Saturday, March 23, 2002

 
Posted by Mike Tarrani 9:17 PM
Reading Material. I'm still writing my next entry that addresses the service level objective layer in the Tarrani-Zarate Model. In the interim I want to provide some background material on business imperatives. It's a sad fact that too many IT professionals do not fully understand or appreciate the importance of business imperatives. Sadder still is the fact that many who have the title business systems analyst lack the understanding and appreciation. The books I've listed below will go a long way towards filling the understanding and knowledge gaps that exist:

• Internet Commerce Metrics and Models. This book is an encyclopedia of metrics that business process owners care about, and a compendium of advice for measuring them. Don't let the title fool you - this book is as applicable to bricks and mortar businesses as it is to e-commerce sites. I can assure you that reading this book will give you insights into the minds of the business process owners for whom you exist to serve, and will impart a good appreciation of business imperatives.
• Measuring the Impact of Your Web Site. Not only does this book expose the key metrics, but it also provides a methodology for gathering and analyzing the metrics. The methodology steps you through gathering raw measures, consolidating them, developing assumptions and approximations, then performing impact measurements. This book will not only give you insights into the business and what is important, but will also give you a methodology that can be employed for technical analysis within the IT domain. For example, these business techniques are also the basis for measuring IT effectiveness, service level attainment and other performance areas. Of course the metrics for IT are going to be different than the business metrics given in the book.
• Financial and Process Metrics for the New Economy. More metrics, but from a financial perspective with coupling to process performance. I won't rehash the specifics because you can read my 28 August 2001 review on Amazon.
• Ecosystem: Living the 12 Principles of Networked Business. My 10 September 2001 review covers the reasons why I am recommending this book. Also, in light of recent posts by Kate Hartshorn on complexity and perception I am going to revisit this one myself. The book has a lot of depth and provides deep insights into the business side.
• Web Business Engineering. I saved the best for last. This book is one of the top five I read in 2001, and has everything to do with business imperatives and little to do with technology. Both Linda and I reviewed this book and I cannot improve upon what Linda said in her 16 September 2001 review or what I said in my 14 September review. If you only buy one book this is the one to get.

Friday, March 22, 2002

 
Posted by Anonymous 9:42 PM
Dim Memories of Exciting Times. What do the radical free speech movement of the 1960s Berkeley and a computer-based education system based on B. F. Skinner's behavioral theories have in common? Each has influenced the art and science of knowledge management in unique ways.

I made these connections by serendipity. It started when Mike related some fascinating stories of the early days of personal computing and his parallel experiences on the Internet back in the late 1970s. The reason the experiences were parallel is because his access to the Internet and its network culture was via mainframes and minicomputers on MILNET. His personal computing experience and online experience converged in the early 1980s when he graduated from dialing into single-line bulletin board systems (BBS) to USENET access. The deeper I dug with probing questions the more he revealed (dredged up is a more apt term).

Connections. As his story unfolded he mentioned early work called the Community Memory Project. I took this bit of information and applied my own research. What I discovered was that in the early 1970s a community-minded innovator and visionary named Lee Felsenstein was one of the project's creators. He was also involved with the free speech movement, which influenced his thinking. In any other place but Berkeley an engineering mindset and social consciousness would be mutually exclusive, but the summary of the project and how it came to be shows that Mr. Felsenstein was an engineer with a strong commitment to social change. An account of his role and motivations are provided in a two-article overview of the Community Memory Project's history: Part 1 - How Community Memory Project Came to Be and Part 2 - Second Generation. Mr. Felsenstein (a fellow Philadelphian) made a number of contributions to personal computing, which were recognized when he was inducted into the Computer Hall of Fame in 1998.

The connection to B. F. Skinner and computer-based education also has its roots in the 1960s, when Control Data Corporation initiated the PLATO Project. This early work evolved into collaborative computing, and has significantly influenced, in many overt and subtle ways, the way the world wide web has evolved.

The Point? Both events (the free speech movement that was the impetus for the Community Memory Project and the PLATO project) planted the seeds of knowledge management. Studying these early projects gives insights into what does and does not work when developing a knowledge management solution. Both contribute to the body of knowledge for collaborative systems and knowledge management (PLATO is exceptionally well-documented), and this body of knowledge should not be overlooked if you are involved in knowledge management strategies.

 
Posted by Mike Tarrani 4:28 PM
Tarrani-Zarate Model: Business Requirements. In my 21 March entry I introduced the model, how it evolved and discussed the importance of business imperatives. These are the impetus or driving force behind everything also the flows through the model, with an ultimate purpose of delivering tools to the business that are characterized by reliability, availability and support from IT.

Refer to the illustration and you'll see that before the model's foundation there is one additional layer: business requirements. These requirements are dictated by business imperatives. The requirements flow in two directions:

1. Up, which determines service level objectives, which are performance targets that IT uses to measure how well the business is supported.
2. To application delivery processes, which is either a project to develop a system needed to support business imperatives (or to modify existing systems), or the acquisition of the system/application. Application delivery also encompasses the procurement of third-party services, such as application service providers (ASPs), managed service providers (MSPs) and outsourced services and functions, including IT as a whole.

Doing the right things. Getting requirements right is probably one of the most important activities in IT. This is a two-part process: elicitation and documentation. Within this process is the normal due diligence of peer reviews, review and approval of the documented requirements by not only the source of those requirements (from whom they were elicited), but from the business process owner(s) who are the final authority for whether or not the requirement conforms to business needs, governing policy (see my series on processes in Notes from the Field), and business processes (both "as is" and "to be").

Technical and Business Value. The technical value of requirements is that they are the basis for committing resources (people and money) to develop or acquire the systems and services that support the fulfillment of business imperatives. Poorly defined requirements will at worst result in project cancellation, and at best, tools that do not completely satisfy needs generated by business imperatives.

The business value of requirements is straightforward as well: poorly defined requirements will result in either the delay of the systems and services that comprise tools with which the business employs to satisfy business imperatives, or tools that do not fully address business imperatives.

In both cases there is much at risk, all of which goes back to competitive advantage and shareholder value. These are significant factors that determine whether or not a business will survive (or you have a job). The cost of poor requirements is clearly illustrated in costs of defects, which shows that as the development of a system progresses throughout its life cycle the cost of catching problems in the requirements phase is nominal, yet it increases dramatically in later phases. One of the biggest causes of problems is poor requirements. It's ironic that requirements elicitation and management is too often deemed least important when a project is initiated. To be sure there is much lip service given, but in many organizations the focus is on the development stage. This is why IT often delivers results that are [to put it charitably] less than adequate.

Business Rules. This approach to requirements has been repeatedly mentioned here and in Notes from the Field. The value of using a business rules approach is discussed in detail in my 10 March entry, so I am not going to rehash it in this entry. I do want to recommend two books, both of which I've recently reviewed on Amazon, and encourage you to carefully investigate this proven approach to requirements:

1. Business Rules and Information Systems: Aligning IT with Business Goals
   Best introductory text on the subject

   This book introduces the concept and mechanics of business rules, and is essential reading for anyone involved in eliciting and writing requirements, or developing specifications. I want to disclose that I am a staunch advocate of business rules, so take this into consideration as you read this review.

   This is one of two books on the subject. The other book, Business Rules Applied by Barbara von Halle, is more suitable for an experienced practitioner or someone responsible for implementing business rules as an enterprise methodology. This book, however, focuses on the basics and addresses topics, such as object orientation and development, that are not found in von Halle's book. Both books are valuable, but to different audiences.

   What I like most about this book is that it painstakingly describes how to define business rules, and how to clearly and unambiguously describe them. Moreover, the approach given in this book employs the object constraint language, which is a part of the unified modeling language (UML) version 1.1. As such it shows how to integrate business rules into use cases, and to develop artifacts that align to organizations that are using UML or the Rational Unified Process, as well as object-oriented frameworks in general.

   My favorite chapters were 3, which is about defining business rules (getting them right) and 5, which covers controlling business rule quality. To me these are the keys to understanding and using business rules, and both chapters were clear and filled with examples. I also liked the appendix, which covered logic - another essential knowledge factor for analysts who are involved in requirements and specifications.

   If you're new to business rules or are exploring them, start here. Even though the von Halle book is better suited to experienced practitioners, I would still recommend this book to members of that audience who are working in object-oriented environments or are using UML. If you are also using UML, do consider also reading Alistair Cockburn's excellent book titled Writing Effective Use Cases because that book is completely consistent with the material in this one.

2. Business Rules Applied
   For experienced practitioners and business rules implementors

   This is one of two books currently in print about business rules, and each book addresses the subject from a different perspective. The other book, Business Rules and Information Systems by Tony Morgan, is a better introduction because it assumes less technical knowledge. This book, however, has unique strengths that the other book doesn't, including:

   1. A comprehensive approach to preparing for and implementing business rules as an enterprise-wide discipline. It accomplishes this by providing a life cycle approach to business rules development through ongoing management.
   2. The implementation approach is provided as a work breakdown structure, which significantly reduces your planning for an enterprise-wide initiative (or a pilot initiative based on a single project).
   3. There is an accompanying web site that provides additional papers, case studies and other materials that enhance the value of the book.

   The introduction to business rules and concepts is perhaps too verbose, but is thorough. What this part of the book lacks in sparkling prose it more than compensates in detail. I particularly liked the chapter devoted to business rules methodology, which takes the concepts and applies them in a structured way. Another strong point is that the book provides many examples to reinforce points under discussion, and summarizes key information in easy-to-read tables. The illustrations that are sprinkled throughout the book also add clarity.

   If you're new to business rules the best book, in my opinion, is Morgan's Business Rules and Information Systems. However, after reading that book you'll also want this one if you are serious about implementing business rules because of the way Ms. von Halle has structured the flow and content. Also, the author is one of the pioneers in the business rules community, which adds considerable authority and credibility to her approach.

Next Up. In my next entry I'm going to discuss the impact of business requirements on service level objectives.

 
Posted by Mike Tarrani 3:11 AM
Treasure. We're all required to write, and for some of us it's what we really do for a living despite our titles. I found a handbook recently that is so well written and on the mark that I'm compelled to share it: Plain Language Handbook. I usually provide links and documents knowing that they will interest some readers, but not others. This book is for everyone and I encourage you to download a copy.

 
Posted by Anonymous 12:02 AM
Miscellaneous Musings. Group Decision Support Systems, Inc. has an excellent working paper collection covering topics ranging from knowledge management to organizational improvement.

One of the best papers to illustrate competitive intelligence concepts is the 62 page publication titled U.S. and Worldwide Consulting Services Market Forecast and Analysis, 2001–2005. What makes this paper valuable is the collection and analysis techniques are clearly apparent. While the document itself does not fall into the category of competitive intelligence, it was developed using the same techniques. Since most of us are in the consulting business, the contents are as interesting as the methods with which they were developed.

Strategic Application of e-Intelligence discusses the use of data as a strategic tool. This paper fits nicely into Mike's earlier discussion about business imperatives and how they relate to the Tarrani-Zarate Model.

How Can IT Support the Learning Organization intersects with my discussion of knowledge management and business intelligence, and the direction that Mike is taking with the Tarrani-Zarate Model discussion.

I posted material about cognitive science, complexity and perception in my last Notes from the Field entry. As a follow-up here I am sharing a PowerPoint presentation on requirements engineering that lightly touches on the more subtle challenges of eliciting and documenting requirements.

Monday, March 18, 2002

 
Posted by Anonymous 7:14 PM
Manage Knowledge Before It Manages You. Linda graciously left me an opening to add more material about knowledge management. The theme of this material is making the business case, and a good starting point is Knowledge Management Business Case Exploration. If you are considering whether or not knowledge management is worth the effort and resources, the paper titled Risks of No Knowledge Management may help you decide. The paper starts with an attention-grabbing sentence:

Three recent failures in risk management-at Barings Bank, Kidder Peabody, and Metallgesellschaft Refining & Marketing-point to a similar underlying cause: the failure of the firms to manage their organizational knowledge.

It goes on to give some compelling reasons in favor of knowledge management.

As you go deeper into the analysis and decision process you'll find the paper on knowledge management implementation issues to be useful. You'll also find invaluable information in The Quest for a Model of Knowledge Management Evaluation. This paper's abstract illustrates why the information it contains is an important part of the decision making process:

This paper reviews the features of successful knowledge management systems, trying to reveal the general factors and the characteristics of such systems. The aim is to enable managers to distinguish between traditional IT systems labeled KM systems, and real knowledge management systems, enabling companies to use their specific knowledge in order to gain competitive advantage. The list of general characteristics can be used either for examining existing knowledge management systems at different stages of their lifecycle, or as guidelines for planning and starting the design of such a system.

In other words, approach knowledge management from a business perspective, not from the IT view.

A more advanced look at knowledge management is given in Knowledge Reuse, subtitled, The Missing Focus in Knowledge Management: Results of a Case Analysis at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It's a well written case study with information that you can effectively use as you plan your knowledge management strategy.

La Vita Dolce Per Tutti. Rough translation: the sweet life for all. It's a beautiful day in Irvine, California and I am going to take a break and enjoy it. Ciao.

 
Posted by Mike Tarrani 4:34 AM
Book Review. Linda and I finally posted our reviews of : IT Systems Management: Designing, Implementing, and Managing World-Class Infrastructures on Amazon. It will take between three to five days for the reviews to appear on the Amazon product page, so I am going to post both here.

Linda's Review
Amazingly complete and packed with knowledge

Mr. Schiesser has managed to capture all of the essential service delivery processes in a single book, and he covers each of these topics with a thoroughness that will give you a foundation to implement world-class system management.

He starts out with three chapters that cover the history of system management and how it has evolved into an important discipline that is currently challenged by issues that were not foreseeable when I started in the industry 25 years ago. Today systems are interconnected into complex supply chains and extend onto the desktops of home and business users who are not known to the managers of the systems. Although these chapters can be skipped, they do provide context for the details that come in later chapters. In fact, each topic in the book is introduced at a basic level, then built upon in layer upon layer of detail. This makes learning the complex discipline of system management easy to someone new to IT, and exposes details that even seasoned veterans may not have encountered.

The book's best feature is that covers each of the key processes (support and problem management, availability, performance tuning and capacity planning, change control and configuration management), and ties them to related areas (security, disaster recovery, facilities management, and infrastructure management areas for storage and networks).

Although the book is not sequenced in the key process and related areas in the order I've listed, a pattern emerges as each topic is covered. The glue that ties all of these together is the way the author develops a strategy for organizing for systems management, including staffing considerations, and the integration of the processes at the end of the book. I especially like the way tactical and strategic processes are identified and how the relationships are developed.

As an IT operations management specialist with extensive experience I appreciate the way the book has accurately captured the essence of systems management. As a consultant I found the checklists and worksheets provided in the book to be invaluable. This book represents an important contribution to the overlooked body of knowledge of systems management and IT operations, and should be on the bookshelf of every IT manager or service delivery specialist who takes their job seriously. It should be carefully read by those in the dot com and ASP industries because the processes described in this book, if implemented, will differentiate your services and give you a significant competitive advantage.

My Review
Complete coverage of critical processes

This book provides sorely needed guidance for developing and implementing system management processes that will assure reliability, availability and support. The topics that this book addresses that are not found in any other I've read include:

• Production acceptance criteria - this topic covers the critical boundary between development or projects, and operations. The value of employing the book's approach to production acceptance is that applications and systems will be brought into production in a carefully controlled manner that ensures all operations is fully prepared to provide the level of support required by the business.
• Acknowledgement of the importance of facilities management, which is almost always overlooked until problems arise.
• One of the most comprehensive and well thought out collections of checklists I've ever encountered. The checklists provided in the book cover every aspect of systems management, ranging from staffing profiles, key issues in infrastructure support processes, to capacity planning. The checklists alone are worth many times the price of the book.
• Linking change control (a rare topic itself) to configuration management. I specialize in these two areas and can attest that the author's treatment is accurate and reflect best practices.
• Special considerations for web-enabled environments. Finally we have material that updates traditional management and support processes to reflect challenges of web-based computing. The tried and true methods many of us learned from mainframe environments impeded the meeting of business goals in web-based environments. This book gives advice that is useful and provides a foundation for evolving processes to meet these unique challenges.

I also like the way each topic is explored by starting simple and expanding into details that are examined for strengths and weaknesses. The net result is an understanding of all factors and issues, including many subtle ones that would have required iterations of trial and error to get right. Most importantly the author stayed focused on processes and best practices, leaving system management products to authors of books for a much narrower audience. This, in my opinion, greatly increases the value of the book and makes it applicable to anyone who is part of the system management or service delivery process. My only complaint, and it is minor, is the lack of a web site or accompanying CD ROM with the invaluable checklists and tools in electronic format.