Strategic planning and execution from Vassilios Moulakakis

Bi governance v moulakakis from Vassilios Moulakakis

16 Traits of Great IT Leaders If you want to succeed as an IT leader you have to develop a set of traits that will serve you and those around you. Industry leaders and career experts share their thoughts on what behaviors make an IT leader great. CIO, By Rich Hein Wed, October 23, 2013

My Business & IT strategic ideas within a BOX

Modern Government System for Social Solidarity

The Greek state must be able to act for the future both from a fiscal and social  prism , combine growth with solidarity, compose a performance management system for success some recommendations follow...

Before analyzing the future of Government the ....

bottom line:  the culture of performance improvement is more important than the compliance with many procedural requirements.

Goverment 2.0 for success....

 “where do we go from here?”

Recommendation 1:  Connect the performance system to public service motivation.  The goal of any performance management system is to improve performance by creating a culture that thrives on incredible performance.  The systems, processes, and procedures that commonly accompany any performance management system are intended to help frame it.  They, however, do not produce performance.  S

 what many successful leaders have done:  select clear goals that motivate employees, make goals become the glue that holds networks together, connect each employee’s job to program beneficiaries, celebrate success, and link to employee incentive systems.

Each of these elements is the job of mission leaders, not process managers.



Recommendation 2: Build a learning culture.  Successful performance systems thrive when an organizational culture supports performance management.  Doing this in practice, however, means creating an environment where there is continuous learning.

Recommendation 3:  Balance top-down targets with bottom-up innovations.  The top-down goal-setting aspect of the federal performance system is clear. The federal government has done less well in systematically capturing bottom-up knowledge.

Three actions:

learn from network members who are from multiple levels in the organization;
use benchmarking to identify what works and spread it;

and disseminate lessons, not just data, on how to improve performance.

Recommendation 4:  Integrate program evaluation into the performance management system.

While performance measures can tell leaders “what” is going on, but it requires program evaluation to explain “why” something is occurring.  Both are necessary elements in a data-informed decision-making process.  Government agencies must be redefined “performance information” to include program evaluation.....incorporating evaluation expertise into performance discussions.

Recommendation 5:  Ensure leaders are committed to performance management.
One of the clearest research findings about performance management is that such systems are more likely to succeed when agency leaders are perceived as committed to the performance system, or achieving  results in general.
Performance champions within each agency, starting with the agency’s chief operating officer.
Government should select leaders for these positions based on their performance management skills and whether the individuals have experience in “managing with data.”

Recommendation 6:  Connect with MPs and Social groups.  While MPs must  legislated the federal performance management system, it has not been a consistent user or champion of it.

Parliament  has a responsibility to engage” by developing ways to coordinate input to agencies across its multiple committees and subcommittees with jurisdiction over various agencies.
Agencies more systematically MUST involve external stakeholders in providing input into the development of agency strategic goals.

Test new practices to identify what works

Adjust and reallocate resources or change practices based on evidence of what works

Constantly ask if there are lower cost options for getting the job done, and

Share information publicly to “enhance accountability and facilitate understanding of the services government provides.”

Government Evolution through performance management framework  and social success.


Vassilis Moulakakis

Over the Top TV : the Business Model for Social TV

The Business Model of IPTV is actually the integration of TV Business Model, IP Business Model and WEB media entertainment model, merged with the conception of manageable and operable telecommunication. In short, the Business Model of IPTV results from the process of conflict and convergence among the four mature but different Business Models. The Business Model of TV evolves with the emergence of DTV, iTV, VOD, VCD and DVD industry. Each of them is different from the other with more complexity and vagueness. The technology of VoIP and Internet is subversive for traditional telecommunication model. When the packet switching is destabilizing the Business Model of the traditional PSTN, it brings about a lot of new types of Business Models (for example, the 77 types of Business Model for Internet). WEB media entertainment is also called as the "4th-Dimension Operation", which introduces the traditional media substance consumption mode to a virtual world with digital environment, as the Newtonian mechanics to Einstein theory of relativity. There are many changes in the field of operation management with a lot of concepts beyond the traditional operable and manageable realm. In the 4D space, you can find many things like digital "earth", "space-time", "asset", "emotion" or "desire" which are endowed with human value. Such values can be equivalently traded with the value in the 3D world, to build a unique commuting bridge between the two operation spaces, known as the "consumption value". The telecommunication mode contains duality. On one hand, it operates as a traditional network providing network capability such as bandwidth, MOU, ports, lines and etc. And on the other hand, it should have the ability of post-NGN service provision, the network service delivery capability like service production, service management and service execution. Both have the characteristics of manageability and operability. This is the core competency of telecommunication. The internet industries that have made profit on mobility have proved this point. Moreover, telecommunication does not expect to be a "pipeline" which only provides network carrying capability, but want to gradually transform into a service capability provider. The Business Model of IPTV develops into a brand new Profit Model on the basis of the non-operation TV mode and the anarchical internet model, by merging with the communication-level manageable and operable model and exploring the new mode for digital entertainment/media. Many operators' superficial knowledge about operation rules and their habitual understanding of their Profit Model result in the egotism remark on themselves. In regard to a carrier, IPTV may change its revenue index but could not easily change its Business Model because of its lack of objective understanding and neutral standpoint in convergence. Many issues related with convergence arise from resource control instead of basic laws. If it is difficult to change the internal and external environment, it will not be easy to change the Business Model. IPTV is also characterized in its value chain operation. No one in the chain can solely control the whole profit chain regardless to the time of "network-dominant" or "content-dominant" or "entertainment-dominant". The distribution to the entire value chain must be provided through a manageable, operable and deliverable service system. This is the core competency of IPTV. Without the conception of operation and service, no value can be effectively delivered to the clients. Therefore, the core of IPTV operation is to build a communication-class service operation system, fairly distributed and merged with all the related types of Operation Models with fast deliverability. The value chain model shown illustrates the overall relationship and important opportunity of IPTV. The difference in the value chain will be reflected by the difference in operation, investment, management and profit of each operator. The success of IPTV does not mean to put the above-mentioned four modes together - "building blocks". .... ASK ME FOR FURTHER EXPLANATION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IPTV : the Operation Model IPTV is not TV- as TV does not have such a value chain or Operation Model. IPTV takes only the consumption experience of TV. The so-called IPTV Operation Model will mainly focus on the essential difference between IP Operation Model and TV Operation Model. It will also focus on the conflict among the mix of operations. This kind of contradiction is objective in terms of the two traditional operation systems. This new mode is challenging that needs to be explored. From the system perspective, IPTV does not fit in with the broadcast & TV operators themselves, because the operation and the HFC resource which they are familiar with are not suitable to be used to develop interactive TV business. Furthermore, the operation of broadcast & TV does not have the so-called operation supporting system in telecommunication operation. In addition, there is some misunderstanding about IPTV. Since 2M plus bandwidth is enough to transmit TV-level programs, it is natural to provide network TV by providing wider bandwidth and more ARPU. The motivation of IPTV is because of the "comparative abundant bandwidth". The main objective of broadband operators is to find a new Business Model for broadband operation, while the traditional TV operators expect to provide more flexible inactive functions than broadcasting and to extend the scope of media though WEB. Relatively in the light of telecommunication, the "operation" of IP or TV, hardly has the "operation concept" in - built. Telecommunication predominates itself by providing reliable and manageable services whereas the traditional Internet does need any operator. Traditional TV operates is a Flat Rate. This is way beyond the telecom operation. The concept of "IPTV" is born congenitally deficient as all the three types of traditional operation method are not proper for IPTV operation, either respectively or together. Usually, the consumer development procedure of IPTV starts from TV transferring, i.e., transferring the traditional TV services or TV-like services into the environment of IP broadband to appeal to the market by the concept of TV popularity. Due to the restriction in bandwidth, IPTV was never a "TV" before. So the next step is to add interactive services form iTV mode. IPTV should eventually aim to create an interactive visual entertainment mode. IPTV seeks to create an interactive visual entertainment mode by including telecom capabilities with services such as teleconference, finally evolving into an integrated media and entertainment operation. Based on the four business sub-models for IPTV, there are movie model, internet multimedia portal model, digital entertainment center model, and NGO model for Operation Model. These models may merge somewhere but disharmonize elsewhere depending on the development vision and the plan of operators. The management and provision of stream media service is quite different from that of narrow band and common band service. The variance among solutions and the sequence of solutions of the following key technologies will lead to different modes of operation: multi-cast, DRM, IP billing/dynamic billing, service provision/delivery, service filtering, service portfolio/cross, service-on-demand, content management, service management, service QoS/security guarantee, service protection, service authentication/identification, CRM and so on- all major and influential elements of new Operation Model. IPTV operation is a kind of operation that may carry off the palm in content. In the field of service operation, the following issues have to be solved from any BM point of view: the relationship between digital media service and other operational service; unified operation CRM (the same customer segment) and unified billing. The first issue basically sets the tone of IPTV operation; the latter two issues are the core of digital media service operation. With respect to the access of IPTV or the "channel" by which telecom is consumed should naturally be broadband. The higher the traffic, the more you may feel the role of telecom as a channel. How to satisfy those individualized requirements in the digital media market? The "CRM" with customer consumption behavior as the core and the corresponding billing system will be the master key of IPTV operation. Certainly, to operate IPTV needs to solve the issues about business environment and value chain: ASON (Automatic Switching Optical Network) is used from the core layer to the "edge" router of network. Even VoIP cannot guarantee its QoS. The rate of ADSL may sometimes be only dozens of kbps or a maximum of 1M. The quality of image is substantially lower than that of TV/DTV. It has taken VoIP about 8 years to get into commercial application. Accordingly, it should take IPTV at least 3-5 years or longer to reach the commercial phase. The rate of IP is booming but is not high enough to carry the stream media distribution. The investment in IPTV network varies from that of TV network. They have different Business Models. The investment in IPTV value chain is a long way off in terms of TCO! Especially as the content management and service platform are not yet consistent with the projected income. The cost for telecom companies to enter digital media entertainment is pretty high – and is not as simple a calculation as CAPEX of media network. If the following issues were not solved, there will always be obstacles in IPTV operation which may influence tremendously both the IPTV Operation Model and the Profit Model. Namely, the content sources, quantity & quality, cost of each piece (TV episode/movie), number of concurrent usage, network cost, operation right, joint management, network support (network investment scale and benefit), digital IPR management, industry chain, platform support, content and resource creation, user development, terminal and so on. -------------------------------------------------------------- IPTV : the Profit Model The factors of Profit Model are tradeoffs between supply and demand (the supply should match the demand on both quality and quantity. The supply should be continuous.), justified charge (pricing, billing, charging, distribution) and effective delivery (cutover, management, implementation). On close observing them you may find IPTV encountering many barriers in respect to the above factors. The basic principle of IPTV Profit Model is to satisfy the customer's real requirements instead of "roaming around" in the world of digital media, to accurately segment the users by consumption behavior, to deliver the "product" catering to the segmentation, and to design the consumption and payment package in line with the principle of segmentation value maximization so as to maximize and validate the overall long term interest. On account of the complexity of IPTV Business Model and the irregularity of consumption, what the users require for digital media is in accord with the principle of "non-predictable". In that the consumption of digital media is on the basis of experience economy, the consumption behavior of individuals is various. The interest will constantly change according to the consumption market. Factitious and simple grouping or subjective and groundless conclusion will be doomed to failure. The issue of consistency between requirement and product will be solved, when there is a system that can objectively, accurately, and effectively match millions of segmentations to millions of digital media products. This system can satisfy the target customers by fetching their requested value timely and accurately in a sea of media products. news -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE JOOST PHENOMENON Joost "juiced" is a system for distributing recorded TV shows and other forms of video over the Web using peer-to-peer TV technology, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (founders of Skype and Kazaa). The teams are currently in negotiations with FOX networks. It has signed up with Warner Music, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Productions (Indianapolis 500, IndyCar Series) and production company Endemol for the beta. In February 2007, Viacom entered into a deal with the company to distribute content from its media properties, including MTV Networks, BET and film --------------------------------------------------------------------- consider P2PTV The term P2PTV refers to peer-to-peer (P2P) software applications designed to redistribute video streams in real time on a P2P network; the distributed video streams are typically TV channels from all over the world but may also come from other sources. The draw to these applications is significant because they have the potential to make any TV channel globally available. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Network neutrality Network neutrality (equivalently net neutrality, Internet neutrality or simply NN) is a principle that is applied to residential broadband networks, and potentially to all networks. A neutral broadband network is one that is free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, on the modes of communication allowed, which does not restrict content, sites or platforms, and where communication is not unreasonably degraded by other communication streams. Law in the European Union The European Union is going to take active action to legislate network neutrality by seeing the potential damage caused the non-neutral broadband. The European Commission, within the proposals to amend the European regulatory framework for the electronic communications networks and services published on 13 November 2007, considers that prioritisation, or in other words product differentiation, "is generally considered to be beneficial for the market so long as users have choice to access the transmission capabilities and the services they want" and "consequently, the current EU rules allow operators to offer different services to different customers groups, but not allow those who are in a dominant position to discriminate in an anti-competitive manner between customers in similar circumstances."[29] Furthermore, the European Commission thinks that the current European legal framework cannot effectively prevent network operators from degrading their customers. Therefore, it is proposed to empower the European Commission to impose a minimum quality of services in order to tackle this situation.[30] In addition, an obligation of transparency is also proposed to limit network operators' ability to set up restrictions on end-users' choice of lawful content and applications. The European Commission's proposal is being reviewed by the European Parliament at First Reading. In the summer of 2008, the lead committees in the European Parliament achieved their final draft reports. On 24th September 2008 the European Parliament held a plenary vote on the draft reports from those committees. At the next step the European Council will vote for its common position on the European Commission's legislative proposals on 27th November 2008. After that the negotiation between the European Parliament and the European Council will be made under the cooperation procedure. The adoption of those proposal is supposed to take place before the end of 2009. The first major debate on Net Neutrality in the UK was held at Westminster on the 20 March 2006, sponsored by AT&T. It was attended by the Government and Opposition trade secretaries, telecommunications regulators, industry figures and other experts in the field. Google, a noted supporter of net neutrality, declined an invitation to the debate, and then called it "biased".[33]. The conclusion was that Net Neutrality laws in the UK would be "extreme... unattractive and impractical" and that it was "an answer to problems we don't have, using a philosophy we don't share" ------------------------------------------------------------- Author : Vassilios Moulakakis M.Sc. New Media Consultant

Η Πληροφορική σε οικονομίες που καταρρέουν

source:

Βασιλης Μουλακάκης B.Sc., M.Sc.

 Netweek t.241

netweek (T. 241)

Στις δύσκολες εποχές που ζούμε, κυρίως σε οικονομικό επίπεδο, η δυνατότητα να αντλήσουμε αισιοδοξία, δύναμη και αξιοσύνη για εμάς και τους συνεργάτες μας στην Πληροφορική είναι πλέον μονόδρομος.

Οι περισσότερες εταιρείες και οργανισμοί έχουν θεσπίσει τους αναγκαίους μηχανισμούς οικονομικής άμυνας, αλλά δεν διασφαλίζουν πάντα την ανάπτυξη που εκφράζεται σε μεγάλο βαθμό από την έκρυθμη λειτουργία της Πληροφορικής. Γιατί, ενώ αντιλαμβανόμαστε κοστολογικά την Πληροφορική σαν άμεση μείωση κόστους, δεν αντιλαμβανόμαστε την Πληροφορική σαν παράγοντα ανάπτυξης και ομαλής λειτουργίας της εταιρείας.

Από την εμπειρία μου, η δημιουργία στρατηγικού πλάνου διακυβέρνησης και λειτουργίας της Διεύθυνσης Πληροφορικής αποτελεί πλέον επιτακτική ανάγκη. Τα συστατικά, οι μηχανισμοί και οι συμβουλές  για αυτό το ειδικό στρατηγικό πλάνο εν μέσω οικονομικής κρίσης είναι το ζητούμενο για όλους μας. Παρακάτω παραθέτω κάποιες προσωπικές εμπειρίες ταξινομημένες σε δύο βασικές κατηγορίες, αρχές  και κατευθύνσεις από την μία, συμβουλές και μηχανισμούς από την άλλη.

Αρχές και βασικές κατευθύνσεις που πρέπει να έχουμε στο μυαλό μας

• Συστηματική απεικόνιση και διασύνδεση των επιχειρησιακών / στρατηγικών αναγκών της εταιρείας με πληροφοριακές ανάγκες και επενδύσεις. Αυτό το σημείο είναι κεντρικό και διασφαλίζει πολλαπλά οφέλη αν γίνει με συστηματικό τρόπο και με τα επιχειρησιακά εργαλεία που περιγράφονται παρακάτω.
• Πολύ καλή γνώση του επιχειρησιακού μοντέλου εξόδων της εταιρείας. Πρακτικά, αυτό σημαίνει γνώση και εμπειρία στη διαπραγμάτευση με κύριους προμηθευτές σας -κατά προτεραιότητα μεγάλα SLAs. Τα μεγάλα συμβόλαια συντήρησης πρέπει να μπαίνουν σε ειδική λίστα προτεραιότητας  και να υπόκεινται σε διαπραγματεύσεις πολύ πριν το χρόνο λήξης τους.
• Ανάθεση αρμοδιότητας ελεγκτή εξόδων Πληροφορικής και παρακολούθησης του προϋπολογισμού σε λεπτομερή βαθμό. Αναθέστε σε έναν εργαζόμενο της ομάδας Πληροφορικής το λεπτομερή έλεγχο των εξόδων Πληροφορικής σε αναλυτικότερο βαθμό από το επίπεδο που ελέγχετε εσείς το προϋπολογισμό σας.  Κερδίζετε έτσι μεγάλη ευκρίνεια στην αγοραστική αλυσίδα της Πληροφορικής, με αποτέλεσμα να μπορείτε να αναθεωρείτε τον προϋπολογισμό σας σε υψηλότερο επίπεδο.
• Μην είστε ο επιλογέας λογισμικού, συστημάτων ή υπηρεσιών Πληροφορικής και ταυτόχρονα ο διαπραγματευτής. Ετσι, απομονώνετε τις σχέσεις που προσπαθεί να κτίσει ο προμηθευτής όταν ξέρει ότι αυτός/η που θα διαπραγματευτεί την τιμή είναι και ο επιλογέας  του τελικού προμηθευτή.
• Διαπραγματευτική δεινότητα. Αν δεν ακούσετε από τον προμηθευτή τρεις φορές «όχι» σε αυτό που ζητάτε, επιμείνετε και στο τέλος θα τα καταφέρετε Σημαίνει μάλλον ότι δεν ζητήσατε αρκετά. Μην ξεχνάτε ότι η τιμή πώλησης δεν είναι σχεδόν ποτέ ίδια με την τιμή που ζητάτε.
• Σκεφτείτε δημιουργικά όταν ψάχνετε για λύσεις Πληροφορικής. Αυτό πρακτικά σημαίνει ομαδοποίηση των αναγκών σας και δημιουργία ευρύτερων στρατηγικών συμμαχιών με προμηθευτές (managed service υπηρεσίες και συνεργασίες). Θα έχετε πολλαπλά οφέλη. Καταρχήν, σίγουρα οικονομικά και, ανάλογα με τη στρατηγική συμφωνία, μπορείτε να έχετε και το όφελος της από κοινού διαχείρισης κρίσεων, εφόσον η σχέση σας θα βασίζεται σε κριτήρια απόδοσης ή σε αμοιβαία οφέλη μείωσης κόστους. Ενα καλό παράδειγμα εδώ είναι τα managed services -έργα όπως centralized printing business της εταιρείας σας κ.λπ.
• Ενοποίηση τηλεπικοινωνιακών αναγκών σε ένα στρατηγικό εταίρο. Σχεδιάστε από την αρχή όλες τις επικοινωνιακές σας ανάγκες, σε οικονομικό και τεχνικό πλαίσιο. Το όφελος θα είναι εγγυημένο και πολύ μεγάλο λόγω οικονομίας κλίμακας. Το λέω εκ πείρας. Συνθέστε το τηλεπικοινωνιακό σας κόστος για όλα τα παρακάτω: WAN μισθωμένα κυκλώματα, κινητή εταιρική τηλεφωνία, σταθερή τηλεφωνία, διαχείριση στόλου και τηλεφωνικό κέντρο δομημένο σε IP. Αυτά είναι μία μεγάλη ομάδα εξόδων που μπορούν να ενοποιηθούν σε ένα μεγάλο πακέτο. Η διαπραγματευτική σας ισχύς σε σχέση απέναντι στους προμηθευτές είναι τεράστια, αρκεί να έχετε προετοιμάσει ένα πολύ καλό RFQ όπου θα αναφέρεστε σε στρατηγικό εταίρο μακροχρόνιας συνεργασίας -και όχι σε προμηθευτή.
• • Μηχανισμός διαχείρισης  και διοίκησης της Διεύθυνσης Πληροφορικής. Εδώ αναφέρω ενδεικτικά τον μηχανισμό ITIL. Είναι μία διεθνής πρακτική και παρεξηγημένος μηχανισμός που πολλοί IT Directors αντιμετωπίζουν ως θεωρία και όχι πράξη. Κατά την εμπειρία μου, αυτό είναι λάθος. Το ITIL είναι ένα ευέλικτο σύστημα διακυβέρνησης και διαχείρισης της Πληροφορικής σαν υπηρεσία. Ανάλογα με τις ανάγκες, χρησιμοποιείς, μορφοποιείς ή και μεταλλάσσεις κάποια παρεχόμενα από το ITIL εργαλεία, για να εφάπτονται πλήρως στις παρεχόμενες υπηρεσίες και ειδικές πληροφοριακές ανάγκες κάθε οργανισμού ή επιχείρησης.
  • Μηχανισμός διαχείρισης IT portofolio και Enterprise Architecture. Αν και είναι δύο διαφορετικοί μηχανισμοί, η γνώμη και εμπειρία μου τους ενοποιεί σε ένα ομοιογενές εργαλείο διαχείρισης του supply side (ΙΤ portfolio) και demand side (ΕΑ) της Πληροφορικής. Περιληπτικά, το demand side of IT αφορά αυτά που περιμένουν εσωτερικά οι επιχειρησιακές λειτουργίες και διευθύνσεις από την Πληροφορική. Στο άλλο άκρο, το supply side of IT είναι ο σχεδιασμός και οι υπηρεσίες που προσφέρει το ΙΤ. Τα δύο αυτά άκρα πρέπει να είναι σε συνεχή συγχρονισμό και επιτήρηση, γι’ αυτό και πρέπει να συνδυάζονται σε ένα ομοιογενές σύνολο όπως έγραψα στην αρχή.
  • Η σωστή αξιολόγηση και διατήρηση ικανών στελεχών Πληροφορικής είναι πλέον επιτακτική ανάγκη. Ο μηχανισμός αξιολόγησης και διατήρησης τέτοιων στελεχών προϋποθέτει εκπαίδευση του IT Director σε πρακτικές συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης και αξιολόγησης 360 μοιρών των στελεχών του, καθώς και δυνατότητα εγκατάστασης τέτοιων μηχανισμών στη διεύθυνσή του. Μόνο έτσι θα μπορέσει να διατηρήσει τα top talents.
  • Σύστημα διαχείρισης πολλαπλών έργων που εξελίσσονται ταυτόχρονα και βρίσκονται σε διαφορετική φάση το καθένα. Η διαχείριση της πολυπλοκότητας πολλών έργων ταυτόχρονα είναι πολύ βασικό συστατικό. Εδώ, ο ΙΤ Director πρέπει να συνδυάσει πολλούς μηχανισμούς όπως η δυναμική λίστα προτεραιοτήτων έργων και η διαχείριση έργων οικονομοτεχνικού περιεχομένου.  Τέτοια εργαλεία υπάρχουν στο μηχανισμό ITIL και PMO . Είναι αξιόπιστα και μοντελοποιούν και καλύπτουν συνδυαστικά τις πολυπλοκότητες των πολλαπλών έργων Πληροφορικής.
  • Μηχανισμός αξιολόγησης και αξιοποίησης του IT outsourcing. Η αντιμετώπιση του outsourcing αποκλειστικά ως μηχανισμού μείωσης κόστους είναι μια λανθασμένη σκέψη που μπορεί μεσοπρόθεσμα και μακροπρόθεσμα να οδηγήσει σε πολλαπλά προβλήματα λειτουργίας του ΙΤ, όπως η μείωση του ελέγχου διοίκησης του IT, το κλείδωμα σε λάθος outsourcing.partner κ.λπ. Το «έξυπνο» outsourcing προϋποθέτει πολύ καλό πλάνο, ανάλυση αναγκών και καθετοποίηση των αναγκών και -εκ των υστέρων- σχεδιασμό του outsourcing μοντέλου ώστε να διευκολύνει την λειτουργία της διεύθυνσης Πληροφορικής χωρίς να χάνεται ο εσωτερικός έλεγχος των διαδικασιών και των καθετοποιημένων outsourcing λύσεων που θα προκύψουν.
  Οι καιροί επιτάσσουν την ενεργοποίηση των κρυμμένων εσωτερικών αποθεμάτων
  Από τα παραπάνω είναι εμφανές ότι, εν μέσω οικονομικής κρίσης, δεν προτείνω νέες επενδύσεις σε συστήματα -όπως SAN storages ή μαζικές αγορές IT προϊόντων. Οι καιροί είναι τέτοιοι που, χωρίς εσωστρέφεια, πρέπει να ενεργοποιηθούν τα κρυμμένα εσωτερικά αποθέματα ανθρώπων και αναξιοποίητων μηχανισμών διαχείρισης του IT, με βάση τις αρχές και τα συστατικά που από την εμπειρία μου χρησιμοποιώ -ή θα χρησιμοποιήσω στο μέλλον- και που αναλύθηκαν περιληπτικά παραπάνω.
  
  Ποια είναι η δική σας άποψη;
  Μπορείτε να συνεισφέρετε με τις δικές σας εμπειρίες, συμμετέχοντας στη συζήτηση με θέμα Information Technology in economies that fail που ξεκίνησα στο επαγγελματικό δίκτυο LinkedIn.
  
  

  
  

  Βασιλης Μουλακάκης B.Sc., M.Sc.

   Netweek t.241
  netweek (T. 241)

The Business Model of IPTV

Author: Vassilis Moulakakis M.Sc. Business Analsysis

The Business Model of IPTV is actually the integration of TV Business Model, IP Business Model and WEB media entertainment model, merged with the conception of manageable and operable telecommunication. In short, the Business Model of IPTV results from the process of conflict and convergence among the four mature but different Business Models.

The Business Model of TV evolves with the emergence of DTV, iTV, VOD, VCD and DVD industry. Each of them is different from the other with more complexity and vagueness.


The technology of VoIP and Internet is subversive for traditional telecommunication model. When the packet switching is destabilizing the Business Model of the traditional PSTN, it brings about a lot of new types of Business Models (for example, the 77 types of Business Model for Internet).


WEB media entertainment is also called as the "4th-Dimension Operation", which introduces the traditional media substance consumption mode to a virtual world with digital environment, as the Newtonian mechanics to Einstein theory of relativity. There are many changes in the field of operation management with a lot of concepts beyond the traditional operable and manageable realm. In the 4D space, you can find many things like digital "earth", "space-time", "asset", "emotion" or "desire" which are endowed with human value. Such values can be equivalently traded with the value in the 3D world, to build a unique commuting bridge between the two operation spaces, known as the "consumption value".


The telecommunication mode contains duality. On one hand, it operates as a traditional network providing network capability such as bandwidth, MOU, ports, lines and etc. And on the other hand, it should have the ability of post-NGN service provision, the network service delivery capability like service production, service management and service execution. Both have the characteristics of manageability and operability. This is the core competency of telecommunication. The internet industries that have made profit on mobility have proved this point. Moreover, telecommunication does not expect to be a "pipeline" which only provides network carrying capability, but want to gradually transform into a service capability provider.
The Business Model of IPTV develops into a brand new Profit Model on the basis of the non-operation TV mode and the anarchical internet model, by merging with the communication-level manageable and operable model and exploring the new mode for digital entertainment/media. Many operators' superficial knowledge about operation rules and their habitual understanding of their Profit Model result in the egotism remark on themselves. In regard to a carrier, IPTV may change its revenue index but could not easily change its Business Model because of its lack of objective understanding and neutral standpoint in convergence. Many issues related with convergence arise from resource control instead of basic laws. If it is difficult to change the internal and external environment, it will not be easy to change the Business Model.

IPTV is also characterized in its value chain operation. No one in the chain can solely control the whole profit chain regardless to the time of "network-dominant" or "content-dominant" or "entertainment-dominant". The distribution to the entire value chain must be provided through a manageable, operable and deliverable service system. This is the core competency of IPTV. Without the conception of operation and service, no value can be effectively delivered to the clients. Therefore, the core of IPTV operation is to build a communication-class service operation system, fairly distributed and merged with all the related types of Operation Models with fast deliverability.

The value chain model shown illustrates the overall relationship and important opportunity of IPTV. The difference in the value chain will be reflected by the difference in operation, investment, management and profit of each operator. The success of IPTV does not mean to put the above-mentioned four modes together - "building blocks". ....

ASK ME FOR FURTHER EXPLANATION
----------------------------------------------------------------------

IPTV : the Operation Model

IPTV is not TV- as TV does not have such a value chain or Operation Model. IPTV takes only the consumption experience of TV. The so-called IPTV Operation Model will mainly focus on the essential difference between IP Operation Model and TV Operation Model. It will also focus on the conflict among the mix of operations. This kind of contradiction is objective in terms of the two traditional operation systems. This new mode is challenging that needs to be explored.

From the system perspective, IPTV does not fit in with the broadcast & TV operators themselves, because the operation and the HFC resource which they are familiar with are not suitable to be used to develop interactive TV business. Furthermore, the operation of broadcast & TV does not have the so-called operation supporting system in telecommunication operation.

In addition, there is some misunderstanding about IPTV. Since 2M plus bandwidth is enough to transmit TV-level programs, it is natural to provide network TV by providing wider bandwidth and more ARPU. The motivation of IPTV is because of the "comparative abundant bandwidth". The main objective of broadband operators is to find a new Business Model for broadband operation, while the traditional TV operators expect to provide more flexible inactive functions than broadcasting and to extend the scope of media though WEB.

Relatively in the light of telecommunication, the "operation" of IP or TV, hardly has the "operation concept" in - built. Telecommunication predominates itself by providing reliable and manageable services whereas the traditional Internet does need any operator. Traditional TV operates is a Flat Rate. This is way beyond the telecom operation.

The concept of "IPTV" is born congenitally deficient as all the three types of traditional operation method are not proper for IPTV operation, either respectively or together. Usually, the consumer development procedure of IPTV starts from TV transferring, i.e., transferring the traditional TV services or TV-like services into the environment of IP broadband to appeal to the market by the concept of TV popularity. Due to the restriction in bandwidth, IPTV was never a "TV" before. So the next step is to add interactive services form iTV mode. IPTV should eventually aim to create an interactive visual entertainment mode. IPTV seeks to create an interactive visual entertainment mode by including telecom capabilities with services such as teleconference, finally evolving into an integrated media and entertainment operation.

Based on the four business sub-models for IPTV, there are movie model, internet multimedia portal model, digital entertainment center model, and NGO model for Operation Model. These models may merge somewhere but disharmonize elsewhere depending on the development vision and the plan of operators.

The management and provision of stream media service is quite different from that of narrow band and common band service. The variance among solutions and the sequence of solutions of the following key technologies will lead to different modes of operation: multi-cast, DRM, IP billing/dynamic billing, service provision/delivery, service filtering, service portfolio/cross, service-on-demand, content management, service management, service QoS/security guarantee, service protection, service authentication/identification, CRM and so on- all major and influential elements of new Operation Model.

IPTV operation is a kind of operation that may carry off the palm in content. In the field of service operation, the following issues have to be solved from any BM point of view: the relationship between digital media service and other operational service; unified operation CRM (the same customer segment) and unified billing. The first issue basically sets the tone of IPTV operation; the latter two issues are the core of digital media service operation. With respect to the access of IPTV or the "channel" by which telecom is consumed should naturally be broadband. The higher the traffic, the more you may feel the role of telecom as a channel. How to satisfy those individualized requirements in the digital media market? The "CRM" with customer consumption behavior as the core and the corresponding billing system will be the master key of IPTV operation.

Certainly, to operate IPTV needs to solve the issues about business environment and value chain:
ASON (Automatic Switching Optical Network) is used from the core layer to the "edge" router of network. Even VoIP cannot guarantee its QoS. The rate of ADSL may sometimes be only dozens of kbps or a maximum of 1M. The quality of image is substantially lower than that of TV/DTV. It has taken VoIP about 8 years to get into commercial application.

Accordingly, it should take IPTV at least 3-5 years or longer to reach the commercial phase. The rate of IP is booming but is not high enough to carry the stream media distribution.

The investment in IPTV network varies from that of TV network. They have different Business Models. The investment in IPTV value chain is a long way off in terms of TCO! Especially as the content management and service platform are not yet consistent with the projected income. The cost for telecom companies to enter digital media entertainment is pretty high – and is not as simple a calculation as CAPEX of media network.

If the following issues were not solved, there will always be obstacles in IPTV operation which may influence tremendously both the IPTV Operation Model and the Profit Model. Namely, the content sources, quantity & quality, cost of each piece (TV episode/movie), number of concurrent usage, network cost, operation right, joint management, network support (network investment scale and benefit), digital IPR management, industry chain, platform support, content and resource creation, user development, terminal and so on.

--------------------------------------------------------------
IPTV : the Profit Model

The factors of Profit Model are tradeoffs between supply and demand (the supply should match the demand on both quality and quantity. The supply should be continuous.), justified charge (pricing, billing, charging, distribution) and effective delivery (cutover, management, implementation). On close observing them you may find IPTV encountering many barriers in respect to the above factors.

The basic principle of IPTV Profit Model is to satisfy the customer's real requirements instead of "roaming around" in the world of digital media, to accurately segment the users by consumption behavior, to deliver the "product" catering to the segmentation, and to design the consumption and payment package in line with the principle of segmentation value maximization so as to maximize and validate the overall long term interest.

On account of the complexity of IPTV Business Model and the irregularity of consumption, what the users require for digital media is in accord with the principle of "non-predictable". In that the consumption of digital media is on the basis of experience economy, the consumption behavior of individuals is various. The interest will constantly change according to the consumption market. Factitious and simple grouping or subjective and groundless conclusion will be doomed to failure.

The issue of consistency between requirement and product will be solved, when there is a system that can objectively, accurately, and effectively match millions of segmentations to millions of digital media products. This system can satisfy the target customers by fetching their requested value timely and accurately in a sea of media products.



news
--------------------------------------------------------------------
THE JOOST PHENOMENON

Joost "juiced" is a system for distributing recorded TV shows and other forms of video over the Web using peer-to-peer TV technology, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (founders of Skype and Kazaa).

The teams are currently in negotiations with FOX networks. It has signed up with Warner Music, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Productions (Indianapolis 500, IndyCar Series) and production company Endemol for the beta. In February 2007, Viacom entered into a deal with the company to distribute content from its media properties, including MTV Networks, BET and film

---------------------------------------------------------------------
consider P2PTV

The term P2PTV refers to peer-to-peer (P2P) software applications designed to redistribute video streams in real time on a P2P network; the distributed video streams are typically TV channels from all over the world but may also come from other sources. The draw to these applications is significant because they have the potential to make any TV channel globally available.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Network neutrality
Network neutrality (equivalently net neutrality, Internet neutrality or simply NN) is a principle that is applied to residential broadband networks, and potentially to all networks. A neutral broadband network is one that is free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, on the modes of communication allowed, which does not restrict content, sites or platforms, and where communication is not unreasonably degraded by other communication streams.

Law in the European Union

The European Union is going to take active action to legislate network neutrality by seeing the potential damage caused the non-neutral broadband. The European Commission, within the proposals to amend the European regulatory framework for the electronic communications networks and services published on 13 November 2007, considers that prioritisation, or in other words product differentiation, "is generally considered to be beneficial for the market so long as users have choice to access the transmission capabilities and the services they want" and "consequently, the current EU rules allow operators to offer different services to different customers groups, but not allow those who are in a dominant position to discriminate in an anti-competitive manner between customers in similar circumstances."[29] Furthermore, the European Commission thinks that the current European legal framework cannot effectively prevent network operators from degrading their customers. Therefore, it is proposed to empower the European Commission to impose a minimum quality of services in order to tackle this situation.[30] In addition, an obligation of transparency is also proposed to limit network operators' ability to set up restrictions on end-users' choice of lawful content and applications.

The European Commission's proposal is being reviewed by the European Parliament at First Reading. In the summer of 2008, the lead committees in the European Parliament achieved their final draft reports. On 24th September 2008 the European Parliament held a plenary vote on the draft reports from those committees. At the next step the European Council will vote for its common position on the European Commission's legislative proposals on 27th November 2008. After that the negotiation between the European Parliament and the European Council will be made under the cooperation procedure. The adoption of those proposal is supposed to take place before the end of 2009.

The first major debate on Net Neutrality in the UK was held at Westminster on the 20 March 2006, sponsored by AT&T. It was attended by the Government and Opposition trade secretaries, telecommunications regulators, industry figures and other experts in the field. Google, a noted supporter of net neutrality, declined an invitation to the debate, and then called it "biased".[33]. The conclusion was that Net Neutrality laws in the UK would be "extreme... unattractive and impractical" and that it was "an answer to problems we don't have, using a philosophy we don't share"
-------------------------------------------------------------

The IT in economies collapse II

The IT in economies collapse II 2.0 Information technology and the continuing economic recession create social new data and new challenges, the opportunity to learn optimism, strength and axiosyni for us and our colleagues in IT are essentially. Most companies and organizations have established the necessary mechanism for defense, but not always ensure that the development is largely reflected the unsettled mode of Informatics. "For while we understand IT cost as a direct cost reduction, we do not see IT as a catalyst for development and smooth running of the company." From my experience, creating a strategic plan, governance and operation of the Directorate of Information Technology has become imperative. The components, mechanisms and advice on this specific strategic plan amid financial crisis is the challenge for us all. Here are some personal experiences classified into two main categories, principles and guidelines from one, and advice from other mechanisms. Principles and basic guidelines to keep in mind Systematic imaging and linking operational / strategic needs of the company's information needs and investments. This point is central, ensures many benefits if done in a systematic way and with the operational tools described below. The creation model IT balanced scorecard. O myth of balanced scorecard should be collapsed, I deal in the last 6 years in the perfomance management in general and the evolution of culture leads to balanced scorecard. Very good knowledge of the business model of company expenses. Practically, this means knowledge and experience in negotiating with your main suppliers primarily large-SLAs. The large maintenance contracts should be placed in a special list of priority and subject to negotiations long before the time of expiry. Competence Computer controller expenses and monitoring the budget on a detailed level. Have a working group of the Computer scrutinizing IT expenses at a more detailed level than the level you control your budget. You save so clearly on the purchasing chain of IT, so you can revise your budget to a higher level. Do not be the selector software, systems or IT services while the negotiator. Thus, isolating the relationship trying to build when the supplier knows that he / she will negotiate the price is the choice of final supplier. Negotiating ability. If you do not hear from the supplier three times "no" to what you want, and persevere in the end will accomplish that probably means you did not ask enough. Do not forget that the price is almost never the same as the price you want. Think creatively when looking for IT solutions. This means grouping your needs and create broader strategic alliances with suppliers (managed service agencies and partnerships). You will have multiple benefits. First of all, and certainly economically, depending on the strategic agreement, you can have the benefit of joint crisis management, where your relationship will be based on performance criteria or mutual cost reduction benefits. A good example here is the managed services-projects such as centralized printing business of your company etc. Integrating telecommunications requirements in a strategic partner. Design from scratch all your communication needs, economic and technical framework. The benefit will be guaranteed due to very large economies of scale. I say this from experience. Compose your telecommunications costs for all of the following: WAN leased lines and corporate mobile telephony, fixed telephony, fleet management and call center built on IP. These are a large group of expenses that can be consolidated into one big package. The bargaining power in your relationship towards suppliers is enormous, as long as you have prepared a very good RFQ stating a long-term strategic cooperation partner, and not a supplier. Facility management and administration of IT Department. This mechanism provides indications ITIL. It is an international practice and misunderstood mechanism that many IT Directors face as theory rather than practice. In my experience, this is wrong. The ITIL is a flexible system of governance and management of IT as a service. Depending on your needs, use, or formats, and some transforms provided by the ITIL tools to fully adjacent to services and special information needs of any organization or business. Facility management IT portofolio and Enterprise Architecture. Although they are two different mechanisms, opinion and my experience unifies them into a seamless tool for managing the supply side (IT portfolio) and demand side (EA) Information Technology. In summary, the demand side of IT for those waiting for the internal operations and addresses of IT. At the other extreme, the supply side of IT is the design and services offered by IT Both ends must be synchronized and continuous monitoring, so it should be combined into a single entity as I wrote at the beginning. Proper evaluation and maintenance of skilled IT staff is now imperative. The evaluation mechanism and preservation of such strains involves training IT Director practical and emotional intelligence 360 degree evaluation of strains and installation of such mechanisms can address. The only way to retain top talents. System for managing multiple projects simultaneously and evolve in different phases each. The complexity of managing multiple projects simultaneously is a very important ingredient. Here, the IT Director should combine several mechanisms such as dynamic priority list of projects and project management of economical content. Such tools exist in the mechanism and ITIL PMO. It is reliable and combined modeling and cover the complexities of multiple projects. Evaluation mechanism and utilization of IT sourcing century outsourcing. The main problem today is not the IT sourcing deal outsourcing.I of sourcing only as a mechanism for cost reduction is a mistaken thought that medium and long term can lead to multiple problems of the IT function, such as reducing management control of IT, the lock outsourcing.partner wrong etc. The "smart» sourcing requires a very good shot, vertical integration and analysis of needs and the needs of post-design-sourcing model to facilitate the operation of IT management without losing the internal audit procedures and vertically integrated sourcing solutions that will result . The times require the activation of the hidden inner reserves From the above it is evident that, in the midst of economic crisis, we suggest investing in new systems-such as SAN storages or bulk buying IT products. The times are such that, without introspection, you must activate the hidden inner reserves untapped human and management mechanisms of IT, based on the principles and ingredients from my experience, using or will use in the future, analyzed and summarized above. Vassilis Moulakakis B.Sc., M.Sc. Senior Business Analyst - IT executive http://gr.linkedin.com/in/vmoulakakis

source: EDGE 2011 - Η πληροφορική ως μοχλός ανάπτυξης και αναδιοργάνωσης της επιχείρησης

Η πληροφορική ως μοχλός ανάπτυξης και αναδιοργάνωσης της επιχείρησης. . Η ανάπτυξη της επιχείρησης αποτελεί μονόδρομο στις μέρες μας σε αντίθεση με τις φωνές φόβου για μείωση του κόστους και downsizing της επιχείρησης. Οι επιπτώσεις του downsizing είναι τρομερά επιζήμιες και οδηγούν σε καταστάσεις πανικού, ψυχραιμία και θετική γόνιμη σκέψη είναι τα βασικά επιχειρηματικά συναισθήματα που πρέπει να μας διακατέχουν. Σε προηγούμενο άρθρο μου τ.241 είχα επισημάνει τα βασικά χαρακτηριστικά και τρόπους διακυβέρνησης της πληροφορικής σε οικονομίες που βρίσκονται στην εντατική και για επιχειρήσεις που ψάχνουν μία νέα πολιτική ανάπτυξης. Επιγραμματικά είχα αναφέρει τις βασικές αρχές που χρειάζεται για να ‘τρέξει’ μια διεύθυνση πληροφορικής. Αυτές είναι: Συστηματική απεικόνιση και διασύνδεση των επιχειρησιακών / στρατηγικών αναγκών της εταιρείας με πληροφοριακές ανάγκες και επενδύσεις. Μηχανισμός διαχείρισης και διοίκησης της Διεύθυνσης Πληροφορικής. Εδώ αναφέρω ενδεικτικά τον μηχανισμό ITIL. Μηχανισμός διαχείρισης IT portfolio και Enterprise Architecture. Η σωστή αξιολόγηση και διατήρηση ικανών στελεχών Πληροφορικής είναι πλέον επιτακτική ανάγκη. Μηχανισμός αξιολόγησης και αξιοποίησης του IT outsourcing. Μηχανισμός αξιολόγησης και ανάπτυξης καινοτόμων τεχνολογικά λύσεων. Π.χ. Cloud computing, web 2.0. Επιχειρησιακές λύσεις όπως enterprise 2.0 δηλαδή social media in business. Ασφάλεια πληροφοριακών συστημάτων και υποδομών Η ανάπτυξη μιας επιχείρησης είναι η δυνατότητα να επενδύουμε για την επιχειρηση κα οχι σε νέες τεχνολογίες (όπως το cloud,enterprise 2.0 κτλ.) σαν αυτοσκοπό. Οι νέες τεχνολογίες για να δημιουργουν αναπτυξη πρέπει να είναι πάντα εφαπτόμενες προς την επιχειρηματική στρατηγική αναπτυξης. Η αναλογία μεγέθους επένδυσης με προσδοκώμενο όφελος είναι και η λύση της εξίσωσης που ουσιαστικά θα λύσουμε από την επιχειρηματική πλευρά. Από την άλλη πλευρά η ανάπτυξη της πληροφορικής σαν ένας οδηγός επένδυσης ειναι λάθος και μπορεί να μειώσει αν γίνει με αυθαίρετο τρόπο την ανάπτυξη της επιχείρησης. Ισορροπία και διασύνδεση μεταξύ επιχειρηματικής ανάπτυξης και πληροφοριακής ανάπτυξης από το επίπεδο της στρατηγικής έως το επίπεδο λειτουργιών της επιχείρησης (operations management) είναι το ζητούμενο. Επιχειρηματική ανάπτυξη και το DNA της Σε μία συνάντηση που είχα πρόσφατα με κάποιο καταξιωμένο στέλεχος επιχειρήσεων, διαπίστωσα ότι η ανάπτυξη ορίζετε με διαφορετικό τρόπο και εντελώς διαφορετική διεργασία για κάθε κλάδο ή ακόμη και σε για κάθε επιχείρηση. Η αντίληψη της ανάπτυξης έχει ζητούμενο το κέρδος ? την «δόξα» μεσω πελατοκεντρικής πληρότητας υπηρεσιών και προιόντων ? και τα δύο? Η εύκολη απάντηση είναι και τα δύο. Αν κάνουμε όμως μια βαθιά ανάλυση ποιοτικών και ποσοτικών χαρακτηριστικών για τους λόγους ανάπτυξης θα δούμε ότι η ανάπτυξη γεννιέται σαν μια ‘ιδέα’, τις περισσότερες φορές απλή, προσπαθεί να καλύψει ανάγκές ή και να δημιουργήσει νέες ανάγκες που πρέπει να εκπληρωθούν, δημιουργεί ακόμη και προσδοκίες, στην καλύτερη περίπτωση η ανάπτυξη δημιουργεί το μέλλον. Η ανάπτυξη της μιας ‘ιδέας’ αν θέλετε που μπορεί να προέρθει από οποιονδήποτε εσωτερικό η εξωτερικό συνεργάτη, και θα συμβάλει στην δημιουργία συνεργιών και νέων συνεργασιών αποτελεί μοναδικό μοντέλο επιχειρηματικής ανάπτυξης. Η ανάπτυξη πλέον με την επιβάρυνση της οικονομικής ύφεσης δεν είναι πλέον το γρήγορο και εύκολο κέρδος μίας καλής ιδέας αλλά η μακροχρόνια απόδοσή της μέσα από ένα κανονιστικό πλαίσιο επιχειρηματικής ευελιξίας. Όλοι έχουμε ιδέες πόσοι πήραμε το θάρρος να τις υλοποιήσουμε ή να τις εξωτερικεύσουμε για να γίνουν πράξη, προφανώς πολύ λίγοι από εμάς. Ο λόγος αυτού του μικρού στοχασμού για την ανάπτυξη θα δούμε παρακάτω πως μπορεί να καλυφθεί από την πληροφορική 2.0. Οι μεγαλύτερες μακροχρόνιες επενδύσεις ανάπτυξης αν κάτσουμε και το σκεφτούμε διαχρονικά είναι εκκολαπτόμενες ‘ιδέες’ στο σωστό επιχειρηματικό και κοινωνικό περιβάλλον. Επιχειρηματικό εννοώντας τα κατάλληλα εργαλεία και μοντέλα που την ιδέα θα την μορφοποιήσουν και θα της δώσουν ζωή (προσφορά). Κοινωνικό περιβάλλον είναι το εύπλαστο περιβάλλον δημιουργίας ζήτησης και αποδοχής. Οι δύο αυτοί παράμετροι προσδιορίζουν την επιτυχία ή αποτυχία μιας ‘ιδέας’ που μετατρέπετε εν δυνάμει σε ανάπτυξη της επιχείρησης. Η παραπανω απλοποιημένη αντίληψη και στοχασμός της ανάπτυξης αποτελεί και το DNA της επιχειρηματικότητας που είναι το βασικότερο συστατικό ενοποίησης της με την πληροφορική. Θα μπορούσαμε να μιλήσουμε για πολυπλοκα, ‘εξυπνα’ αν θέλετε μοντέλα επιχειρηματικής ανάπτυξης με οικονομικούς όρους ή κανονιστικά επιχειρηματικά πλαίσια ανάπτυξης αλλά πάντα θα αναζητούσαμε το dna της ανάπτυξης και πως αυτή μετουσιώνετε σε επιχειρηματικό πλάνο. Εχοντας γράψει στο παρελθόν επιχειρηματικά πλάνα για επιχειρήσεις, το δυσκολότερο κομμάτι είναι η ανακάλυψη του DNA και όχι τόσο τα πολυπλοκα forecasts, ROI, Capital employed KPIs και λοιπά απαραίτητα ποσοτικά συστατικά ενός επιχειρησιακού πλάνου ανάπτυξης. Παρακάτω θα αναλύσω πως η πληροφορική 2.0 μπορεί να προσφέρει στο DNA της επιχειρηματικής ανάπτυξης. Πληροφορική 2.0 ως πηγή αναπτυξης Η πληροφορική πλέον προσδιορίζεται περισσοτερο από τις υπηρεσίες που προσφέρει παρά από το software ή hardware που προσφέρει σαν πάγια για την εταιρεία. Αυτό σημαίνει ότι η δυνατότητες ανάπτυξης της εταιρείας βασίζονται περισσότερο στον ανθρωπο της πληροφορικής παρά στα αψυχα εργαλεία. Οι δυνατότητες της πληροφόρικής είναι τεράστιες αν η διοικηση της πληροφορικής μπορεί να δώσει τις κατάλληλες υπηρεσίες με μακροχρόνιο σχεδιασμό πλήρως εναρμονισμένο στην εταιρική στρατιγική και εταιρική κουλτούρα της εταιρείας. Ο πληροφοριακαριος σήμερα έχει απεριοριστες επιλογές και απεριοριστους τρόπους εφαρμογής μιας τεχνολογίας, αυτό σημαίνει ότι μπορεί να μορφοποιηση την τεχνολογία ετσι ώστε να καλύψει ένα αναπτυξιακό πλάνο της εταιρείας οργανισμού. Για να το κάνει αυτο πρέπει τα εργαλεία να χρησιμοποιηθούν με πολύ προσοχή και αντικειμενικότητα για να υπάρξει μια κοινή γλώσσα ανάπτυξης αυτή είναι μια μεγάλη εξισωση που ο διευθυντής πληροφορικής πρέπει να λύνει καθημερινά και με πολύ δημιουργική σκέψη για να έχει αποτελέσματα. Παρακάτω θα αναλύσω εργαλεία που μπορεί ενδεχομένως να γίνουν υπηρεσίες για την ανάπτυξη μιας εταιρείας οργανισμού. Πρώτα να προσδιορισουμε την εννοια της «Πληροφορική 2.0» σαν το νέο μοντέλο διακυβέρνησης και παροχής υπηρεσιών σε όλο το φάσμα ανάπτυξης της εταιρείας η οργανισμού και κύρια την πλήρη εναρμόνιση τη πληροφορικής με το αναπτυξιακό DNA της επιχείρησης. Πληροφορική 2.0 ειναι καταρχήν μαρκετιστικη εννοια. Δεν δηλώνει πολλά απο μόνη της το μόνο που δίνει ειναι μια εμφαση στο καινούργιο, στην εναλλαγή σκυτάλης από την πληροφορική του software και hardware στην πληροφορική της διαδικτυωσης των υπηρεσιών , του ανοικτού κώδικα, της κοινωνικής εταιρικής κουλτούρας και της συμφιλίωσης της από ένα κλειστό σιλό σε εναρμονισμένη πρακτική για αναπτυξη. Τα κύρια χαρακτηριστικά της «πληροφορική 2.0» ειναι η διαδραστικότητα μέσω enterprise 2.0 υπηρεσιών, η εναρμόνιση δηλαδή σε εταιρικό επιπεδο της ανάπτυξης υπηρεσιών κοινωνικών δικτύων, σαν αφετηρία εναρμόνισης με το ‘βαρύ’ εταιρικό λογισμικό όπως ERP, CRM κτλ. Εναρμόνιση σημαίνει υοθέτηση πρακτικών και υπηρεσιών κοινωνικών δικτύων σε εταιρικά λογισμικά ετσι ώστε να αυξηθεί η παραγωγικότητα, η συνεργατικότητα, η διαθεση από κάθε εργαζόμενο να μοιραστεί ανησυχιες εταιρικούς προβληματισμούς και μεγαλύτερη διαθεση για προσφορά στην εταιρείας και στην αλματώδη αναπτυξή της. Με αλλά λόγια η πληροφορική 2.0 δίνει λύσεις με την αποκωδηκοποιηση του dna αναπτυξης της εταιρείας με την προσφορά και την αμεσότητα νέων υπηρεσιών συνεργειών και επιχειρηματικής ευιας. Τα λογισμικά σήμερα δεν δίνουν αυτές τις δυνατότητες και είναι κλειστά, βαρετά πολλές φορές και δεν προσφέρουν στην ανάπτυξη. Με την δημιουργία αυτού του μοντέλου πληροφορικής όπως enterprise 2.0 και με την εναρμονισή του με την εταιρική κουλτούρα δημιουργούνται οι ανάγκες και για υποδομές βασισμένες στο σύννεφο (cloud), στις ip υπηρεσίες για τηλεποικοινωνιακή ολοκλήρωση μεταξύ φωνής , video και data. Επίσης ένα νέο μοντέλο smart outsourcing χρεαιάζεται βασισμένο σε καθετοποιημένες υπηρεσίες υποδομών, λογισμικού και λύσεων για εταιρική ανάπτυξη. Οι δυνατότητες αυτές της πληροφορικής σαν πηγή υπηρεσιών είναι απεριόριστές, θα ειναι πλήρως εναρμονισμένες με την διοικηση, την αναπτυξη και τους εργαζομένους, θα έχουν οδηγό την εταιρική αναπτυξη βασισμένη στο DNA της επιχείρησης.Θα είναι με τον τρόπο αυτό ένα βήμα μπροστά από τις εξελίξεις αναπτυξης, γιατί κατα τρόπο θα αποτελούν μέρος της και όχι ανεξαρτητη οντότητα μεσα στην εταιρεία, που απλα καλυπτει ανάγκες. Απο την πλευρά των εταιρείων λογισμικού στην Ελλαδα, αυτές έχουν εναρμονιστεί με την ιδέα αυτή και εξελίσσονται με ταχύ ρυθμούς σε αυτή την κατευθυνση. Εσωτερικά τωρα η πληροφορική πρέπει να οπλιστεί με εργαλεία διακυβέρνησης, ελέγχου και στρατηγικής βασισμένες στην ανάπτυξη της εταιρείας και οχι στην ανάπτυξη της πληροφορικής σαν αυτοσκοπός. Μεγαλύτερη εμφαση πρεπει να δοθεί και στην ασφάλεια συστημάτων και δικτύων ετσι ώστε η εναρμονιση με το επιχειρησιακό περιβάλον να είναι ασφαλείς. Αυτό το γράφω γιατί μεχρι σήμερα σε μεγάλο βαθμό η πληροφορική ήταν ένα κλειστό silo επειδή ήταν ο μονος τρόπος να είναι και ασφαλείς ως προς τους πόρους που διαχειρίζετε. Υπάρχουν πλέον τα εργαλεία εκείνα ασφάλειας που θα βοηθήσουν. Γενικά εργαλεία που μπορούν να αναπτυχθούν σαν υπηρεσίες εσωτερικές της πληροφορικής ή μέσω outsourcing είναι: IT service management Security alerting and monitoring Enterprise architecture Budget monitoring Επιλογος Η πληροφορική 2.0 είναι η νέα τάξη πραγμάτων για όλους μας. Ειναι η πληροφορική της εναρμόνισης με το DNA της επιχείρησης, βασισμένη σε υπηρεσίες και διαδικτύωση. Εννοιες όπως enterprise 2.0, cloud computing θα παιξουν βασικό ρόλο αν και μόνο αν εναρμονιστούν με την επιχειρηματική κουλτούρα το επιχειρηματικό DNA για αναπτυξη. Βασιλης Μουλακάκης B.Sc., M.Sc. source: EDGE 2011