App Think Tank: Why would I ever build another data center?

May 5, 2014

This week is the last set of videos from the Dell Services Application think tank held earlier this year.   These last two snippets focus on cloud and infrastructure and today’s clip features features Jay Ferro, CIO, American Cancer Society and Barry Libenson, SVP and CIO,  Safeway.

Jay and Barry respond to the question, how would you set up your IT environment today if you had the luxury of starting completely afresh.  One thing they are both quite adamant about is that they would own as little as possible.  Take a listen.

While owning no servers is not a reality for the majority of existing enterprises, there is quite a bit of traditional IT functionality that does make sense to outsource.  Whether outsourcing takes the form of managed services, BPO or cloud-based systems, its something to seriously investigate.

Stay tuned

Tune in later this week and we’ll have the final video clip from the application think tank.  In it Jimmy Pike, a Dell senior fellow and chief architect, will talk about cloud and hyperscale and the difference between the two.

The Think Tank, Sessions one and two

  • Think Tank Session 1– Welcome to the application-centric world – best practices in the ‘greenfield’
  • Think tank Session 2– Nexus of forces – CIOs under pressure and the rise of the enterprise developer

Extra-credit reading (previous videos)

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

App Think Tank: Legacy platforms and modern cloud systems

May 2, 2014

Today we conclude the mini-series of videos around the topic of application and software strategy.  Today’s segment features Barry Libenson, SVP and CIO at Safeway talking about legacy platforms vs. modern cloud-based systems like the loyalty platform they have implemented.  Take a listen as Barry talks about the differences between the two.

While it might not make sense to cloud-enable everything, when you’ve got a 20-year old mainframe system like Barry describes you’ll want to look to app modernization and moving to a standard and open architecture.

Stay tuned

Next week is the last topic culled from our App Think Tank: cloud and infrastructure thoughts.  You’ll want to tune in to see how CIOs and tech companies are viewing and thinking about these areas 🙂

The Think Tank, Sessions one and two

  • Think Tank Session 1– Welcome to the application-centric world – best practices in the ‘greenfield’
  • Think tank Session 2– Nexus of forces – CIOs under pressure and the rise of the enterprise developer

Extra-credit reading (previous videos)

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

App Think Tank: Open Source all the way

April 28, 2014

This week I’m continuing with the video series from our Application think tank earlier this year.  The videos this week are centered around the topic of applications and software strategy: what should your foundation be, what should your strategy be going forward and how do you deal with what you have.

To kick this topic off, here is a video featuring Barry Libenson, SVP and CIO at Safeway.  The question posed was what role does Open Source play in your software strategy.  Barry says what he never thought he would say, “Open source all the way.”  Take a listen as he explains one man’s conversion.

As Barry explains, open source isn’t just for the bleeding edge anymore, its for mainstream enterprises.  It features a robust ecosystem and is where the talent is.  Whether you’re a start-up or Fortune 50 company, as Barry says, Open Source all the way.

Stay tuned

Tomorrow we’ll look how the American Cancer Society and Intel have set up their guidelines for new applications being created.

The Think Tank, Sessions one and two

  • Think Tank Session 1– Welcome to the application-centric world – best practices in the ‘greenfield’
  • Think tank Session 2– Nexus of forces – CIOs under pressure and the rise of the enterprise developer

Extra-credit reading (previous videos)

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

App Think Tank: The skills the CIO of the future needs

April 24, 2014

This is last video on the topic of CIO and IT skills needed for success.  It, like the previous two, was taken from the think tank Dell Services hosted earlier this year in Silicon Valley.  It  features Jay Ferro, CIO, American Cancer Society and Barry Libenson, SVP and CIO,  Safeway.

Both Jay and Barry agree that the CIO of the future will need very different  skills than today but they differ on how much technical knowledge he or she will need.  As Jay says, “I don’t need to understand the nuance of the digestive system to know how to eat.”  Take a listen.

Business first

I would say that now, as in the future, the CIO and IT in general need to be business people first, and technologists second.  And the same goes for other functions as well whether you’re marketing or finance or HR, you need to be business people first.

Stay tuned

Next week I will have five videos from the think tank that all focus on software and applications.

The Think Tank, Sessions one and two

  • Think Tank Session 1– Welcome to the application-centric world – best practices in the ‘greenfield’
  • Think tank Session 2– Nexus of forces – CIOs under pressure and the rise of the enterprise developer

Extra-credit reading (previous videos)

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

App Think Tank: What a CIO must do

April 21, 2014

A couple months ago Dell Services held a think tank out in Silicon Valley at the venture firm, NEA.  We had 10 panelists representing both old school and new school organizations, both big and small:  Intel, Safeway, American Cancer Society, Puppet Labs, NGINX, Stormpath, Stanford Business School, 451 Research and TechCrunch (check out the complete list of participants and session questions).

A cross-section of voices

The idea was to use this cross-section of the tech industry to really learn what was happening in IT today and where it will be tomorrow.  As a group we discussed the challenges of the new app-centric world as well as how to leverage both the four mega trends: Cloud, Mobile, Social and Big Data, and the “three enablers”: Open Source, DevOps and APIs.

We have a series of 10 videos from the event, grouped into three, sections that I will be posting over the next few weeks:

  • CIO and IT skills needed for success
  • Applications and software strategy
  • Cloud and Infrastructure thoughts

Today’s Topic

This week’s topic is, CIO and IT skills needed for success and this first video features Jay Ferro, CIO, American Cancer Society and Barry Libenson, SVP and CIO,  Safeway.

As Barry points out, the role of the CIO is completely different from how it was five years ago and the ability to be agile and nimble are no longer nice-to-haves but rather, essential for success.  Additionally, as Jay states, it is imperative for the CIO of today to simplify their architecture and virtually become an app shop themselves.

Dell would agree with both Barry and Jay.  IT is in a big period of transition and you can learn a lot from the these gentleman and the rest of the think tank :-).

Coming up this week:

  • What skills and types of people does IT need today
  • What skills does the CIO of  the future need

Watch the entire Think Tank

Here are the two sessions that made up the think tank.  Each are about 90 minutes:

New Age of Apps and the Delivery Gaps

  • Session 1– Welcome to the application-centric world – best practices in the ‘greenfield’
  • Session 2– Nexus of forces – CIOs under pressure and the rise of the enterprise developer

Extra-credit reading (previous videos)

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

App Think Tank: IT is facing competition for the first time ever

February 4, 2014

Here is the second video snippet from the Think Tank that Dell Services held the week before last.  At the event we assembled 10 panelists representing both old school and new school organizations and discussed the challenges of the new app-centric world.

The short clip below features Barry Libenson, CIO of Safeway, Luke Kanies, CEO of Puppet Labs and Jay Ferro, CIO of the American Cancer Society.  The three men talk about the pressure IT is under these days as consumerization drives up expectations and shadow IT has crept in.

Videos still to come

  •  The persistently, ubiquitously connected to the network era
  •  The web of C level relationships

Extra-credit reading

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

App Think Tank: What do customers expect

February 4, 2014

The week before last, Dell Services held a think tank in Silicon Valley with 10 panelists representing both old school and new school organizations.   The group discussed the challenges of the new app-centric world as well as how to leverage both the “Four horsemen of IT du jour”: Cloud, Mobile, Social and Big Data, and the “three enablers”: Open Source, DevOps and APIs.

The idea of the Think Tank was not to look at technology for technology sake but from the view point of how it could meet customer and business needs.

Given the above, we started with question, “What do customers expect in an application today?”  In the short clip below, Luke Kanies, CEO of Puppet Labs, Barry Libenson, CIO of Safeway and Jay Ferro, CIO of the American Cancer Society give their thoughts.

Videos still to come

  •  IT is facing competition for the first time ever
  •  The persistently, ubiquitously connected to the network era
  •  The web of C level relationships

Extra-Credit reading

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George