Three axes of empowerment

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DENNIS DROGSETH ON NETWORK/SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT
08/08/05
Today's focus: Three axes of empowerment

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Measuring the success of service based on cost, quality and
  demand
* Links related to Network/Systems Management
* Featured reader resource
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Nokia
Empower Your Mobile Enterprise

Nokia believes that business mobility will fundamentally change
the way work gets done-and for the better. To allow the entire
organization to get the most from this paradigm shift in
productivity, Nokia Enterprise Solutions focuses on delivering
increased efficiency through enhanced mobility. Learn more by
downloading this white paper today!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=109955
_______________________________________________________________
PUTTING PEDAL TO METAL

In the enterprise, early wireless mesh network deployments are
catching on in hard-to-wire environments. Such is the case at
International Speedway Corporation (ISC) where a wireless mesh
network is providing much needed agility during major sporting
events such as NASCAR's Daytona 500. Find out more. Click here:
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=109876
_______________________________________________________________

Today's focus: Three axes of empowerment

By Dennis Drogseth

Today we look at three "simple" axes around which IT can look at
its own services. Each axis is multi-faceted in its own rights.
The axes are "cost," "quality" and "demand." Understanding some
of the variables within each of these axes, and their interplay
- trade-offs between cost and quality in view of historical and
predicted demand, for instance - can empower IT to far more
effectively take charge of its own future, and to focus business
alignment discussions with intelligence and precision that would
otherwise not be possible.

* Cost - Most of these parameters should be fairly obvious to
  many of you. Operational costs, costs of infrastructure and
  costs of external services are the three general categories
  here. Understanding costs and impacts more granularly - for
  instance costs for a specific application service as delivered
  to a set of clients, or costs of assuring a service at a .2
  second response time vs. a .5 second response time - will become
  more and more important. IT governance similarly should shed
  light on how operational processes are impacting costs for
  better or worse, and promote a "best-practices" approach.
  However, many organizations are still not even solid in knowing
  what and where all their assets are, or have good cost
  accounting at that basic, "static asset" level. So there's still
  plenty of distance to go before "cost" analysis becomes cut and
  dried.

* Quality - I've written frequently on quality before. "Quality"
  is perhaps a misnomer - though, I hate to say it since it's an
  intuitively meaningful and simple term. "Customer
  appropriateness" is the more precise term. And the driver for
  understanding "customer appropriateness" - is the customer him
  or herself.

What does a line of business really need to perform well and
why? What services are really most supportive for an
organization, and what parameters count most? Is it fast and
consistent application service response? Is it high levels of
availability? Or perhaps the single most important factor is
consistency of service quality and format across tethered and
mobile environments and flexibility in accessing a wide variety
of data? Or high levels of security and access control for
certain data types, etc. Simply over-delivering to show value
isn't the answer - since it adversely impacts axis No.1 - costs.
In the end, high quality for its own sake, and independent of
real customer requirements, is something you can't afford.

* Demand - This is the most overlooked leg of our three-legged
  stool, but as you know, it's hard to relax when what you're
  sitting on has only two legs. If a line of business claims it
  wants something, it's all too often taken on face value.

Demand is a meeting place of accountability between IT and its
customers. Ideally, it will provide IT with dynamic insights
into who is using which application services and how often.
Services with huge demand and demand on the upswing are probably
solid candidates for investment in terms of infrastructure or
service upgrades. Services that seem important but that few are
using, or more likely a very constricted group is using, can be
reprioritized and refocused to serve those consumers. Demand
also provides a "behavioral map" of how the business is
performing from an IT service perspective. It can reveal
activities threatening to security and compliance policies, and
shed light on intra-organization and business process dynamics
that go far beyond the immediate purview of IT, but which can be
immensely valuable in collaboratively tuning IT to business
objectives, and even in planning business process best practices
in their own right.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. First family of Windows Vista viruses unleashed
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm4509>

2. The CEO's sidekick
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm4510>

3. BellSouth sues AT&T
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm4511>

4. Leaked Cisco slides pulled after legal threats
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm4512>

5. Cisco vulnerability posted to Internet
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm4513>
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Dennis Drogseth

Dennis Drogseth is a vice president with Enterprise Management
Associates <http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/>, a leading
analyst, market research and IT consulting firm based in
Boulder, Colorado, focusing exclusively on all aspects of
enterprise management. Dennis has extensive experience in
service level management and network management platforms and
products. He is actively researching trends in management
software and changing IT roles internationally. His 22-plus
years of experience in high-tech includes positions at IBM and
Cabletron. He is widely quoted in the press and is a speaker at
many industry events. He can be reached via e-mail
<mailto:drogseth@enterprisemanagement.com>.
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Nokia
Empower Your Mobile Enterprise

Nokia believes that business mobility will fundamentally change
the way work gets done-and for the better. To allow the entire
organization to get the most from this paradigm shift in
productivity, Nokia Enterprise Solutions focuses on delivering
increased efficiency through enhanced mobility. Learn more by
downloading this white paper today!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=109954
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Network/Systems Management newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/nsm/index.html

Management Research Center:
http://www.networkworld.com/topics/management.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE
HARD WORK, GOOD PAY

According to Network World's 2005 Salary Survey, network
professionals are enjoying substantial increases in pay,
especially at the highest- and lowest-tier job titles. But are
those increases coming with higher titles, more work or both?
Find out if compensation alone is keeping network professionals
happy in their careers - or is something else? Click here:
<http://www.networkworld.com/you/2005/072505-salary-survey.html>
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