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Humanware–TheCriticalImportanceofPeopleinCyberinfrastructure
TheEvolvingRoleoftheCloudandtheImportance
ofHumanwaretoResearch
HumansintheLoop:EnablingandFacilitatingResearchonCloudComputingWorkshopAworkshopforPEARC19–Chicago,ILJuly29,2019
BrianD.VossResearchEngagementManagerHumanware–AdvancingResearchintheCloudPervasiveTechnologyInstituteatIndianaUniversity
WhoIam,whatI’vedone,howIseethings…andwhy
• Iamnotaresearcher– I’masuit(perhapsa‘fallen’suit)– CentralITrolesinleadership,CIO/CampusExecutive– Board/Advisorypositionsinseveralkeycyberareas
• Active&RecognizedvoiceintheCIOcommunity
• Iamkindalike‘ForrestGump’
• Iammoreofanop-edwriterthanascientificinvestigator
FundamentalPremiseofUsersofTechnology
HEY MAN … I JUST RIDE ‘EM. I DON’T KNOW WHAT MAKES ‘EM GO.
HumansintheLoop
• Inthebeginning,computingandsupportwascentralized• Evolutionofthetechnologyofcomputing/ITdrovechange– Distributed‘mini-computers’inthelate70sandearly1980s– Personalcomputersinthelate80sand90s– Advent/Advanceofparallel/clustercomputersinthe90s
• RoleofcentralITalsoplayedapartinthedistributionofcomputing/IT– (Notusuallybydesignorinthebestways…)
TheRiseofLocal/DistributedSupport
• Distributedsystemsstillrequiredsupport• Bestsupportisthatwhichcomeswhenyouyellforit• Amodelemerged–orwasitaparadigm?– Theroleoftheuser(begenerallyknowledgeable)– Theroleoflocalsupport(technical,butpartofthelocalculture)– TheroleofcentralIT
• Giveuserstrainingandtools(onlineknowledgebase,HelpDesk,etc.)• SupportLocalSupportProviders(training,tier-2tech,buildcommunity• Providedeepsupportinsomeareas(e.g.,cyberinfrastructure)
Humansinthe(Research/Cyberinfrastructure)Loop
• Researchuseofcomputing/CIhashaditsownhistory– Centralized‘supercomputers’– NationalCenters– ‘ClosetClusters’
• PeopleinrolessupportingCIuseinresearchvary– CentralITsystemandapplication-areaexperts– Gradstudents,PostDocs,localstaff– Technicallyinterestedandastutefaculty/researchers
ThePremiseoftheimportanceofHumans
• Themosteffectiveuseoftechnologycomeswhenthosewhouseitarecapableoffullyunderstandingitsuseandapplicationtotheirchallenges
OR…• Thosewhouseitaresupportedbypeoplewhoarecapableoffullyunderstandingitsuseandtheapplicationtothechallengesfacedingivendisciplines
Thislattersituationiswherehumanwareisrelevant
Humanware?• Cyberinfrastructure–definedascomprising“computingsystems,datastoragesystems,advancedinstrumentsanddatarepositories,visualizationenvironments,andpeople,alllinkedtogetherbysoftwareandhighperformancenetworkstoimproveresearchproductivityandenablebreakthroughsnototherwisepossible.”
• In2011,theNationalScienceFoundationAdvisoryCommitteeforCyberinfrastructure(ACCI)TaskForceonCampusBridgingpublisheditsfinalreport,whereintheneedforaddressandfundingofhumanwarewasarticulated.https://www.nsf.gov/cise/oac/taskforces/TaskForceReport_CampusBridging.pdf
WhatthatreportsaidaboutHumanware
“Timeandagain,atalllevelsoftheacquisitionanddeploymentofinformationtechnologythroughthepastseveraldecades,wehaveseenthatwithoutthishumanwarecomponent–thepeoplewhomakealltheothercomponentswork–investmentsmadeinthoseothercomponents–howeversignificantinamounts!–donotrealizetheirfullpotentialwithoutattentiontoandinvestmentinthesupportoftheirusebyscholars.Scholarlyproductivityandknowledgebreakthroughsanddiscovery,howeverenhancedtheymaybebyadvancedcyberinfrastructuredonotreachtheirfullpotentialwithoutthehumanelement.
Aye,there’$therub…
• Whilethereporthighlightstheimportanceoftheneedforhumanware,itdidleaveopenthequestionofwhereresponsibilityforsupportforitsprovisionwouldrest–withfundingagencies,orwiththeinstitutionsthatreceivedfunding?
• Thiskeyquestionremains,andfurtherexplanationandjustificationoftherolepeopleplayisrequiredtoleadtobetteraddressofthisquestion.
A[former]CIO’sview
• Wespenda$-loadofmoneyonbuyingalltheother‘wares’incyberinfrastructure,butarechallengedtodevotefundstohumanware– Institutionsarereluctantforawidevarietyofreasons/challenges– Fundingagencies(NSF,NIH,etc.)aresimilarlyreluctant
• Whyisthat?– “Stuff”canbepurchasedwithone-timemoney(thoughthatconvenientlyignorestheneedtoeventuallyreplaceit)
– “People”requireongoingcommitment(inmostcases)andthatkindofmoneyishardertocomebyinbudgets
What’shappeningatResearchUniversities*
• Pressureintryingtoestablishand/orsustaininvestmentsinCI• ManyprioritiesforcentralITmakingitveryhardtofocusonresearchenablement
• Lackofgoodresearch-savvyITleaders(CIOpipelineissues)• Lackofunderstanding/appreciationforIT/CIamonginstitutionalexecutiveleadership(presidents,provosts,CBOs,Boards)– NothelpedbyalackofgoodROIdataforIT/CIinvestments
*Myopinionasanobserverofhighereducation
Directionsfromfundingagencies(e.g.,NSF)*
• OverallfundingreductionsduetopoliticsintheUSgovernment• Asensethatinvestingincampusinfrastructureissomethinginstitutionsshouldbefundingratherthanaskingforfederalgrants
• Asensethatthe25-yearefforttoestablish,expand,andmaintain‘NationalCenters’(NCSA,SDSC,PSC,TACC,Teragrid/XSEDE)isnotsustainable
• Variousfundingprogramsestablishinga‘toeinthewater’forcloudcreditsasareplacementforcapitalinfrastructure– Someawarenessoftheneedforhumanware
*Myopinionasanobserverofhighereducation
CloudProvidersreachingouttoresearchers
• Amazon,Google,Microsoft(Azure),IBM,etc.• However,allisnotglitteringgold…– Tools,documentation,andsupportarenotgood– Lackofproduct-trainedtechnicalsupport(humanware)– Keychallengeswithovercomingthe‘ka-ching!’elementofcostperuse
Humanwareismorecriticalwiththecloud…Andjustasabsentfromstrategies
• Cloudrequiresevenmoresupportforadoptionandongoinguse
• Especiallytrueifresearcherseventuallyhopetoseethevariousprovidersas‘commodity’…beingabletomovefromonetoanotherbaseduponpricingandperformance
• Peoplearestilla‘base-budget’resource…hardtofundinshrinkingbudgets
• Skilllevelswithcloudenvironmentsarelackingandthevendorsdon’thavegoodprogramsforeducationandcertification– Realchallengesingettingthesesamevendorsengageinpedagogyoncampus– RevisitthestoryofMicrosoftCertificationProgramsinthe1990s
ROIremainshardtograsp*…noBuck$,noBuckRogers
• MetricsforthebenefitsofCI-enablementofresearcharehardtoquantifyandqualify
• Costsaremoredifficulttocontrolinthecloud– Campusallocationandconsumptionversus$/cycleor$/TBcosting
• Scientificdataandanalysisisilluminatingthe‘woodsdarkanddeep’butwehavemilestogobeforewesleep.
• Inmanycases,thereisanintuitivefeelingthatCIinvestmentsadvanceresearch,butitislargelyanactoffaithonthepartofadministrators*Myopinionasanobserverofhighereducation
Whatwe’redoingatIndianaUniversity
Humanware–AdvancingResearchintheCloud(H-ARC)https://humanware.iu.edu/Objectives:1. Tostudyandimprovetheunderstandingwithinthehigher
educationcommunityofhowpeopleinsupportroles– Humanware–advancetheuseofcloud-basedcyberinfrastructure(CI)intheadvancementofresearchatuniversities.
2. Toprovidedetailintheformof‘returnoninvestment’(ROI)oftheuseofcloud-basedCIbyofferingcasestudiesonitsuseascomparedtocampus-basedorexistingnationalCIresources
Humanware–AdvancingResearchintheCloud(H-ARC)• FundedbyMicrosoftthroughJune2020,partofaglobalinitiative
• Platform(vendor)agnostic–lookingathowhumanresourcesimpactadoptionofcloudCI
• Progresstodate–Thisworkshopandthepaperstobepublished
• Plansfornextphases(PartnersinAdvancingResearchintheCloud)
Contact/Links:IndianaUniversity– [email protected]– [email protected]– https://pti.iu.edu– https://humanware.iu.edu/