IT on a Shoestring Effective Enterprise Solutions for SMBs Presented by J Schwan Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Challenge Employees are clamoring for more efficient, automated back-office solutions. Clients expect some level of online self-service capabilities Larger enterprises have embraced this trend Gen-X, Gen-We (the Millennials) are increasing the demand Small to Mid-Size Businesses (SMBs) continue to struggle

What’s The Problem? Limited Budget and Inefficient Execution

The Opportunity

How Do You Do It? Open Source Software (OSS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions Scalable Cloud Computing Agile Product Development Methodology

How Do You Do It?

Allowing free redistribution of the software/product without royalties Requiring that source code be distributed with the software Allowing anyone to modify the software and to redistribute the modified software under the same terms OSS projects take the shape of operating systems, software solutions, development frameworks and hardware products What is Open Source?

What is SaaS? Model of software deployment where an application is hosted as a service provided to customers across the Internet Eliminates burden of maintenance, operations and support Customers relinquish control over versions and changing requirements Cost often free for limited usage and subscription based on demand

Proprietary vs OSS vs. SaaS Traditional Proprietary Products OSS Products SaaS Products Speed to market Customization Interoperability Support

Proprietary vs OSS vs. SaaS Traditional Proprietary Products OSS Products SaaS Products Vendor Lock In Security Total Cost of Ownership

OSS, SaaS Product Examples * Other solutions for billing, eCommerce, scheduling, etc. exist as well Category Proprietary Market Leader OSS SaaS Office Productivity MS Office OpenOffice Google Docs Customer Relationship Management Siebel SugarCRM 37Signals HighRise/Salesforce.com Human Resources Management PeopleSoft HRM OrangeHRM Zoho People Content Management Interwoven Teamsite Drupal, Joomla TBD. . . Portal IBM Websphere Portal, MS Sharepoint, Liferay, .NETNuke Google Apps Collaboration MS Exchange, Lotus Notes Domino Zimbra Google Apps Social Networking TBD (MS, IBM, Oracle) Elgg Ning.com (free), KickApps (sub),

How Do You Do It? Cloud Computing

Data Center in the Cloud Virtual Servers – GoDaddy / RackSpace App Hosting – Google, Amazon Custom Dev –Amazon, Force.com Emerging – Microsoft Azure, IBM Blue Cloud

Data Center in the Cloud

How Do You Do It?

* Standish Group CHAOS 2004 Survey IT Project Problems

*Study by British Computer Society IT Project Problems: Change

Typical Features Used in a Successful System* 45% Never 19% Rarely 16% Sometimes 13% Often 7% Always * Standish Group IT Project Problems: Waste 20% Always / Often 64% Rarely / Never

64%

IT Project Problems: Quality Many people doing a waterfall/predictive development also try to fix schedule and cost But it’s risky, as we wind up with: Fixed requirements Fixed schedule Fixed cost And the only variable left is quality … “ Pay me now, or pay me later!”

Many people doing a waterfall/predictive development also try to fix schedule and cost

But it’s risky, as we wind up with:

Fixed requirements

Fixed schedule

Fixed cost

And the only variable left is quality …

“ Pay me now, or pay me later!”

Methodology Comparison

Agile Scrum

Metaphors for people-driven, incremental change 06/08/09

Team Structure

Methodology

Agile Tools: Sprint Backlog

When the next IT project presents itself. . Look to OSS and SaaS solutions before you get you started on any new/reengineering initiatives Migrate your “data center” on demand, into the cloud If something isn’t available out of the box, Agile Development can be used as a lightweight, proven process for delivering an iterative solution, driven by the customer Once the solution is implemented, consider open sourcing it so others can benefit and build upon it! Bringing It All Together

Questions, Follow Ups, Brainstorming? J Schwan Solstice Consulting, LLC 641 W. Lake Suite 102 Chicago, IL Email: [email_address] Blog: blogs.solstice-consulting.com Twitter: jschwan LinkedIn: schwan.solstice-consulting.com Work: 866.380.8472 x 112