Romancing the Cloud

The “Cloud Economics 101” panel discussion at yesterday’s Government Cloud Computing conference in Washington, DC created a fascinating juxtaposition between the industry’s top thought leaders and the government IT executives still struggling with how the cloud applies to their specific needs.

Let’s start with the vendors with representatives on the panel -- EMC, Cisco, Intel, VMware, Terremark and Lockheed Martin. Combined, these market leaders represent billions of dollars in annual IT, network and security spending by government and corporate customers. (Full disclosure: I attended yesterday’s panel discussion as a guest of EMC.)

The panelists did a superb job outlining the business case for cloud adoption, including:

1. Maintaining continuity of operations (COOP) when faced with a natural disaster, terrorist act or other form of disruption. Just consider the impact this week of flooding in Nashville on business and government activities.

2. Managing costs and ensuring reliability in an environment often defined by unpredictable computing requirements. EMC’s Tim Harder used the term “burst-ability” to describe a customer’s ability to tap into additional computing resources via the cloud, as needed.

3. Embracing a more green or sustainable IT environment through a reduction in power consumption.

4. Realizing the capability, feature and cost benefits from the economies of scale approach a cloud provider can deliver. The vendor is able to make more frequent financial investments in their infrastructure because the costs are spread across a myriad of customers and/or users.

When it came time for Q&A, many of the attendee inquiries focused on more pedestrian issues, such as how to justify the move to the cloud to internal decision-makers and ways to mitigate the cultural issues that arise with any enterprise shift.

One attendee asked, “Do we have to fire all of our IT people?”

Understandably, the issue of security was also a hot topic of discussion because of profile incidents that have plagued government agencies.

Panelist Barry Sheward of Lockheed Martin who has an extensive security background suggested that cloud computing can actually improve an organization’s security because of the management function.

EMC’s Harder brought the panel discussion to a close with a suggestion for attendees who have yet to adopt cloud computing in their environment.

“Select an application to become cloud-enabled and measure return on investment,” he said. “View this as a test to establish a baseline your agency can then use to evaluate how to best incorporate the cloud into your operations.”


EMC's Tim Harder and Alex Hart of VMware chat at the conclusion of the panel discussion.

Decline of US' Global Swagger

An attribute that has helped make the United States a global technical powerhouse is the cultural diversity of its workforce. Competing views, beliefs and experiences contribute to an environment in which creativity and innovation thrive.

As a result, the brightest and hardest work entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers and medical practitioners tagged the US as their destination of choice. We offered the best schools, access to multiple sources of capital and a support structure designed to nurture emerging growth companies.


They came…they created…and our economy reaped the rewards. The list of companies founded by immigrants to the US is stunning: Intel, Solectron, eBay, Yahoo and (yes) Google.

Then came the horror of 9/11. A protectionist mind-set swept through government and resulted in the clamp down on the number of technologists and students who were allowed to cultivate their craft in the United States. Concurrently, the accelerating globalization of business allowed emerging economies in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India and China to develop more credible and higher quality education and technical infrastructures.

Today, the US is no longer the destination of choice for many would-be entrepreneurs. There is the perception that a comparable level of success can be achieved in expanding cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Dubai, Shanghai, Tel Aviv and Belfast.

The inability to attract the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, engineers and technologists is one of the most significant threats facing the United States economy. Simply put, we have lost our global swagger.

We need to act quickly to solidify the US’ global leadership in technology. Immediate steps should include a scaling back on restrictions for H1B visas, as well as an aggressive promotional campaign to encourage enrollment of international students in undergraduate and graduate programs.

Let’s invite the world’s best, and then be gracious, supportive and thankful when they arrive.

I do recognize the arguments against throwing open the door. Foreign-born software developers, engineers, doctors, etc. will take jobs that would have otherwise been filled by domestic workers. True…this will most likely be a near-term outcome. Yet, the resulting company creation and innovation from sporting the most competitive workforce will lead to more opportunities (and wealth) for everyone.

There’s also the issue of homeland security and terrorist threats. This is certainly a risk and not one to be taken lightly. However, the positive economic impact and improvement in quality of life outweighs this potential danger.

Score One for the Independents

Tech bellwether Intel just made a surprising move that validates the importance of independently owned public relations, advertising and marketing communications agencies.

For the past four years, the company’s multi-million dollar advertising account has been managed by McCann Erickson. They are one of the largest ad agencies in the world and are owned by Interpublic Group, a publicly traded, global consortium of communications firms. Through McCann and Interpublic, Intel had access to an extensive pool of resources with the ability to execute on every continent (except Antarctica, of course).

Yet, Intel just tapped San Francisco-based shop Venables Bell & Partners as its ad firm, citing the agency’s exceptional work and a desire to work with a group of agencies rather than a single network. The company even came up with a nifty name for its approach – “open-source” model of relationships.

There are those who argue that independent, lifestyle PR/communications firms will be unable to compete in the market. As the CEO of one I obviously have quite a different take.

At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), we’ve made two principles the core of our business: 1) great work for great clients; and 2) a commitment to work/life balance for employees. We recognize that we will sacrifice growth opportunities and that Strategic may not be the best fit for every client. Yet, for the right company at the right time we will excel.

Kudos to Intel for recognizing and rewarding performance from one of its agencies, rather than merely sticking with the same old.

Staying True to Telecommuting

About two years ago Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) implemented a flexible work policy for a majority of its professional staff. More than a work from home program, our approach is to empower employees to work where they want and when they want, using the results they produce and client responsiveness as benchmarks to evaluate performance.

For us, this has been a home run decision. I believe it has helped Strategic recruit and retain exceptional performers, establish relationships with a set of consultants who deliver tremendous value to our clients, and (most important) given each of us a healthier work/family balance.

We have also picked up a myriad of lessons learned along the way, including:

--Align the company’s business model and infrastructure (i.e. technology, office space, etc.) to be consistent with a flexible work environment.

--Identify the skill sets and personality traits a person must have to be successful in this environment, and then recruit accordingly.

--Require face-to-face interaction among client teams on a monthly basis to spur creativity and collaboration.

--Invest time and resources in professional development programs, including guest speakers, seminar attendance, book clubs, etc.

--Utilize social media as a platform to facilitate relationship building. Strategic’s Facebook fan page is a recent example (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Silver-Spring-MD/Strategic-Communications-Group/11060295377?ref=mf)

My expectation was that in time more companies would embrace a flexible work environment as a means of creating an environment in which employees are best set up for success. Imagine my surprise when I came across a recent Wall Street Journal article that reported on how a number of organizations were actually reducing the flexibility they offer employees, citing a need for greater collaboration and mentoring.

While I understand the rationale, I believe AT&T, Intel and HP are making a poor decision. Yes…it takes work, effort and investment to build culture, collaboration and mentoring in a flexible work environment.

It’s absolutely worth it though. Trust in high-quality professionals and the results are exciting.

Some Companies Rethink the Telecommuting Trend
Wall Street Journal
http://www.ocala.com/article/20080302/BUSINESS/803020331/1009/NEWS&template=storydetails