for the Trusted Security Certification program.  I’m not sure how busy they are with this in the background, but I’m certainly hopeful that this will help to drive cloud adoption.   Of course – once the certification exists, vendors need to adopt and comply, otherwise, it’s just going to be another certification with no weight.   This is most certainly a topic I’ll be keeping an eye on.   Read more here..

Useful Documents
You can download and read (or glance over) v2.1 of the “Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing” document for some very helpful information if you feel a little lost when people are talking about cloud-computing and what it entails.  This document deals with 3 main (and very important) areas being: architecture, governance and operations.

Another useful document to scan/read is Top Threats to Cloud Computing.  CSA have done a good job of summarizing some of the threats and categorizing in a fairly quick and easy way to digest.

Keep it going…
The CSA might not be the only organization out there trying to guide security standards for cloud computing, however, they are most certainly an important one which makes them an organization worth mining for information on  a regular basis.

Technology at work for you

[Some commentary / messages for our new brochure]

Connecting your business to the technology resources you need…

Business needs to be agile to maximize its potential and IT needs to be the responsive enabler for your business to do so.  All too often organizations become strained by overly complex processes, systems and applications that were meant to make things easier.   In today’s world you need technology to simplify and streamline operations, and choosing the best-fit technology for your business is vital.  At Marutech we’d like to keep you informed about your options.

As an independent systems integrator with specialists and experience in a multitude of systems, vendors and operational models [not only in cloud computing], we can give you unique and unbiased insight into what technology (if any) would be the best fit for your organization – before you buy.  We understand the market factors that impact your business and we also understand that you want your business to excel, so every recommendation we make has this in mind – because your success is ours.

Bruce
PS.
[Apologies for the blatant marketing talk.  Its perhaps a bit out-of-line for a blog post, but I reckoned "what the heck, I can kill two birds with one stone here".]

Cloud Pros and Cons (Insights #1)

I suspect that anyone reading this blog has a need for information of sorts. Whether it be about SaaS, cloud computing, Marutech or even perhaps Cornastone.  It also means that you spend a fair amount of time prowling the web for useful bits of information that can be consumed in a fairly short amount of time while adding significant insight to what you’re trying to learn about.

These “Insight” posts are me sharing what I consider to be [mostly] useful information.  Essentially quotes or articles that broaden my knowledge on the subject of cloud computing, but keeping to the essentials.  Hopefully this series will be of use to you…

Today’s useful reads:

> Cloud Computing Pros and Cons – A Network World article.  Objectivity is required as some of the cons (and pros for that matter) are bias towards certain applications of cloud computing only, so keep in mind what example influenced the perspective and don’t think that the pro/con applies to all cloud offerings.

> “With virtually every vendor on the planet jumping on the cloud computing bandwagon, sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether a service is really cloud or simply a pre-existing offering that has the cloud label slapped on it.“  – the opening line in a Network World article.  This quote so epitomizes the current market condition where one [legacy] vendor after the next has been caught with pants down and now have marketing teams scrambling to package what looks competitive.   The article is actually about how Iron Mountain reduces backup costs through a storage service.  It is perhaps a worthy read if you’re interested in backup or file archiving SaaS options.

> Cloud Washing 101 – The cloud marketing playbook – Taking the previous (slightly cynical) viewpoint of vendors jumping on the bandwagon a bit further, this post is a great read and even a better laugh!   But take a read – I think it accurately (with some exaggeration) describes what these non-innovative vendors are doing to ensure their marketing teams can still slap on the SaaS logo.

Happy reading…
Bruce

what we do – revised…

Ok – so the previous 10second pitch on what we do had too many big fuzzy words.   Here’s a new, hopefully better attempt.

We are a systems integrator. We sell cloud based solutions and consulting services to assist with your Infrastructure Management and IT Service Management requirements.  We promote the use of simpler and more cost-effective ways – avoiding the legacy.   This gives our clients visibility and control over their  IT environments.  It also allows our clients to focus their efforts on delivering better value and services to their own clients.

How to motivate to exco

We often encounter administrators, IT managers or sometimes even senior managers that just don’t know how to write an effective business case or motivation for the solutions that they’re really, really excited about.
Unless they are influential individuals with an evangelistic flare, without a fairly decent motivation which effectively communicates the value proposition, requests to get funding are simply denied. You may get lucky and someone else will help it through [although he/she will possibly take the credit], but that doesn’t help you for next time you have a chance to make difference.

If you want your proposal to be considered seriously, remember the following:

1) If the business benefits aren’t clearly communicated, nobody will understand the true value proposition.  Also – make sure you understand the business, and what the business is trying to achieve – only then will you understand how your proposed solution will align with the business and can bring value to the business.

2) Keep your proposal or motivation short, simple and to the point.  Ten pages of value proposition’ probably means eight pages of unnecessary waffling. Executives don’t have time to read waffle.  That means that you have to go to great pains to shorten and simplify your sentences.  Remove unnecessary words, sentences and even paragraphs that don’t carry significant weight or value and definitely review  your tenses (a simple – but probably not very good example is this blog post.  I could write an entire book on “how to write a effective proposal” or even a comprehensive 5 page article, but the point is to get the the crux of what you want to say and say no more – therefore – I share only3 points of wisdom.

3) Show tangibles – estimations based on real numbers and facts.  Be sure that you can quantify these and be ready to defend these in a boardroom.  Also – TCO and ROI are important, but be careful – they’ve also gained a questionable reputation over time as vendors often offer models that exaggerate the outcomes.  Don’t give up if your numbers aren’t factual or 100% accurate, but be realistic and demonstrate tangible gains for the business.

That’s it.
Bruce

PS. If you feel you needed more, think again.  These 3 points may not be the only 3 points and could quite possibly not even be the most important 3 points, but use them as a starting point and get creative for the rest.   If you’re lost – break down these 3 points further.  As example – tangibles could include financial data, supplier data, risk and risk mitigation plans, etc.   Be original and write your own proposal – don’t copy and paste – you will learn a lot more about yourself, the business and about writing than what you would otherwise.   If you still can’t come up with a structured approach, and you’re totally lost, then by all means, go get the “how-to” guide and spend a few weeks educating yourself in the basics – it could help.

PPS. Expect a follow-up post soon with some specific tips on motivating for a SaaS solution.

Features and more features!

Service-now.com just keeps getting better and better!  There are so many great new features in the latest Spring release that I felt inspired to write something!  To give an indication of how great this architecture is, 1,500 customer instances of Service-now.com were upgraded over the weekend and no customizations were broken - none – nada – zip!

WoW!  Now try that with a traditional service desk application!  Most can’t even upgrade a single instance in a week – never mind keeping customizations working!

Some new features in the summer release include:

• Project and Portfolio Management – now a very robust offering in Service-now.com
• Service Portfolio Management
• IT Cost Management
• Expansions to manage field service activities and shared services for HR and facilities management

You can register on Service-now.com to view some recorded webinars dealing with the new features of the June 4 Spring release.

Go check it out!
Bruce

SA International Bandwidth

African Undersea Cables

Few things get me (and most businesses) as excited as the prospect of loads of international bandwidth at reduced prices!  With the SA government giving up it’s control and the rest of the world knowing the potential for Africa and SA in particular, it seems we’re finally going to experience the internet!

Telcos and major consortiums are laying cables left, right and centre across Africa, and I for one can’t wait for all the plans and roll-outs to be completed!  (Ok, left, right and centre doesn’t apply to Africa, but it’s true of SA with DFA laying fibre all over the place.)

The DFA (Dark Fibre Africa) consortium has been digging up our roads and creating  opportunities to gain direct, high-speed access to the all the new international links at speeds we could only dream of 5-10 years ago.

Of course this means that Software-as-a-Service and Cloud Computing is here to stay! SA businesses no longer need to fear using SaaS due to bandwidth constraints and ridiculous costs!  The [digital] world is getting so small that soon your users won’t be able to distinguish whether their data is being accessed from your own DC in the basement or a highly secure SAS70 Type II certified DC somewhere in London or New York.

Catch you on the up!
Bruce