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Strategic Technologies for the CGIAR in 2009

Revision 2.0

22 September 2008

Enrica Porcari

Chief Information Officer

CGIAR

Enrica Porcari – September 2008 CGIAR Technology Options Page 2

Preface and Acknowledgements – Notes on the first Revision

I am most grateful to those who responded to the first version of this paper and provided some additional technical input and suggestions for improving the organization of the document. In particular, I appreciate the input from the CGIAR IT managers who added new technologies for consideration and who rank-ordered the new set of 33 technical options. I also am grateful to Tania Jordan for summarizing and synthesizing the input from all of the centers. The new technologies include the following and have been added to the original list of 29.

1. Open Source for servers and desktops

2. Storage infrastructure

3. High Performance networking and computing

4. Software as a Service (SaaS)

I am also particularly grateful to the external reviewers - Matt Sharp, Aaron Levine and Mohamoud Jibrell, the chief technology officers of the Packard Foundation, Carnegie Hall, and the Ford Foundation, respectively. Their comments reinforced that we were on the right track and offered additional input on consolidation, cost savings, and reliability. They also offered great advice on taking this document to the next step as part of a strategic planning process.


Foreword

“The whole is more than the sum of its parts” is a phrase which has been repeated for many centuries, and it is certainly applicable to the CGIAR. The CGIAR is a whole in its global mission and is composed of its many centers. The whole and the parts must both work. In preparing this document, I have kept in mind the ongoing reform process within the CGIAR system and tried to look at technologies and business processes which affect both global operations and the operations of individual centers. Working together, we can optimize our resources and produce the best result at the lowest possible cost.

This document is being prepared in advance of the CGIAR IT meeting to be held at ICRISAT-Hyderabad 29 September through 3 October 2008. Its purpose is to present a rational framework for deciding how best to improve IT in the CGIAR as a system, and in centers individually. I try to look at the technologies which the CGIAR might consider and then to evaluate them in terms of the characteristics which are most important for the CGIAR centers, as well as system-wide.

I believe the most important questions to ask are:

• How much does the technology improve the effectiveness of a center’s operation and/or the CGIAR’s mission?

• Will adopting the technology significantly reduce costs over time?

• Can the technology be implemented in a reasonable timeframe with available resources?

• Will the technology improve end users’ productivity and/or satisfaction?

• Can the technology be implemented and sustained on a minimal budget?

These five questions represent dimensions of return on investment (ROI). Do we get effectiveness, productivity or satisfaction? What will the technology, its implementation and its maintenance cost?

In a time of crisis in global food security, when the CGIAR centers are struggling with static or diminished budgets, a rational ROI focus is essential. We do not have the luxury to experiment with unproven technologies. We must produce maximum effectiveness with the minimum necessary expenditure.

29 technologies and business processes evaluated here come from my research of analysts’ reports, the trade press, colleagues at centers, partners, cooperating institutions and collaborators. We added 4 topics suggested by the IT Managers to the list of technologies, so in total there are 33 technologies that were considered in this report.

After each one is described below, it is ranked according to the criteria listed above. Each criterion can have a score from 1 to 5. Adding them up for each technology provides a total score. I then present the top ten strategic CGIAR technologies for 2009.


Potential Technologies and Processes for 2009

Gartner recently identified the “Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2008,” and urged IT executives to think about the risk of not implementing each one. The Gartner items are the first ten in the list below, and each description is adapted from Jon Brodkin , NetworkWorld.com , 10/09/2007. Following the first 10 are issues and ideas put forth in the other sources mentioned above.

1. Green IT. This one is taking on a bigger role for many reasons, including an increased awareness of environmental danger, concern about power bills, regulatory requirements, government procurement rules and a sense that organizations should embrace social responsibility.

2. Unified Communications. UC functionality derives from five core technologies: voicemail, PBXs, e-mail and calendaring, IM, and conferencing and collaboration. The key trends are communications becoming IP-based, analog systems switching to digital, and growing integration among voice, network, storage, sensors and video technologies.

3. Business Process Management. BPM is more of a business discipline than a technology, but it is necessary to make sure the technology of service-oriented architectures (SOA) deliver business value.

4. Metadata Management. Metadata is the foundation for information infrastructure and is found throughout your IT systems: in service registries and repositories, Web semantics, configuration management databases (CMDB), business service registries and in application development.

5. Virtualization 2.0. “Virtualization 2.0” goes beyond consolidation. It simplifies the installation and movement of applications, makes it easy to move work from one machine to another, and allows changes to be made without impacting other IT systems, which tend to be rigid and interlinked. There are also disaster recovery benefits, since the technology lets you restack virtual systems in different orders in recovery centers, providing more flexibility. It’s the Swiss Army knife of our toolkit in IT today.

6. Mashups & Composite Applications. Mashups, a Web technology that combines content from multiple sources, has gone from being a virtual unknown among IT executives to being an important piece of enterprise IT systems.

7. Web Platform & WOA Web-oriented architecture, a version of SOA geared toward Web applications is part of a trend in which the number of IT functions being delivered as a service is greatly expanding beyond the well-known software-as-a-service. Over time, everything may be able to be delivered as a service, including storage and other basic infrastructure needs.

8. Computing Fabrics. Today’s blade server design places memory and processors into a fixed combination inside a blade, and until recently neither memory or processors from one blade could be combined with that of other blades.

9. Real World Web. Increasingly ubiquitous network access with reasonably useful bandwidth is enabling the beginnings of what analysts are calling the “real world Web.” The goal is to augment reality with universal access to information specific to locations, objects or people. An


example is to allow a vacationer to snap a picture of a monument or tourist attraction and immediately receive information about the object, instead of flipping through a travel book.

10. Social Software. Social software like podcasts, video casts, blogs, wikis, social bookmarks and social networking tools, often referred to as Web 2.0, is changing the way people communicate both in social and business settings. The American Red Cross uses Facebook to relay information to and from storm victims and Red Cross volunteers on the ground. They have created an online newsroom powered by the WordPress blogging tool that is dedicated to providing information on flood damages along with a Google Maps mashup that shows where the organization is working. The organization has also created a Twitter channel, a presence on online photo sharing site Flickr and a YouTube channel.

11. Email Archive Appliance. An easy-to-install appliance can keep copies of all internal, external, inbound and outbound mail. This means that users may now have virtually unlimited storage for their email, including import of their .pst files. It also means that they have a self-service method for restoring messages that are unintentionally deleted. Information stores on email servers can be limited to a reasonable size since rules move mail older than a certain age to the archive.

12. BlackBerry, iPhone, ActiveSync. Reading mail while exiting a plane, in a taxi or waiting for food at breakfast is de rigueur for busy staff, and yet still few senior staff in the CGIAR have such devices. They now work in most countries. The BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) is straightforward to install. MS ActiveSync works out of the box with Exchange servers and syncs contacts, emails, calendar, etc.

13. Automated failover for critical network components. Critical switches and routers can be set for automated failover, and relationships between external providers can be set for Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing, so that in the event of an Internet failure, the alternate provider automatically takes over.

14. Highly secure local networks with intrusion prevention. New security threats are constantly emerging. Recently, Chinese hackers were able to penetrate the World Bank. New technologies mitigate the chances of successful attacks, however. In particular, the newer Cisco ASA (Adaptive Security Appliance) incorporates some intrusion prevention, and high-end products like Tipping Point offer advanced capabilities. An interesting VMware-related product is Catbird.

15. Business Continuity. Given the universally increased dependence on email, a system can be set up so that in the event of catastrophic hardware failure, or a software error, end users and management would continue to be able to send and receive email. Similar systems are available for other technologies, such as databases.

16. Exchange to 2007. Many benefits accrue when upgrading from 2003: performance, robustness, separation of roles, easier management. Few problems have been reported for those who have upgraded.

17. Windows Server 2008. Many new features provide cleaner, simpler and more robust services. For example: (1) the small footprint Server Core; (2) built-in Network Access Protection first quarantines and cleans remote user machines before allowing them to log onto the network; (3)


Active Directory Federation Services makes it easier to build relationships between trusted partners. This may provide some relief from the relative isolation of AD.

18. Local SharePoint Services. Some centers currently access hosted SharePoint services, others have in-house services. Pros and cons?

19. New Enterprise Architecture. This would mean to basically redesign the global CGIAR telecommunications system. Enterprise Architecture is the formal organization of the components, structures and processes required or relevant to the attainment of the goals and visions invested or envisioned in an enterprise. Enterprise Architecture is concerned with all aspects of an enterprise with information technology as a sub-context. Enterprise architecture involves developing an architecture framework to describe a series "as-is", "migration plan" and "to-be". Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_architecture)

20. Alternatives to Active Directory. A particular AD design was made several years ago. These original decisions need to be re-examined on a periodic basis. (For a list of AD alternative see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526438.aspx) In addition one might make AD part of a distributed directory. This could be done in many ways and one option is to use a product such as Isode’s M-Vault or an X.500-like product. (Source: http://www.isode.com/whitepapers/active-directory.html)

21. Chargeback. Historically the IT departments at some centers have charged back to other departments for their services. These centers tend to have better funded and more sustainable IT infrastructures. Centers where the IT operation is defined as a cost center have a poorer ability to maintain sufficient funding for their operations.

22. System-wide Software and Service Acquisition. Recent acquisition negotiations have brought Microsoft products to CGIAR centers at an 89% discount. The CGIAR can identify other software, e.g., VMware, and negotiate similar special deals.

23. Periodic Security Scans. One activity which has had significant payoff within the CGIAR is vulnerability scans of individual centers. Many valuable findings have been given to centers. If scheduled on a regular basis, a low-cost contract for security assurance may be possible. We are, after all, experiencing a continued level of threat, including the recent spate of SQL-injection attacks on CGIAR servers.

24. NAC - Network Access Control. The key value proposition of NAC solutions is the ability to prevent end-stations that lack antivirus, patches, or host intrusion prevention software from accessing the network and placing other computers at risk of cross-contamination by network worms. Network Access Control is a computer networking concept and set of protocols used to define how to secure the network nodes prior to the nodes accessing the network. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Access_Control

25. Low cost desktops -- virtualization of desktop. Thin client desktops can reduce IT admin costs, power costs, and perhaps desktop costs.

26. Training programs: These can be of several types: technical for specific software and hardware systems; conceptual/operational for functions such as database design, data sharing


and organization; personal productivity enhancement, such as GTD (Getting Things Done), including how to support such processes using existing software. The latter extends beyond IT to all parts of the organization. IT group could recommend courses, and venues in different countries based on cost and quality based on local experiences. Also, short-term staff seconding or exchange could be considered where applicable.

27. Offline SharePoint. Use Groove to permit staff in hard-to-reach locations to synchronize certain workspaces in SharePoint via Groove for offline use and update.

28. System-wide central IP PBX. Unified Communications mentioned by Gartner could be applied for the CGIAR as a whole, integrated with the Exchange and IM already in operation.

29. Hosted Email. Rather than supporting servers within a center, an outsourced model would be used so that Email would be provided by and outside provider, e.g., Gmail. It is particularly interesting when outsourcing can completely eliminate servers and yield cost reduction.

30. Open Source for Servers and Desktops. Open source has been around for a long time and is similar to similar to “open standards. ” Researchers with access to the ARPANET used a process called Request for Comments to develop telecommunication network protocols. Characterized by contemporary open source work, this 1960's collaborative process led to the birth of the Internet in 1969. The decision by some people in the free software movement to use the label “open source” came out of a strategy session held in Palo Alto, California, in reaction to Netscape's January 1998 announcement of a source code release for Navigator. They used the opportunity before the release of Navigator's source code to free themselves of the ideological and confrontational connotations of the term free software.Today the term is used in many contexts and the bottom line, is that some software may be available to the CGIAR at relatively low cost via this route. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source)

31. Storage Infrastructure. Until recently, Storage Area Networks (SANs) were generally very expensive due in part to the need for connections via Fiber Channel. Now major vendors (Netapps, EMC, etc.) offer connections via iSCSI, and NFS. Network attached storage (NAS) prices have also fallen dramatically. The CGIAR is in a good position for a group purchase or obtaining group pricing -- and certainly for information sharing. Also, the move to VMware cannot take place without good coupling with a storage infrastructure.

32. High Performance Networking and Computing. The current era of supercomputing combines very large numbers of heterogeneous computers on networks to create a virtual supercomputer. Many academic institutions and private companies are therefore moving compute-intensive applications from the LAN to the Web. Certain entities within the CGIAR require substantial computing resources. Investments in this area have been made. With what results? Should the CGIAR keep up on this trend and take advantage of this new option when possible?

33. Software as a Service (SaaS) is a model of software deployment where an application is hosted as a service provided to customers across the Internet. By eliminating the need to install and run the application, the expense of software maintenance, ongoing operation, and support can conceivably reduce the overall cost. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_as_a_Service) In the CGIAR, there are numerous applications might be considered SaaS: hosted mailboxes, salesforce.com for CRM, hosted mail security, etc.


1. Evaluating the Options

As mentioned above, I have devised a rating system to consider which should be pursued with highest priority.

The attributes or dimensions for rating are:

Effectiveness Extent to which the technology improves the effectiveness of the operation of the centers and/or CGIAR’s mission.

Cost reduction Extent to which the technology provides significant cost reduction

Practicality Extent to which the technology can be done in a reasonable timeframe with available resources.

User Satisfaction Extent to which the technology improves the productivity of the end user

Low Cost Extent to which the technology can be done on a minimal budget.

Each of these is rated on a scale from 1 to 5. A rating of: “5, 5, 5, 5, 5” would mean: High Effectiveness, provides high cost reduction, is very practical and easy to implement in a short time, adds to user satisfaction, and is low cost.

Clearly, it can be argued that all of these criteria are not of equal weight. One might say that effectiveness should be 40 percent of the score and user satisfaction only 10 percent, for example. The purpose of this paper is to begin a debate, however, not end one, so too much specificity is of little benefit at this stage, particularly since agreement on the precise weights is unlikely, anyway.


2. Candidate Technologies and Services of Highest Value for CGIAR

Evaluating the 33 technologies, each of which is described below, produced the following ranking in my rating:

Technology Score Effective Cost Reduce Practical

User Satisfaction

Low Cost

System-wide Software and Service Acquisition 25 5 5 5 5 5

Email Archive Appliance 21 5 3 5 5 3

Chargeback 19 3 3 5 3 5

Virtualization 2.0 18 2 5 5 3 3

Storage Infrastructure ̊̊̊̊̊̊ 18 4 3 5 3 3

Social Software 18 3 1 4 5 5

Training Programs 18 3 3 5 3 4

BlackBerry, iPhone, ActiveSync 17 1 5 1 5 5

Hosted Email 17 3 4 4 3 3

Upgrade to Exchange 2007 17 4 1 5 4 3

Periodic Security Scans 15 2 2 5 2 4

SaaS ̊ 15 3 2 4 3 3

Unified Communications 13 3 2 2 5 1

Mashups & Composite Applications 13 4 1 3 2 3

Offline SharePoint 13 2 1 3 4 3

Local SharePoint Services 13 2 2 5 1 3

Low-cost Desktops 12 1 3 3 2 3

Business Continuity 12 2 1 4 3 2

Green IT 10 1 2 3 2 2

Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 10 3 1 3 2 1

Auto-failover for Critical Network Components 10 3 1 3 2 1

High Performance Networking and Computing ̊ 9 2 1 2 2 2

Metadata Management 9 4 1 1 2 1

Open Source for Servers and Desktops ̊ 9 2 1 2 2 2

System-wide Central IP PBX 8 1 2 3 1 1

Secure Local Networks with Intrusion Prevention 7 2 1 2 1 1

Computing Fabrics 6 1 1 2 1 1

Real World Web 6 1 1 2 1 1

Business Process Management 6 1 1 2 1 1

NAC - Network Access Control 5 1 1 1 1 1

Alternatives to Active Directory 5 1 1 1 1 1

New Enterprise Architecture 5 1 1 1 1 1

Web Platform & WOA 5 1 1 1 1 1


When adding the results of the IT managers’ survey the rating looked as follows:

Technology Enrica IT managers Added

1 System-wide Software and Service Acquisition 25 24.09 49.09

2 Email Archive Appliance (xxx) 21 21.72 42.72

3 Virtualization 2.0 18 23.45 41.45

4 Storage Infrastructure ̊̊̊̊̊̊(xxx) 18 22.9 40.9

5 Chargeback 19 20.45 39.45

6 Training Programs 18 20.45 38.45

7 Hosted Email (YYY) 17 21.45 38.45

8 Social Software 18 19 37

9 SaaS ̊(YYY) 15 21.81 36.81

10 Periodic Security Scans 15 21.45 36.45

11 BlackBerry, iPhone, ActiveSync 17 19.18 36.18

12 Upgrade to Exchange 2007 17 17.36 34.36

13 Mashups & Composite Applications 13 19.72 32.72

14 Low-cost Desktops 12 20.72 32.72

15 Business Continuity 12 20.09 32.09

16 Unified Communications 13 18.72 31.72

17 Offline SharePoint 13 18.18 31.18

18 Auto-failover for Critical Network Components 10 21.09 31.09

19 Local SharePoint Services 13 17.63 30.63

20 High Performance Networking and Computing ̊ 9 20.63 29.63

21 Metadata Management 9 20.45 29.45 22 Open Source for Servers and Desktops ̊ 9 19.9 28.9 23 Green IT 10 18.45 28.45 24 Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 10 17.45 27.45 25 Business Process Management 6 21.18 27.18

26 Secure Local Networks with Intrusion Prevention 7 19.36 26.36

27 Web Platform & WOA 5 19.09 24.09 28 NAC - Network Access Control 5 18.81 23.81 29 Computing Fabrics 6 17.72 23.72 30 System-wide Central IP PBX 8 15.18 23.18 31 New Enterprise Architecture 5 17.63 22.63 32 Alternatives to Active Directory 5 17.45 22.45 33 Real World Web 6 16.18 22.18

I divided the group roughly into thirds, with the top third becoming the “Ten Technologies for 2009”. The resemblance of this chart to the author’s national flag is coincidental ☺

Note: the items marked with XXX and YYY were grouped in the same category, which allowed Periodic Security Scans and SaaS to be included in the “Ten Technologies for 2009”. The IT Managers ranking had an extra column called: ‘Risk Mitigation’ that was included in their survey.


3. Ten Technologies for 2009

The specific reasons for choosing each of these ten technologies are described below. It is interesting to note that system-wide software and service acquisition, Email Archive appliance (as part of the Storage infrastructure) and Virtualization are in the top tier technologies.

Of the other leading technologies: Chargeback, Training programs and social software; are three well-established business practices that are of interest and all have great potential for improving the cost-effectiveness of our IT. The last 4 leading technologies: Periodic Security scans, mobile devices like the BlackBerry and the Exchange 2007 upgrade represent major trends sweeping the IT world. Collectively, these ten represent a good agenda for prioritized action.

1. System-wide Software and Service Acquisition

Effectiveness Cost Reduction

Practicality User Satisfaction

Low Cost

In the past few years we were able to centrally arrange for purchases of Microsoft products at highly discounted rates. Changes in Microsoft licensing schemes mean that now each center needs to procure locally. Although prices of the new internationally available charity scheme are very competitive we lost the ability to have a central procurement platform, and therefore a system-wide calculation of savings. Still system-wide bargaining for prices can be very effective, as other purchases have also shown over the years. The practice also saves time and effort that each center would have to expend to negotiate separately. Central negotiation also results in fewer suppliers, which can simplify administration. The practice is already established and practical, and users get the benefits.

2. Email Archive Appliance as part of the Storage Infrastructure



Low Cost

Storage needs in centers have grown dramatically and cost for storage had decreased dramatically. All centers responding to our surveyed listed this as a need. Its effectiveness is high, its practicality is high. It is basically cost neutral in terms of cost reduction and low cost, since this is an item that will be needed in any case. Users should not notice a vast difference.

Adding archiving solves the problem or having to limit users’ email storage. Users can keep gigabytes of email without making the size of the information store outrageous. IT administrators no longer have to hound users to reduce the size of their mailboxes. Mail older than a certain time is automatically moved


to an archive. Users access the archive separately, can recover their own deleted messages, and move their .pst’s back to a central location, meaning that they have remote access to these older messages. Until recently, however, the cost of archiving has been high, but new appliances are bringing this down to acceptable levels.

3. Virtualization 2.0.

Effectiveness Cost Reduction Practicality User Satisfaction Low Cost

Virtualization is the single biggest administrative improvement which can be made within centers. End users will not notice dramatic changes in their day-to-day work, but they should experience better performance and reliability. Cost reduction in terms of server consolidation can be dramatic; the use of VMware is intrinsically neutral. User satisfaction will not be dramatically impacted since this is a backroom application.

4. Chargeback



Low Cost

Chargeback systems, which are already established at some centers, and are therefore familiar and practical, contribute to cost savings in two ways. They provide users an incentive not to waste IT resources and they provide a better fit between what is provided and what is paid for. They have the further advantage of allowing better responses in emergencies, because it may not be necessary to hunt for money before something can be fixed. Users may experience some feelings of limitations, but they probably will have more effective services overall.


5. Training Programs



Low Cost

While some software continues to be simple for some to learn and use, other software, and the management of related data has become more complex and dependent on proper use. Thus, the familiar tool of training sessions can have a big payoff both for user satisfaction, once they bother to learn, and for organizational effectiveness. Since training is labor intensive, it is not cheap, and it may take a while to see results, but the alternative of what can happen to some systems because of poor use is by now often all too clear. Some may not even be adequately adopted, even after considerable expense for development.

6. Hosted Email (a SaaS example)



Low Cost

Software as a Service (SaaS)


SaaS is the leading edge of the trend to a “Web platform,” which is at the bottom of my list, below. This more mature part of that trend clearly is appropriate for applications such as hosted email, and we can expect more and more applications to successfully be implemented in the cloud in the near future. As they are, they have the advantage of providing centralized hosting, applications support and economies of scale that are no longer held back by as many limits of connectivity. Clearly, areas of the world where connectivity is still limited may be the last to benefit from this.

Better bandwidth, local caching and RPC over HTTP have all improved the performance of hosted email, compared to using a local server. The costs of hosted email have come down, while its functionality has risen. The technology is well-known and practical. Currently, the CGIAR has hundreds of mailboxes


hosted at CGNET. Over 400 users have participated in a case study of Google Mail for the CGIAR. Users benefit from 24/7 administration and hosts located near fast, reliable Internet trunks, resulting in more reliable service more easily accessible at home or on the road. As email has become central to organizations’ functioning, any improvement in it improves the organization’s effectiveness. Major payoffs occur when hosted mail replaces an entire physical server and all the associated expenses. Other SaaS options could be reviewed.

7. Social Software



Low Cost

Social software, also known as Web 2.0 technology, has become extremely popular with consumers, and it is now becoming similarly popular as it begins to be used for organizational purposes. The adoption rate in the CGIAR is very high (RSS, Blogs, Wikis are now a regular feature on CGIAR sites). Since so much of it resides at free or inexpensive sites on the Internet, it is quite cheap, and even in-house implementations may be inexpensive because much of it is open source. Much of the software has also been around long enough to be fairly reliable, and therefore practical. The key to whether the software leads to organizational effectiveness is getting people to participate – skills needed shift from technical to organizational. How can the IT group position itself in this area? How can we help centers retain the knowledge that is generated through these new tools?

8. Periodic Security Scans


A vulnerability scan is a cost-effective way to know whether you’ve configured and patched everything to close up possible vulnerabilities. There are so many possible vulnerabilities these days that trying to keep track of them all without an automated scan is an administrative nightmare. Our networks do remain threatened, however, so something has to be done. Users won’t notice it. Organizational effectiveness won’t change, and it involves more money, except, of course, if you don’t maintain security and something goes really wrong. The good news is that the cost of scans is coming down, particularly if they are part of a long-term service.


9. BlackBerry, iPhone, ActiveSync


Reading email without having to hook up the laptop can be extremely efficient. Furthermore, the mobile devices allow flexibility so that mail can be read in unproductive time – waiting in line or while waiting for the plane to depart. For the hard pressed for time, these make life easier. An increasing number of mobile phone companies offer EDGE or GPRS data transmission, in parts of about 140 countries, so use is becoming much more practical. The major drawback is the cost of the monthly data service, which varies from country to country and is still quite high in some. The costs of connecting to organizational email are relatively low, however, particularly with ActiveSync.

10. Upgrade to Exchange 2007



Low Cost

Exchange 2007 has been around long enough by now to be properly rated safe and practical. Its benefits also are real, including better performance from its 64-bit architecture, increased robustness, separation of roles, and easier management. Users will find new features if they use it with Outlook 2007, SharePoint, RSS or other technologies. With the Microsoft discounts, the cost is relatively low, too. And then of course, there is the fact that Exchange 2003’s “end of life” is approaching with mainstream support scheduled to end on 14 April 2009. (http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-us&p1=1773&x=9&y=12)


4. The Middle 11: Good Suggestions with Some Issues

The technologies in the middle tier are generally good including solid ideas with cost issues such as Business Continuity or Unified Communications. It is very possible that the costs and risks will decline over time. Some of these ideas are probably ready for at least limited implementation today, perhaps on a center-by-center basis. We should examine these closely and adopt them in specific appropriate circumstances.

11. Mashups & Composite Applications


Mashups allow organizations to use other organizations’ data and applications in combination with their own. As such, they can provide useful services with much less labor than doing it yourself. Since mashups are usually new services, there is little or no cost reduction, but organizational effectiveness and user satisfaction can be achieved at low cost. One threat to practicality is that the organization depends on the continued existence and quality of the external partner.

12. Low-cost Desktops



Low Cost

If they are properly designed, and if they are implemented within the normal replacement cycle, low-cost desktops can contribute significantly to cost reduction. The practice is familiar and practical. Users may not like it at first, but they will eventually come around, particularly as more and more of what they do resides “in the cloud.” Effectiveness will stay the same for a lower investment.

13. Business Continuity



Each organization has to answer for itself how long it can tolerate being without email or another critical service. For some, the answer has become “not at all.” Certainly, users will complain as soon as they can’t get their email. The main objection to implementing business continuity systems has been their cost, which continues to be significant, even though it is far below what it was a few years ago. Implementations are also well established and doable. New technologies such as PlateSpin and products combined with VMware promise to lower the costs some more. Once the decision is made to implement a business continuity system, synergies with offsite backup and archiving are also possible.

14. Unified Communications


Unified Communications scores high on user satisfaction because it’s all about making communications more convenient and easier to manage. In theory, this also ought to contribute to better organizational effectiveness, because there will be less delay in coordinating operations. Within IT, this will mean additional costs, not reductions, and how low the cost is will depend on the state of the infrastructures to be combined. If Voice over IP has not been implemented, for example, the costs of implementing it have to be factored in. The technology has receded from the cutting edge and is much more practical to implement than a few years ago.

15. Offline SharePoint


Users, particularly in geographically distributed locations with unreliable Internet connections, may find it difficult to access SharePoint effectively at all times. By combining SharePoint with Groove, another technology acquired by Microsoft, it is possible to create a system to download relevant parts of the SharePoint site to one’s local computer. This allows use while disconnected, something users would like and which would contribute to organizational effectiveness. The trade-off is that users have to learn another system, Groove is memory hungry and some additional administration is required.

16. Automated Failover for Critical Network Components

Effectiveness Cost Reduction Practicality User Satisfaction


Low Cost

The more dependent centers become on the Internet, the more Internet links and their related routers and switches need to be configured redundantly. Like most security technologies, the savings are in avoiding failures, not enhancing the usual level of work. But it’s unrealistic to pretend that outages don’t happen. In some countries they are still all too frequent. Thus, while added costs are involved and links in some locations may not be cheap, added effectiveness overall is the result.

17. Local SharePoint Services


Windows SharePoint Services come free with Windows Server 2003 and 2008. Thus, it is possible to implement them locally without much cost or trouble. The cost and trouble comes after that, when administration is taken into account, depending on how much user support is included. In addition, gains to performance may not be that great, particularly if members of the site are not all local. Implementing Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS), the next step in functionality beyond WSS, carries a higher administrative burden and price tag, which should be considered carefully.

18. High Performance networking and computing


The key question about this technology is whether the advantages for specific applications can justify the expenditure for infrastructure by the entire organization. Some scientific studies could be furthered by this, but most of a center’s business and users probably would not. Again, investments in CGIAR centers have been made: what are the results?


19. Metadata Management


In theory, organizational effectiveness should be significantly improved if an effective metadata management system is functioning effectively. Unfortunately, the technology is still far from mature and even lacks a consensus about best practices. Much of the work is in matching the organization’s particular data constellations with taxonomies, which is a labor-intensive task not only at implementation but on an ongoing basis to keep the system consistent. User satisfaction may be high while finding information and low while being required to apply classifications to their own work. Cost savings will be difficult to quantify, but the availability and accessibility of our information would be greatly improved. Following the CGIAR mandate of making our research outputs more available and accessible, metadata management should take a higher place in the ranking.

20. Open Source for Servers and Desktops


While the theory of open source has always been appealing, the resources to back up open source applications, in terms of features, service and support, have rarely been available. Despite the success of Linux and Apache, open-source office and database applications have not fared as well. Thus, while the initial cost may be low, additional support for developers and consultants may be needed. Users will have to adapt to new interfaces, and in some cases reliability may be an issue.


5. The End of the List

The value of the technologies and processes at the bottom of the list is likely to be disputed. like for example, ideas containing an element of risk such as Green IT or Upgrading to Windows Server 2008. Analysts seem to love concepts than end in “management,” whether they begin with “business process” or “metadata” or “knowledge” some might argue. “Enterprise” and “architecture” are two other such words. Perhaps one could write a white paper entitled, “The Management of an Enterprise Business Process Metadata Architecture (EBPMA).” It will not, however, be me. I have no desire to initiate a process that will create nothing more than a feeding frenzy for consultants.

Another thing that lowered the ranking of some of these ideas is the amount of coordination among centers that would be necessary to implement them, such as a system-wide Central IP PBX, making AD part of a distributed directory, or new enterprise architecture.

Some of the ideas on this list probably got here because of another bias of the trade press, which is to feature bleeding-edge technologies that appeal mostly to large corporations or masses of consumers. To this category I consign Computing Fabrics, Real World Web, and Web Platform & WOA. Perhaps they will be relevant to us later.

Finally, a couple of the items on the list may deserve better. As technology improves, for example, intrusion prevention technology may become cheaper and more practical.

21. Green IT


Green IT may be the most difficult technology to rate by these criteria. Users may not see improvements such as virtualization or power-saving servers in the data center, and they may be inconvenienced by having to turn off workstations and monitors and unplug them. On the other hand, they probably will like the overall effect of using less energy. Cost reductions are a trade-off between increased capital expenses for green technology and lower operating costs, particularly for energy. As for effectiveness, operations may not be changed, but the organization’s carbon footprint will be less.

22. Upgrade to Windows Server 2008



Low Cost


Although it’s newer, Windows Server 2008 is getting good reviews. In addition to included VM functionality, it offers better remote access, improved security, an improved TCP/IP stack that performs better in low-bandwidth situations, better Web support and easier administration. There’s a lot of potential here for increasing organizational effectiveness, and upgrading to it sometime in the future is probably inevitable. The only question is when.

23. Business Process Management


Whenever networked applications are designed, questions of workflow, change management and the application’s relationship to the underlying infrastructure have to be considered. Whether elevating these concerns to the level of Business Process Management makes sense in organizations like CGIAR centers, as opposed to Fortune 1000 corporations, is doubtful, however.

24. Highly Secure Local Networks with Intrusion Prevention


Newer network devices, such as routers, are building in increasingly effective authentication and other services to enhance LAN security. Whether to wait until a device will be replaced for other reasons or to renovate for security’s sake probably depends on a good assessment of how secure the LAN is now.

25. Web Platform & WOA


As several of the technologies considered here illustrate, there is a strong trend towards software as a service, extending ultimately to a place where all server-side services may be offered effectively over the Web. It is worth keeping this in mind as a long-term approach, as, in fact, we have been doing for some time, but measuring against these five criteria requires consideration of solutions at a more specific level.


26. NAC - Network Access Control


To the extent that users at a center are mobile, the need definitely exists for some technology to protect the local area network and the devices on it from attacks through attached mobile devices. One approach to this is network access control, which focuses on the state of the computer wishing to access the network prior to and following access. Dozens of vendors offer network access control products, but whether this approach is the best one is still a matter of debate.

27. Computing Fabrics


If you are implementing blade servers, the additional flexibility provided by computing fabrics may be relevant. Otherwise, it’s not.

28. System-wide Central IP PBX


In theory, installing a system-wide central IP PBX is becoming more practical as VoIP technology matures. In practice, it would depend on the dependability and quality of the connectivity among the centers. Users would probably have learned to use a new telecommunications system, although they probably would get more functionality. Organizational effectiveness would remain the same.

29. New Enterprise Architecture



Practicality User Satisfaction Low Cost

Since thinking in terms of the overall CGIAR mission in terms of the relationship between its practices and its technologies, in the broadest sense, is what an Enterprise Architecture entails, it is probably unrealistic to see any of the criteria listed here as being met by 2009 and more appropriate to consider it as a long-term view.

30. Alternatives to Active Directory


The CGIAR centers are basically Microsoft shops and require AD for all sorts of applications. It is useful to look at alternative designs. We must acknowledge, however, that this analysis would be expensive and unlikely to result in cost reduction. To change to a different AD design, e.g., multiple forests, or to have AD as part of distributed directory services is possible but would require a massive amount of work. End users are likely to notice little effect. If particular applications were to be developed within the CGIAR, or by an organization with which the CGIAR or a center wished to cooperate, the question of integrating a distributed directory with AD might become more relevant.

31. Real World Web


For the foreseeable future, the “real world Web” looks more like a consumer play than a project for a CGIAR center. Web-based applications that can be accessed from mobile devices may be another matter, particularly as EDGE and GPRS become widely diffused through the mobile network. But that really is another matter.


6. Summary

For the purpose of stimulating discussion, I have presented 33 technologies and business processes that in the end resulted in 31 technologies since we merged some 2 of the similar topics that rated high to allow other diverse technologies to be in the TOP 10. The list is not complete, but there are clearly some interesting items here. I have rated them on the five criteria of effectiveness, cost reduction, practicality, user satisfaction and low cost and ranked them based on the technologies’ performance in all those areas.

At this point, the highest rated technologies and processes comprise:

System-wide Software and Service Acquisition; Email Archive Appliance as part of the Storage Infrastructure; Virtualization 2.0; Chargeback; Training Programs; Hosted Email (a SaaS example); Social Software; Periodic Security Scans; BlackBerry, iPhone, ActiveSync and Upgrade to Exchange 2007

It is significant that among some of the major trends in the industry, such as mobile devices, storage infrastructure and virtualization, organizational processes like training, chargeback and software acquisition rate so high. This underlines how much of IT is dependent on the organization, how its change can be managed, what budgets it allocates and how it manages costs. Speculating on the appeal of new technologies cannot ignore this.

The middle tier is filled with specific technologies with considerable appeal, but which require decisions about their cost-effectiveness.

Mashups & Composite Applications, Low-cost Desktops, Business Continuity, Unified Communications, Offline SharePoint, Automated Failover for Critical Network Components, Local SharePoint Services, Highly Secure Local Networks with Intrusion Prevention, Metadata Management, and Open Source for Servers and Desktops.

It is possible that technologies addressing security concerns may be underrated, because their impact on an organization’s effectiveness only appears in their absence, when the hackers succeed or the data center goes down. Other technologies, such as Green IT may not satisfy the criteria here as much as the organization’s overall commitment to dealing with climate change, which has not usually been a component of ROI but may become more so soon. Some of these, such as upgrading to Windows Server 2008, may become more appealing as the technologies mature quickly.

The items at the end of the list comprise:

Green IT, Upgrade to Windows Server 2008, Business Process Management, Secure Local Networks with Intrusion Prevention, Web Platform & WOA, NAC - Network Access Control, Computing Fabrics, System-wide Central IP PBX, New Enterprise Architecture, Alternatives to Active Directory and Real World Web.

These technologies are largely characterized by their complexity and novelty. Thus, they tend to score low on criteria closely related to return on investment and practicality.


These ratings are certainly not final; my sincere hope is that by presenting them, it begins a specific discussion about how the CGIAR centers, individually and collectively, can adopt new technologies and practices to support our critical mission with reasonable cost-effectiveness.

Documents

Strategic Technologies for the CGIAR in 2009 final 2ictkm.cgiar.org/document_library/program_docs/Strategic Technologi… · 4. Software as a Service (SaaS) I am also particularly