Next >>

Previous Next

THE BUSINESS VALUE OF TECHNOLOGY

JULY 25, 2011

Previous

Next

Previous

Next

PLUS

Previous

Nex

SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >>

Four ways to embrace social networking >> Microsofts Big Data service >> Social Securitys IT turmoil >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

Download

Subscribe

ERP itself is old news, but enhancing legacy applications with mobile, analytics, and social capabilities can deliver substantial value >>
By Doug Henschen
informationweek.com

Previous

Next

CONTENTS
THE BUSINESS VALUE OF TECHNOLOGY July 25, 2011 Issue 1,306 This all-digital issue of InformationWeek is part of our 10-year strategy to reduce the publications carbon footprint

20 Return Of The Silos

SaaS integration with on-premises systems and data sources is difficult, but products and best practices are emerging to help

COVER STORY

11 Enterprise App Strategies

Extend core applications with mobile, analytic, and social features to ensure ITs business relevance and visibility

3 Research And Connect

Reports, events, and more

4 Down To Business
Key takeaways from the tech earnings season

6 Global CIO QUICKTAKES 10 Big Data As A Service 8 Cisco Expands In Blades Researchers can use
Vendor looks to build its virtualization business, even as it lays off in other areas Microsofts cloud platform to analyze massive data sets

Four ways to incorporate social networking into your business

7 CIO Profiles

Leveraging mobile technology for customer services is key for Progressives CIO

9 Social Security CIO Out

Frank Baitmans resignation follows shake-up of IT responsibilities at agency
informationweek.com

CONTACTS
25 Editorial Contacts 26 Business Contacts
July 25, 2011 2

Previous

Next

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

Links

Resources to Research, Connect, Comment

Design On A Dime: Upgrading Storage The economies of storage networking have changed, especially in the options available to smaller enterprises. We analyze responses to our 2011 State of Enterprise Storage Survey and discuss which techs will best serve these businesses. informationweek.com/analytics/storageupgrade State Of The IT Service Desk IT support must better leverage service management frameworks and practices to align its offerings with customer needs. informationweek.com/analytics/itservicedesk

INFORMATIONWEEK ANALYTICS
Data Center Update Data centers face increased resource demands and flat budgets. Find out how to squeeze more from what you have. informationweek.com/analytics/2011datacenter Bending The 80/20 Barrier IT is caught between new service requests and demands to keep budgets lean. A variant on the familiar 80/20 rule can help. informationweek.com/analytics/barrier Stay Safe In The Cloud Security concerns give many companies pause, but you can stay safe in the cloud. informationweek.com/analytics/securecloud

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK

@informationweek

fb.com/informationweek

MORE INFORMATIONWEEK
InformationWeek 500: The Need For Speed Find out how C-level executives from leading global companies are turbo-charging business execution and growth at the InformationWeek 500 Conference. Join us Sept. 11-13 at the St. Regis Monarch Beach, Calif. informationweek.com/conference Black Hat USA 2011 Black Hat USA 2011 is the premiere technical security event for members of the industry to learn about cuttingedge research. In Las Vegas, July 30-Aug. 4. blackhat.com

NEVER MISS A REPORT

Leading Edge
Learn to leverage business tech innovations that decrease costs, increase productivity, and drive business value at Interop. In New York, Oct. 3-7.

Desktop Videoconferencing Just released Stop SQL Injection Just released Storage For Highly Converged Networks Just released Cloud SLAs Just released Clean Up The OS Mess Just released Dark Side Of Mobile Apps Just released Subscribe to our portfolio of 800-plus reports at analytics.informationweek.com

DARK READING
Supply Chain Threats The outside parties with which you do business create a serious security risk. The new issue of Dark Reading shows how to keep this in check. informationweek.com/drjuly11
July 25, 2011 3

Register
informationweek.com

Previous

Next

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

down to Business
Five Key Takeaways From Tech Earnings Season
Its tech earnings season, and for the most part its the season to be jolly, as the evidence suggests the tech economy is back on track. Across the board, the results of some of the industrys bellwether vendorsApple, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and VMware as well as its parent EMCwere strong. Apples results, in particular, were stellar. Cisco, which isnt due to report its fourth-quarter results until Aug. 10, is an exception among the bellwethersits in cost-cutting mode amid pricing and margin pressures. Here are five takeaways: 1. Apple bigger, more profitable than Big Blue (and everyone else). Apples third-quarter revenue of $28.57 billion, up 82% from the year-ago quarter, surpassed IBMs quarterly revenue for the first time in its history. Annual revenue of $100 billion is now well within Apples sights. Apples already a lot more profitable than IBM, posting 125% higher net income of $7.31 billion in the third quarter. Apples operating profit margin of 32.8% isnt huge by software company standards (for instance, Microsofts operating margin this quarter was 35.5%), but for a hardware/systems company, its outstanding. Apples market cap of around $360 billion, meantime, blows away every other tech companys. Closest are Microsoft and IBM, valued in the $220 billion to $230 billion range. Apple is firing on all cylinders. Mac unit sales rose 14% in its third quarter, to 3.95 million, even before Apples release this week of Mac OS X Lion, the eighth major version of its personal computer operating system. iPhone unit sales soared 142%, to 20.34 million. Apples introduction of the iPad 2 in the quarter jacked its tablet sales up 183%, to 9.25 million units. All those numbers far surpassed analysts forecasts. (iPod sales declined 20% from the yearago quarter, to 7.54 million unitspoor Apple.) 2. Big Iron, Big Data rule at IBM. In contrast to the small devices and lightweight apps driving Apple to new heights, Big Blues biggest increase last quarter came from Big Iron. IBMs second-quarter sales of servers, mainframes, and other hardware systems climbed 12% from the year-earlier quarter, to $4.7 billion. Revenue from mainframes alone leaped 61% year over year, and midrange server sales were also

from the editor

ROB PR ESTON

strong, as IBM noted that customers are reducing data center costs by consolidating virtual machines onto large hardware systems. IBMs software revenue rose 10% in the quarter, to $6.2 billion, fueled by sales of information management systemsincluding the Netezza Big Data warehousing software IBM acquired for $1.8 billion last yearwhich increased 18% in the quarter. Services, the centerpiece of IBMs growth, rose only 2%, to $15.1 billion. Overall, IBMs second-quarter net income increased 11% from the year-earlier quarter, to $3.8 billion, on 5% higher revenue of $26.7 billion. (All percentage sales increases reported here exclude currency gains.) 3. Google under spotlight or klieg lights? In reporting strong financial results on July 14, Google emphasized the growing popularity of Android (135 million Android devices have been activated to date, up from 100 million just two months ago; users have downloaded more than 6 billion apps from the Android Market) and its new social network, Google+ (it surpassed 10 million users in two weeks). But Google didnt provide an update on its thin
July 25, 2011 4

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

down to Business
client Chromebooks, on sale for about a month. All in all, Google reported that its secondquarter net income rose 34% compared with the year-earlier quarter, to $2.51 billion, on 32% higher revenue of $9.03 billiona new quarterly revenue record. But with such success comes mounting scrutiny. CEO Larry Page 4. Can Cisco cut it? Cisco, one of the most valuable companies in the world during its highflying dot-com days, has fallen on pedestrian times. Its profit margins under pressure and its market cap down to around $87 billion, Cisco plans to cut its workforce by 6,500 employees in early August4,400 through layoffs and 2,100 through early retirementas part of an effort to reduce annual operating expenses by $1 billion. Cisco also is selling its set-top box manufacturing plant in Juarez, Mexico, to Foxconn Technology Group, moving another 5,000 employees off its rolls. Cisco says the sale is consistent with its intention to simplify its operations; the company shut down another of its consumer businesses, its Flip video camera unit, in April, two years after paying $590 million for it. As my colleague Art Wittmann and I have argued in previous columns, Ciscos challenges arent just operational. It faces ever-more sophisticated competitors, especially in the data center, where the likes of Hewlett-Packard, Brocade, and Dell are also looking to consolidate networking, servers, and storage into a single architecture. The fat profit margins of Ciscos core router and switch businesses cant survive that competition, and the company cant cut its way back to prominence. 5. Microsoft The Mature. Microsofts challenge isnt its margins; its sustaining its growth rates as its core product lines mature. In the companys fourth quarter, for instance, sales in its Windows division fell 1% compared with the year-earlier quarter as the rise of tablets cut into PC sales. Sales at Microsofts two other grownup divisionsServer & Tools (which includes SQL Server and dev tools) and Business (which includes Office and other enterprise apps) were up modestly: 12% and 7%, respectively. But dont prep Microsoft for assisted living just yet. In posting 30% higher net income of $5.87 billion in the quarter, on 8% higher revenue of $17.37 billion, Microsoft said its Entertainment & Devices division continued to charge ahead, with sales up 30% thanks to the continued success of the Xbox console and Kinect motion-sensing device. Its Online Service division, which includes the Bing search engine, grew 17% in the quarter. Rob Preston is VP and editor in chief of InformationWeek. You can write to Rob at rpreston@techweb.com.
July 25, 2011 5

Ciscos challenges arent just operational. It faces ever-more sophisticated competitors, each one ready to undercut its prices and profit margins.
spent a part of the earnings call addressing investor concerns about Googles growing head count, up to 28,768 full-time employees as of June 30, from 26,316 on March 31. Meantime, theres the backdrop of U.S. and EU antitrust reviews of Googles search business; patent infringement claims from the likes of Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle; and the specter that Google wont be able to monetize all of its online traffic. Welcome to the big leagues.
informationweek.com

Previous

Next

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

globalCIO
4 Things IT Can Do To Embrace Social Networking
I wrote recently that IT leaders should not only be allowing social media; they should be actively integrating social network data throughout their enterprises. The question then becomes: How? After doing some thinking on the subject and speaking with a few folks in the business, Ive landed on these four recommendations. 1. Push policy. IT organizations have lots of experience crafting policies around the use of technology, and that experience can be applied to social media, notes Wade Rockett, a manager of digital strategy for PR firm Weber Shandwick and a former IT manager. IT has a keen sense of what can go wrong, Rockett says. Maybe thats a reason IT can be reluctant, but it can also make IT a very valuable partner. Some organizations may already have social media policies, but as was the case with initial Internet policies during the wild, wild west days, those policies may require modification as the technology matures. So invite those curmudgeonly security people to the table. Dont open the discussion by asking, Are we going to enable social media in our apps? Start by asking, How are we going to enable social media in our apps in a way youll feel good about it? 2. Internalize. There are those who still think social media is a fad, and sometimes you can win over those naysayers by doing an internal project. External software typically is a riskier undertaking and requires much more scrutiny (and faces much more bureaucracy). If IT can do a quick implementation of an internal social media system, it can help the organization muster the will to do a more ambitious project. 3. Actively advise. While IT needs to be more proactive in proposing social media projects, fact is, the PR and marketing folks are the experts on customer communications and will often come up with the ideas. IT can be helpful in figuring out whether what I want to propose is even possible, Rockett says. However, because IT pros have a well deserved rep for being bearish on social media, the marcom folks are reluctant to reach out to them. The IT organization I work with wants to keep things at a 2006 pace, before social networking got really going, Dave Del Piano, a CMO at a managed services company in San
JONATHAN FELDMAN

Francisco, wrote to me last week. It scares the guys here with too much power and too much potential for change. Thats why you should reach out to your CMOs. Theyll appreciate it. 4. Integrate. Customer data is (or should be) near the top of your priority list. Products like FatWire and Day Software help organizations derive data about their customers from customers interactions with their websites. For example, organizations can show tutorials to new customers and product specials to returning customers. Customers who participate in the sites community features present an additional data collection point that allows for content to be further customized. Take the time now to understand the different social networking segments and find the point tools that make sense for your company. Del Piano suggests that IT organizations treat social networking as a buffet, not a zero sum game where, if marketing people win, IT loses. Jonathan Feldman is director of IT services for a rapidly growing city in North Carolina. You can write to us at iwletters@techweb.com.
July 25, 2011 6

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

CIO profiles
CAREER TRACK
How long at current company: 25 years have been more open with our team and communicated what was going on much earlier in the process. measuring quality, including the frequency and severity of systems outages and defects in production.

RAYMOND VOELKER
CIO, The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies

Colleges/degrees: Case Western Reserve University, BS in computer engineering and an MBA Favorite sport: Football Tech CEO I admire: Workdays Dave Duffield Personal computer: iPad If I werent a CIO, Id be ... a football coach or a sportswriter

Most important career influencer: Progressives former CIO, Allan Ditchfield. He established a mentoring relationship and gave me some assignments that stretched me and helped me grow. This is a big reason Im CIO today. Career accomplishment Im most proud of: I was part of the team that built the capability for us to sell insurance directly to consumers. Progressive was the first auto insurance group to have a website and the first to sell insurance to customers directly over the Internet. Decision I wish I could do over: Several years ago, Progressive reduced IT staff by about 7%. In retrospect, I realize that we could

VISION ON THE JOB

Size of IT team: 3,500 Top initiatives: >> Continue to build momentum in the rollout of our new policy processing system. >> Add high-value features to our mobile offerings. >> Undertake a major infrastructure simplification project. How I measure IT effectiveness: Its important to follow effectiveness in different ways. Among the ways we do this is financial throughput, measured as net benefit divided by net present value of labor cost. One other way is by The next big thing for my company will be ... leveraging mobile technologyphones, tablet computers, inside cars, etc.to make it easier for our customers to use our services. One thing Im looking to change: Im working toward removing unnecessary complexity by using an infrastructure upgrade process to identify and eliminate low-value components. Kids and tech careers: I wouldnt suggest a tech career because I dont believe in steering my kids when it comes to a career path. I want them to find something theyre passionate about if they are to have a chance at success.
July 25, 2011 7

Ranked No. 71 in the 2010

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

Quicktakes
VIRTUALIZATION

Amid Belt-Tightening, Cisco Goes After A Bigger Piece Of Blade Market

Cisco is investing in its platforms for data center virtualization and cloud computing, even as it launches a cost-cutting campaign to slash $1 billion in operating expenses. At Cisco Live in Las Vegas earlier this month, the vendor introduced enhancements to its Unified Computing System (UCS) and Fabric Interconnects. On July 18, Cisco disclosed aggressive plans to cut costs, in part by reducing its head count by 6,500 through early retirement and layoffs. Both developments speak to the growing competition Cisco faces as it expands beyond networking into servers and other markets. Ciscos UCS blades have a new component, the Virtual Interface Card 1280. It quadruples to 80 Gbps the I/O bandwidth available on a UCS blade, increasing the amount of traffic a virtualized host server can handle. Cisco also introduced VMware vCenter for Cisco UCS, a management platform that lets IT teams provision and configure virtualized systems in data centers and branch offices. UCS was Ciscos 2009 entry into the x86-blade market, optimized for hosting virtual machines.

1Q Server Blade Market

Others

12% %
Dell Cisco

8.4% 4% 9.4% 4% 20.2% 0 2% 50 50% HewlettPackard

IBM
Total 1Q server blade market: $1.8 billion
Data: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker

Cisco provided a memory expansion technique that lets a large amount of RAM be installed on the blade and teamed with VMware to manage the hypervisors software switch. In the first quarter, Cisco had 9.4% of the x86blade server market based on revenue from factory units shipped, according to IDC. That puts Cisco ahead of Dell, but behind HewlettPackard and IBM. Its important that Cisco pick up market share, given its UCS investment. The

company has 5,400 UCS customers. Blade sales are growing nearly twice as fast as the general server market. They account for $1.8 billion in revenue and represent 20.5% of all x86server sales, thanks to public and private cloud architectures that are often based on blades. Blades are increasingly deployed in converged systems, like Ciscos UCS, to support virtual environments, says IDC analyst Jed Scaramella. Converged systems combine storage and communications traffic from VMs into a single I/O stream thats off-loaded to the networking fabric. Ciscos Virtual Interface Card 1280 provides as many as 256 virtual adapters and interfaces, each of which may be linked to a VM on the server and provide an outlet for Ethernet or Fibre Channel over Ethernet traffic. The card implements Cisco VM-FEX fabric extender technology, which maps a virtual network over physical infrastructure and lets network managers generate a path from a switch in the external network fabric through the card to the VM on a host UCS Charles Babcock (cbabcock@techweb.com) server.
July 25, 2011 8

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

Quicktakes
FEDERAL IT LEADERSHIP

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

Social Security CIO Resigns Following Shake-up

Social Security Administration CIO Frank Baitmans abrupt resignation brings to a head years of fractured IT management at the federal agency. Baitmans departure follows a decision last month by commissioner Michael Astrue to shift most of the CIO responsibilities at the agency to deputy commissioner for systems Kelly Croft. According to a leaked memo to senior staff from Astrue detailing the move, personnel who had been assigned to the CIOs office will now move to Crofts office. Astrue had informed the agency a few weeks earlier that the CIOs organization was being split up, with some responsibilities going to the systems office, which already had operational control over most of Social Securitys core software and hardware. The move was an effort to maximize efficiency, Astrue said. The agencys IT budget was reduced by $300 million in fiscal 2011. In the aftermath of the changes, Baitman was left with a skeleton team. Deputy CIO Greg Pace and other senior managers were transferred elsewhere in the agency, while Ephraim Feig, associate CIO for vision and strategy, was fired in June just days before Astrues move to break up the IT group. Baitman lost his innovation, investment management, strategy, and open government responsibilities and staff. He continued to hold onto cybersecurity policy. Baitmans departure brings to a close a nineyear experiment in which the agency operated both a CIOs office and an office of systems. According to former officials and other observers, the agency never resolved authority and cultural issues between the two groups. One of the primary reasons for the breakup of the CIOs office was Astrues perception that Baitman failed to advance the agencys strategic plan, Feig said in an interview with InformationWeek. There was a split in IT vision at the agency, with Baitmans office pushing for system upgrades and Croft sticking with the agencys old but proven mainframe systems, most of which still run Cobol. Changes likely will be necessary if the agencys IT systems are to continue meeting

Baitman lost staff and responsibilities in recent reorg

requirements within budget. A study by Social Securitys associate CIO for investment management estimates that system maintenance costs will outstrip the agencys entire IT budget by fiscal 2015. Social Security has also struggled to complete a new data center on schedule and on budget. As the agency develops new capabilities for its legacy systems, such as supporting self service on the Web, the added complexity is driving up administrative costs, according to Feig, who presented his ideas in a document titled SSA 2020: Vision And Strategy. Feigs plan called for development of customer relationship management and workflow applications and a rules engine to guide users through its complex processes. Where feasible, he wanted to gradually replace mainframes with commodity hardware and open source software. J. Nicholas Hoover (nhoover@techweb.com)
July 25, 2011 9

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

Quicktakes
CLOUD COMPUTING

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

Microsoft Offers Big Data As A Service

Microsoft unveiled new software tools and services designed to let researchers use its Azure cloud platform to analyze extremely large data sets from a diverse range of disciplinesand its borrowing technology from rival Google to help gird the platform. The software maker unveiled the initiative, known as Project Daytona, at its Research Faculty Summit in Redmond, Wash., earlier this month. The service was developed under the Microsoft extreme computing groups Cloud Research Engagement program, which aims to find new applications for cloud platforms. Azure is Microsofts platform-as-a-service offering, which lets companies buy ondemand computing infrastructure and also access some online development and data management software. Companies pay based on the computing capacity they use. Daytona gives scientists more ways to use the cloud without being tied to one computer or needing detailed knowledge of cloud programmingultimately letting scientists be scientists, says Dan Reed, corporate VP for Microsofts technology policy group. To sort and crunch data, Project Daytona uses a runtime version of Googles openlicense MapReduce programming model for processing large data sets. The Daytona tools deploy MapReduce to Windows Azure virtual machines, which subdivide the information into even smaller chunks for parallel processing. The data is then recombined for output. The cloud environment lets users turn on and off virtual machines, depending on the processing power required. Daytona is geared toward scientists in health care, education, environmental sci-

Demand for tools that make it easier to store and analyze big data is being driven by ever-increasing amounts of data coming in from various sources, including sensors on everything from refrigerators to nuclear power plants.

ences, and other fields where researchers needbut dont always have access to powerful computing resources to analyze and interpret large data sets, such as disease vectors and climate observations. Project Daytona will let researchers upload prebuilt research algorithms to the Azure cloud. Demand for tools that make it easier to store and analyze big data is being driven by the fact that companies and other organizations are faced with ever-increasing amounts of data coming in from sources as diverse as mobile devices and smart sensors affixed to everything from refrigerators to nuclear power plants. Oracles offering in this market is its Exadata system, a software-plus-hardware system that companies can run in their own data centers as private clouds. IBM spent $1.8 billion last year to acquire Netezza and its technologies for handling big data. For its part, Project Daytona is far from complete, Microsoft says, and the company plans to make ongoing enhancements. Project Daytona tools, along with sample codes and instructional materials, can be downloaded from Microsofts research site. Paul McDougall (pmcdougall@techweb.com)
July 25, 2011 10

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

[COVER STORY]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

Get This And All Our Reports

Become an InformationWeek Analytics subscriber and get our full report on enterprise apps. It includes the complete research from our survey plus additional analysis, including: > Data on what qualities companies value in enterprise apps, and which vendors they consider most strategic > Data and analysis on companies strategies for SaaS performance management and business process management

I
ERP is old news, but extending those core apps with mobile, analytic, and social features is the way IT can make an impact
By Doug Henschen

Download
informationweek.com

T teams arent so much begging for money as theyre begging for relevance. Asked to rank 10 developments that would most improve IT productivity, the 314 business technology pros who responded to our InformationWeek Analytics 2011 Enterprise Applications Survey picked as their top three: >> More support from top executives to implement new policies or procedures >> Better input from end users in gathering requirements >> Better guidance from business
July 25, 2011 11

Previous

Next

ENTERPRISE APPS

[COVER STORY]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

leaders on the most important processes, measures, and metrics. Theres a common thread here: What IT organizations want most is more engagement and support from business leaders and colleagues. Bigger IT budgets and better training are farther down their priority lists. As we look at the state of enterprise application strategy, findings like these provide the critical backdrop. IT cant just align projects with the business; those projects must be the business. Relevance means implementing a software project the CEO wants constant updates on, not one that requires you to ambush a product manager in the hallway just to get some feedback. The good news from our survey is that ITs top investment priorities are in areas that will be highly visible to business leaders. Mobile applications are the most often cited software priority, for both on-premises software and software-as-a-service projects. Putting dashboards, reports, and alerts right in front of business executives on their smartphones and tablets gives them access to information in an entirely new way. Financial management and performance management are the next-highest priority for on-premises software. You cant get much closer to the heart of the business than budgeting, planning, and profitability analysis. Customer relationship management is tied at No. 2 in the priority ratings for on-premises and SaaS projects. CRM, a perennial business priority tied

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

ENTERPRISE APPS

[COVER STORY]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

The On-Premises Approach

How likely is it youll invest in these on-premises enterprise application technologies over the next 12 to 24 months?

1 Not at all likely

Mobile apps (such as sales or service apps) Financial management or performance management apps CRM apps Portals or customizable personal workspaces ERP apps Social networking or collaboration apps

Very likely 5

3.2 (Mean average) 3.1 3.1 3.0 2.9 2.8 2.8

Prebuilt analytic apps (with canned dashboards and metrics for customer loyalty, marketing, price optimization, sales, service, workforce management, etc.)
Data: InformationWeek Analytics 2011 Enterprise Applications Survey of 274 business technology professionals with direct or indirect responsibility for enterprise applications, May 2011

to driving more revenue, is now also closely tied to attitudes and interactions expressed in social media, trends getting a lot of attention from sales and marketing. CRMs integration with other apps is often as important as the implementation itself. Mobile apps and social-savvy CRM are rather trendy, of course, so execs with mobile and social on their wish lists may look like theyre just keeping up with the Joneses. However, IT leaders can make sure these
informationweek.com

projects provide more than flash, by discerning between wants and needs and focusing on usability so employees get some real value out of mobile and social media projects. ITs in a position to push beyond the initial visionlets deliver this report to a smartphoneby helping to build a software platform that spurs more innovation. These kinds of high-profile projects let IT set a new tone and get out, once and for all, from being just a service department.

Get Visible For some software projects at Cimarex Energy, an $8 billion-a-year oil and gas exploration and production company, the biggest roadblocks are corporate decision makers and departments leaving us hanging, says Ken Foster, director of application development. We have to hide behind the potted plant in the hall waiting for them to come by to get answers. When it comes to ERP and mission-critical drilling applications, however, the business knows they are core and we have visibility at the top, Foster says. A specialized energy industry ERP system from Enertia serves as Cimarexs core financial and accounting system, and custom drilling applications track and report on progress getting oil and gas wells into production. It costs some $8 million to drill a well, and Cimarex makes that investment hundreds of times each year throughout the Southwest U.S. Theres serious money involved, so my guys stand on their heads to make sure those applications are working every day, Foster says. Our research shows a small shift in the top business drivers. A year ago, 37% of survey respondents cited improving efficiency to cut costs. This year, improving efficiency still was cited most often, but by only 30%. Developing
July 25, 2011 13

Previous

Next

ENTERPRISE APPS

[COVER STORY]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

innovative products remains No. 2 (23%), but the big mover is increasing customer satisfaction, which leaped from 12% in 2010 to 20% this year. Foster has seen how, when applications have less immediate business impact, the old business-IT divide reappearslike when he recently implemented a workflow system to track who approves and modifies documents in the course of finalizing plans for drilling a well. That project was like rolling a boulder up a hill, he says, in part because the company is so distributed. The project was important to the board for auditing and compliance reasons, but it wasnt top of mind for busy executives and managers in the middle ranks. The worst cases are when a department tries to throw a complex problem over the wall for IT to sort out. Ill say, There are business processes here that are busted, and we cant get them solved until we sort that out, Foster says. Ill do my part, but there are covenants you make with each other, and the business has to do its part, too. Mobility Rises To The Top The fact that providing mobile apps is the No. 1 investment priority for IT organizations reflects the consumerization of IT trend,

How SaaS Fits In

How likely is it youll invest in these SaaS-based applications over the next 12 to 24 months?

1 Not at all likely

Mobile apps (such as sales or service apps) Social networking or collaboration apps CRM apps

Very likely 5

2.7 (Mean average) 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.4 2.4

Prebuilt analytic apps (with canned dashboards and metrics for customer loyalty, marketing, price optimization, sales, service, workforce management, etc.) Portals or customizable personal workspaces

Financial management or performance management apps Human capital management or talent management apps

2.3

Data: InformationWeek Analytics 2011 Enterprise Applications Survey of 274 business technology professionals with direct or indirect responsibility for enterprise applications, May 2011

whereby employees expect business apps to mimic the ease of use and pace of change of their consumer software. Companies mobile sales and service personnel have been able to look up contact information and basic customer info for years, but now that smartphones are commonplace, IT is under pressure to let employees access core business app transactional capabilities from these devices. Were not there yet. Only 27% of manufac-

turing companies surveyed in June by analyst firm Mint Jutras (commissioned by ERP vendor IFS) give their employees mobile access to ERP, CRM, supply chain, or enterprise asset management apps. And only 3% of them rate their mobile CRM interfaces as excellent. Employees are no longer content to just look up information and receive alerts on their smartphones and tablets. They want to interact with back-end systems. Starbucks, for instance, is testing a mobile business intelliJuly 25, 2011 14

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

ENTERPRISE APPS

[COVER STORY]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

gence app from MicroStrategy designed to analyze and report on data from back-end systems, and help users take appropriate action based on the analysis. If the project works as advertised, store managers will use a mobile device to input data on weather patterns, local events, and other scenarios; examine inventory and employee scheduling data from the coffee chains SAP supply chain and human resources apps; and then adjust products and staffing accordingly. So if its going to be 95 degrees and theres a big convention in town, a store manager could use a single mobile interface to order more frozen Frappuccino ingredients and schedule more baristas to be on hand. Starbucks hasnt settled on which mobile devices it will use, but Tom Ball, the lead executive for BI platform development, says the company will likely deliver exception-based reporting on smartphones and richer analytics and transactional capabilities, like those

Whats Keeping Your Company Away From SaaS Apps?

Data security Auditability and compliance with industry standards or government regulations

28% 11%

Difficulty integrating with on-premises applications Data ownership

11%

10% 8%

Long-term cost of subscription-based service Inability to customize the application

7% 7% 7%

Inability to leverage existing IT or data center infrastructure Service availability (if the Internet or service goes down)
Data: InformationWeek Analytics 2011 Enterprise Applications Survey of 156 business technology professionals not using SaaS enterprise applications or who arent sure if they do, May 2011

envisioned for store managers, on tablets. Why launch transactions from a BI interface, when ERP systems and other apps have their own dashboards, alerts, and mobile options? We look at BI as the hub where we correlate

information from many different systems, Ball says. To move the analytic action to SAP or another app takes us back a step. ITs impact can be huge with these kinds of analytics and dashboard projects. Some 40,000

informationweek.com

July 25, 2011 15

Previous

Next

ENTERPRISE APPS

[COVER STORY]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

Starbucks employees already use dashboards to gain insight into overall sales and productby-product performance by store, territory, and region, using data drawn from multiple apps. The Integration Imperative Mobile and social networking apps get all the glory these days, but Starbucks BI work is a prime example of why application integration projects are among the most critical. Nearly two thirds (64%) of respondents to our survey cited ability to integrate with existing systems and infrastructure as the most important quality they look for from enterprise applications vendors. The next most cited quality, responsive service and support, is at 38%. Thats why so many enterprise application vendorsSAP, Oracle, Infor, Salesforce.com, Workday, and NetSuite among themhave acquired or developed BI modules or comprehensive BI suites. Using an enterprise vendors own BI app in theory simplifies integration, but in reality it makes things only marginally easier. Enterprise app vendors simply want to have their software at the center of the action, and BI is eclipsing ERP in terms of visibility. IT leaders must consider integration as they evaluate their mobile strategies. They

What Do You Look For In An Enterprise Applications Provider?

Ability to integrate with existing systems and infrastructure Responsive service and support Confidence in the companys long-term commitment to its products Ability to provide custom solutions Specialization within my vertical industry

64% 38% 38% 37%

16%

Availability of complete, packaged systems including software, middleware, and hardware

15% 15%

Clear and consistent licensing terms and business practices Financial strength of company Breadth of product line

14%

10%

Alternative software delivery models, such as software as a service

9%

Data: InformationWeek Analytics 2011 Enterprise Applications Survey of 274 business technology professionals with direct or indirect responsibility for enterprise applications, May 2011

cant just think about mobilizing a single app, even one as powerful as CRM. Apparel retailer Guess, for instance, introduced a mobile app last year integrated with its pointof-sale system that lets salespeople use an Apple iPod Touch, connected by Wi-Fi and fitted with bar-code readers and credit card scanners, to check out customers so they

dont have to stand in lines at conventional registers. Guesss line-busting app was an instant success, but store managers and employees soon asked for the ability to check inventory and shipments, look up customer loyalty card information, and incorporate other features not included in the original application. These reJuly 25, 2011 16

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

ENTERPRISE APPS

[COVER STORY]

Staying informed on the go has never been easier.

InformationWeek on the iPad

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

quests demanded integrations well beyond the point-of-sale system. The Financial App Bolt-On ERP itself isnt a hotbed of innovation. But tacking software onto ERP that can improve analysis of budgets, profits, and operating performance is hot, and it puts IT side by side with the CFO and business unit leaders. In our survey, the No. 2 investment priority cited for on-premises software is financial management and performance management applications. Performance management apps provide sophisticated financial and operational management analysis, and the apps are invariably integrated with the ERP system, from which they draw data. Asked to rate their organizations likelihood to invest in specific performance management software over the next 12 to 24 months, survey respondents with direct or indirect responsibility for performance management apps said: >> Budgeting and planning >> Profitability and cost management >> Operational-performance tools, such as scorecards and key-performance indicators. Under Armour, the fast-growing sports apparel maker and retailer, realized amid the recession that it needed better budgeting and planning apps. The company grew sales even through the downturn, but its profits and margins declined. Because of its labor-intensive budgeting process, when the company needed revised

One-touch access to InformationWeek wherever you are. Hand-picked content. Easy, fast navigation.

100% free. Try it today.

informationweek.com

THE BUSINESS VALUE OF TECHNOLOGY

Previous

Next

ENTERPRISE APPS

[COVER STORY]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

forecasts, it took two finance managers eight weeks to gather the needed data using spreadsheets and email, and then deliver a revised budget. In 2009, Under Armour implemented SAPs Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) apps, hoping to speed that process up. Forecasting now takes Under Armour about two weeks, in large part because line-of-business directors, sales managers, and operations managers are hands-on users of the EPM budgeting, planning, and financial consolidation apps, in which they can load data and projections. Gone are the disparate spreadsheet formats, version-control problems, and vagaries of email communications. That gives us confidence in our budgets because the people that provide the information are much closer to the details, says David Roberts, senior manager of corporate planning at Under Armour. More than 40 people contribute to the companys budgeting and planning through EPM, and another 110 employees can view final budgets and plans. The EPM apps also help regional sales and merchandising managers adjust to market conditions. As the retail sector started to rebound in 2010, Roberts says, reports from the planning app pinpointed regional and product-line hot spots. Stores west of the Mississippi River werent doing as well as

Top 5 Productivity Improvements

How would you rank these developments on the degree to which they would improve your job productivity?

Development More support from top executives to implement new policies or procedures company-wide Better input from end users when gathering requirements and reviewing project progress Better guidance from business leaders on the most important processes, measures, and metrics Better training programs and adherence to completion to ensure adequate user education Additional financial support and/or staff to support me and my projects
Data: InformationWeek Analytics 2011 Enterprise Applications Survey of 314 business technology professionals in May 2011 and 485 in January 2010

2011 2010 1 2 3 4 5 4 1 6 7 2

those in the mid-Atlantic at one point last year. But the reports also showed which products were selling well in the West, so the company restocked to better meet that regional demand. Under Armour also expanded its retail stores rather than introduce a lot of new product lines last year because its EPM analyses revealed higher revenue and profit potential there. New ERP Approaches For some companies, the big push has been to consolidate their many ERP systems, even down to one global instance of the software, but getting every operation on one version and keeping it in sync can become a nightmare of diminishing returns. So were starting to see companies buck that consolidation trend and move toward two-tier ERP deploy-

ments. In this mode, multinational companies update financial management capabilities at subsidiary and satellite operations using simpler, lower-cost ERP applications than the Oracle and SAP apps used at headquarters. SAP shops in particular are the target of smaller application vendors, including Microsoft and its Dynamics ERP and NetSuite and its SaaS-based ERP with specific integration with SAP. SAP has responded with its own integration option that lets customer subsidiaries use its Business ByDesign SaaS suite, originally aimed at small businesses, to sync with their on-premises SAP suite at headquarters. Time To Get Social In our survey, CRM tied as the second most likely application investment over the next 12
July 25, 2011 18

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

ENTERPRISE APPS

[COVER STORY]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

to 24 months, both on premises and as SaaS deployments. The biggest growth in CRM is on the SaaS side, though, with Salesforce.com leading the way, including related products for collaboration and social media analysis. Salesforce, for example, added Facebookand Twitter-oriented applications this year that let companies and employees monitor and respond to business friends and followers on these social networks. In May, Salesforce acquired social media analysis company Radian6, which offers technology for monitoring and understanding whats being said about brands and products across social sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, as well as across websites, blogs, and discussion forums. Meantime, dozens of analytics vendors offer applications for customer sentiment and social media analysis (what are customers and others saying about my brand/product?) and social network analysis (who said it, who are they saying it to, and are they influential?). Radian6 is one of those companies; other pioneers include Converseon, Cymfony, Lithium, Nielsen Buzzmetrics, and Visible Technologies. CRM is another place where enterprise applications are colliding with BI and analytics, for customer segmentation, up-sell and cross-sell campaigns, and anti-churn initiatives. CRM is

also intersecting with financial and performance management apps, letting companies examine customer profitability and analyze costs. SaaS Holdouts A surprisingly low 43% of the respondents to our survey with direct or indirect responsibility for enterprise applications say their companies are using SaaS apps. Data security is the biggest impediment, cited by 28% of those not using SaaS or unsure of their companies use of it. But SaaS customers are more satisfied with their providers than on-premises software customers are. Asked to rate their satisfaction on a 1 to 5 scale (5 being very satisfied), SaaS customers rate ease of implementation an average 3.6 and service reliability a 3.4. At the bottom are ease of customization at 3.1 and ease of integrating at 3.0. Yet even that lowest figure is neutral. For on-premises software, the highest satisfaction is with availability of technical expertise from vendors and software reliability, both at 3.4. But dissatisfaction creeps in with ongoing maintenance and support cost at 2.7 and initial software cost at 2.6. As the cautious adoption of SaaS shows, no companies are saying goodbye entirely to their

legacy software. More than half our survey respondents cited upgrading or optimizing existing applications as the activity that consumes most of their time. About half the respondents

BI is the hub where we correlate information from many different systems. To move the analytic action to SAP or another app takes us back a step. Tom Ball, Starbucks
also consider those apps a barrier to success. If theres a lesson weve learned over the past decade or more, its that companies place big bets on enterprise software vendors and want to make the most of them over the long haul, even amid unsettling industry consolidation (Oracle buying Siebel, PeopleSoft, BEA, and Sun; SAP buying Sybase; Infor buying Lawson; etc.). Businesses run on a core of enterprise applications, and most will continue to run on them. IT teams can innovate around that core by building mobile, analytic, social, and collaboration capabilitiesbut only if they truly understand what their business colleagues need.

Write to Doug Henschen at dhenschen@techweb.com.

July 25, 2011 19

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

[INTEGRATION]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

Return

Of The

SaaS use threatens hard-won integration. Do we really have to go back?

A
Get This And All Our Reports
Become an InformationWeek Analytics subscriber and get our full report on integrating SaaS and in-house applications. This report includes 19 pages of action-oriented analysis. What youll find: > In-depth info on eight key cloud broker vendors > Reader likelihood of adopting 13 categories of SaaS apps

Download
informationweek.com

pplication integration has always been a thorny problem. Add in the inherent design restrictions of software as a ser vicethink islands, not exactly designed to exchange dataand things get even trickier. Fortunately, there are some products and best practices that can make your apps work together. And make no mistake: Integration is a pressing issue. In our recent InformationWeek Analytics 2011 Enterprise Applications Survey, we found 43% of 314 respondents are using SaaS applications. But when we asked them to rate their satisfaction with nine aspects of these apps, deployment simplicity came out on topand ease of integrating these services with on-premises systems and data sources

Silos
B y M i c h a e l B i d d i c k
landed at the bottom of the list. So, why are we adopting SaaS at a steady clip if we havent found a good way to securely link these apps with one another and in-house systems? Youd think IT teams would have learned their lesson, given our sad history with siloed data sets and todays identity management and user access requirements. We work with a number of CIOs who are determined to create unified IT environments incorporating a mix of platforms and SaaS and in-house applications. We find they run into problems in six key areas: >> Identity and access orchestration is usually at the top of the list of pain points. The

ability to rapidly verify whos accessing your systems is mandatory for security and compliance. With SaaS applications, we find theres a much higher risk of failing to disable access after people leave or to modify permissions as roles change. Thats because access is typically a centralized and automated function, using access-control systems with well-established ties into enterprise applicationsties that rarely extend into SaaS provider networks. >> Compliance reporting is also a challenge. Companies subject to Sarbanes-Oxley, for example, must be able to cull a variety of log information. While most SaaS vendors enable IT to run these reports from within their systems, if you have a number of SaaS apps from different providers, consolidating this data
July 25, 2011 20

Previous

Next

[INTEGRATION]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

must be done manually. Yet automation is the only way to effectively build compliance reports involving multiple logs. >> Information silos arent conducive to business analytics either, and without SaaS integration, reporting capabilities will be limited. As with logs, most SaaS systems are pretty good about reporting within the application, but dynamically analyzing data from multiple services is a whole different story. >> Business process management and setting procedures for the smooth exchange of data inside and outside the enterprise are also problematic. For example, many SAP users customize to meet business requirements. Now, say you have partners and customers that want to exchange information with you in the SAP iDoc format. SAP has the B2B Gateway to communicate using SaaS, but it has specific requirements around how data is exchanged. This could mean that your business processes need to adapt to the Gateway, rather than the other way aroundnot ideal. >> Data enrichment is another problem with SaaS. Often, enterprise data that lives in various systemssay order management, billing, and fulfillmentis contained within an overall ERP suite. But lets say you use a SaaS-based ticketing system. How do you ex-

change this information with your ERP application to provide customer order information, problem tracking, and other services? >> Finally, to have any hope of implementing service management and governance across your data, you must be able to apply policiesfrom retention to security con3

trolsuniformly across both SaaS and onpremises applications. Good luck with that as the technology stands now. We recently discussed the importance of maintaining a master data set, and to that end, IT has spent decades moving away from application-centric approaches to governance and toward

How Satisfied Are You With SaaS And On-Demand Apps?

1 Very unsatisfied
Very satisfied 5

Ease of implementation

3.6

(Mean average)

Service reliability

3.4 3.4

Availability of technical expertise and industry-specific consulting advice Initial setup cost

3.4

Vendor responsiveness and support capabilities

3.3
Service support for specific business and industry needs

3.2
Ongoing subscription and support costs

3.1 3.1

Ease of customization Ease of integration with on-premises systems and data sources

3.0
Data: InformationWeek Analytics 2011 Enterprise Applications Survey of 118 business technology professionals using SaaS enterprise applications, May 2011 July 25, 2011 21

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

[INTEGRATION]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

Cloud Brokers Compared

FEATURE Deployment Model >> Offered as SaaS only >> Offered as an on-premises appliance >> Offered as either SaaS or an on-premises appliance Application Integrations >> SaaS only >> Enterprise only >> SaaS and enterprise Congurable Connectors >> Enables access to another application or data source and is configurable to capture only new or changed data Data Transformation >> Maps data from one format to another Data Validation >> Reviews data on a field-by-field or row-byrow basis and has an option to repair or reject bad data NR = No response; vendor didnt answer question BOOMI* SaaS CAST IRON** DBSYNC Requires an on-premises appliance HUBSPAN JITTERBIT PERVASIVE SNAPLOGIC VORDEL SaaS SaaS or an on-premises appliance SaaS or an SaaS or an SaaS or an SaaS or an on-premises on-premises on-premises on-premises appliance appliance appliance appliance

SaaS and SaaS and enterprise enterprise

SaaS and enterprise

SaaS and SaaS and enterprise enterprise

SaaS and enterprise

SaaS and enterprise

SaaS and enterprise

NR

NR

NR

NR

NR

*Subsidiary of Dell **Subsidiary of IBM, defines product as application integration

unified, enterprise-wide management. SaaS has the potential to dial back the clock. So whats to be done? If you have three or four SaaS applications that are critical to your business, youll probably need to invest in an integration product, commonly called a cloud broker. While this is a new product set for the cloud, the
informationweek.com

overall concept is time tested: Enterprise IT teams have long used middleware, enterprise ser vice bus (ESB), and enterprise application integration (EAI) products within their data centers. Now, some established vendors have extended these systems to include both in-house and SaaS applications, while a cadre of new offerings are solely fo-

cused on, and delivered from, the cloud. This is a rapidly evolving product area, and one thats opening doors for smaller enterprises. Most pure-play cloud brokers charge based on usage, so the monthly outlay is a fraction of what it costs to purchase, deploy, and maintain enterprise-class ESB or EAI software. That removes a substantial entry barJuly 25, 2011 22

Previous

Next

[INTEGRATION]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

rier. You can even get free trial software before committing. Thats a big departure from middleware that sometimes took years to deploy. If a broker seems like overkill, there are other options. For example, if you use Salesforce.com, the companys Force.com platform offers prepackaged products for integration between Salesforce and systems from JD Edwards, Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Quicken, SAP, and others. Oracle On-Demand CRM also includes a set of Web services APIs based on XML/SOAP standards to enable custom integrations, but it doesnt have as many out-of-the-box partner connectors as Salesforce does. If you have only a few SaaS applications or a limited need to exchange data, you can use API, SOAP, or REST interfaces in a point-topoint architecture, though this route is limiting and will require programming. Clients we work with generally use XML to encapsulate data so it can be passed among SaaS ap plications, which have nearly ubiquitous support for Web services as an interaction mechanism. Still, taking the point-to-point route is risky, especially if youre developing your own integration interfaces. First off, whenever SaaS or

enterprise application versions change, youll need to test to ensure the upgrades dont break existing integration. If you add applications, increasing the number of point-to-point links adds complexity and hobbles your ability to share data through a centralized hub or bus architecture. Relying on your own developers

around security and integration. Vendors also line up around whether they limit integration to a predefined set of applications or allow more openness via custom connectors, and whether they provide SaaS-to-SaaS only or SaaS-to-enterprise integration. While a year ago there were just a few play-

Why are we adopting SaaS applications at a steady clip if we havent found a good way to securely link these apps with one another and in-house systems?
for integration also has risks. How well will they document the integration, and how robust are the connections theyre able to build? Paying external developers, meanwhile, could surpass the cost of a cloud broker. If you take a point-to-point approach, at least start the process of evaluating brokers so that youll have laid the groundwork to upgrade your integration capabilities. Shopping Checklist In our full report, we profile eight cloud broker options. Generally, vendors offer products as either SaaS-only or a SaaS/on-premises hybrid. The latter model will add some cost and complexity but will increase your options ers in the cloud broker space, the field is expanding quickly. Generally, vendors provide prebuilt adapters and connectors for the most common SaaS applications, supplementing where needed with open Web services interfaces for custom design. When evaluating cloud brokers, youll want to look for the range of prebuilt adapters and connectors offered, and also the ability to create a custom interface using open APIs. In our survey, we found more than 50 SaaS applications commonly in use. It will be difficult for any single integration vendor to keep up with version changes alone, much less all the new SaaS applications springing up. Those products that attempt to support the
July 25, 2011 23

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

[INTEGRATION]

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>

broadest range of applications will provide flexibility but also will increase the upkeep required. Can the vendor keep up? Also consider: How robust is the workflow orchestration engine? Can you easily generate reports to monitor transactions, compliance, governance, and performance? How is licensing constructed: per user, transaction, or server/CPU? For high-volume transactions, how does the product scale? What about disaster recovery and failover? In looking at integration options, products that are designed for a specific application category may provide richer integration, but they may have limited choices outside that application area. If you have only a few applications and all of your vendors provide the necessary connectors and adapters, you may be set no matter which route you choose. But while pay-as-you-go models seem appealing, ensure that youll be able to import and export business rules. If you ever decide to change providers, or move the function in-house, you need the ability to bring this data with you. However, since many of these systems are configured through wizards that the vendors offer, this can be a tough requirement to fill. At minimum, document your workflow

rules outside the integration broker, so you can recreate them. Also, adopt a few best practices up front to minimize the problem of retrofitting for integration later. Best Practices While the SaaS vendor community in general, and the integration broker sector in particular, continue to evolve, some best prac-

Select SaaS offerings with the broadest adoption rates. Yes, that limits your choices, but it will expand your integration options.
tices will keep your applications talking: >> Select SaaS offerings that have the broadest possible customer adoption. While that limits your choices, it expands your integration options, a fair trade in our opinion. >> Before selecting a SaaS vendor, get details on how it handles data import and export and real-time exchange of information. The capacity to exchange information outside a vendors environment varies widely. >> When exploring cloud brokers, look for

those that offer a wide variety of out-of-thebox adapters and connectors; the more variety, the better the companys commitment to a breadth of support. >> Security is key to integration. Ensure youre able to safely pass credentials to and from a SaaS providers site. Integrating SaaS applications is always going to be tougher than linking software hosted behind the firewall because of the need to manage remote access and ITs lack of control over the providers environment. Extending integration in a hybrid SaaS/inhouse model can be even more difficult, especially if youve done a lot of customization. But you cant stand by and watch the business erect a new set of data silos, either. Avoid point-to-point integration, which is always going to be limiting. Job one for a cloud broker is to provide a sufficient level of workflow orchestration for your needsboth now and in a few years. Thats because if theres anything more painful than getting all your applications hooked into a broker, its getting them unhooked while keeping your business rules and processes intact. Michael Biddick is president and CTO of Fusion PPT. Write to us at iwletters@techweb.com.
July 25, 2011 24

informationweek.com

Previous

Next

ADVISORY BOARD Print, Online, Newsletters, Events, Research

Dave Bent Senior VP and CIO United Stationers Robert Carter Executive VP and CIO FedEx Michael Cuddy VP and CIO Toromont Industries Laurie Douglas Senior CIO Publix Super Markets Dan Drawbaugh CIO University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>
Rob Preston VP and Editor In Chief rpreston@techweb.com 516-562-5692 John Foley Editor jpfoley@techweb.com 516-562-7189 Chris Murphy Editor cjmurphy@techweb.com 414-906-5331 Art Wittmann VP and Director, Analytics awittmann@techweb.com 408-416-3227 Laurianne McLaughlin Editor In Chief, InformationWeek.com lmclaughlin@techweb.com 516-562-7009 READER SERVICES
InformationWeek.com The destination for breaking IT news, and instant analysis Electronic Newsletters Subscribe to InformationWeek Daily and other newsletters at informationweek.com/newsletters/subscribe.jhtml Events Get the latest on our live events and Net events at informationweek.com/events Analytics analytics.informationweek.com for original research and strategic advice How to Contact Us informationweek.com/contactus.jhtml Editorial Calendar informationweek.com/edcal Back Issues E-mail: customerservice@informationweek.com Phone: 888-664-3332 (U.S.) 847-763-9588 (Outside U.S.) Reprints Wrights Media, 1-877-652-5295 Web: wrightsmedia.com/reprints/?magid=2196 Email: ubmreprints@wrightsmedia.com List Rentals Merit Direct LLC Email: acarraturo@meritdirect.com Phone: (914) 368-1083 Media Kits and Advertising Contacts createyournextcustomer.com/contact-us Letters to the Editor Email iwletters@techweb.com. Include name, title, company, city, and daytime phone number. Subscriptions Web: informationweek.com/magazine Email: customerservice@informationweek.com Phone: 888-664-3332 (U.S.) 847-763-9588 (Outside U.S.)
informationweek.com

Jerry Johnson CIO Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Kent Kushar VP and CIO E.&J. Gallo Winery Carolyn Lawson CIO Oregon Health Authority Jason Maynard Managing Director Wells Fargo Securities Randall Mott Former Sr. Exec. VP and CIO Hewlett-Packard Denis OLeary Former Executive VP Chase.com

Steve Phillips Senior VP and CIO Avnet M.R. Rangaswami Founder Sand Hill Group Manjit Singh CIO Las Vegas Sands David Smoley CIO Flextronics Ralph J. Szygenda Former Group VP and CIO General Motors Peter Whatnell CIO Sunoco

Stacey Peterson Executive Editor, Quality speterson@techweb.com 516-562-5933 Lorna Garey Content Director, Analytics lgarey@techweb.com 978-694-1681 Fritz Nelson VP and Editorial Director fnelson@techweb.com 949-223-3608 David Berlind Chief Content Officer, TechWeb dberlind@techweb.com 978-462-5315

REPORTERS
Doug Henschen Executive Editor Enterprise software dhenschen@techweb.com 201-660-8467 Charles Babcock Editor At Large Open source, infrastructure, virtualization cbabcock@techweb.com 415-947-6133 Thomas Claburn Editor At Large Security, search, Web applications tclaburn@techweb.com 415-947-6820 Paul McDougall Editor At Large Software, IT services, outsourcing pmcdougall@techweb.com Marianne Kolbasuk McGee Senior Writer IT management and careers mmcgee@techweb.com 508-697-0083 J. Nicholas Hoover Senior Editor Desktop software, Enterprise 2.0, collaboration nhoover@techweb.com 516-562-5032 Andrew Conry-Murray New Products and Business Editor Information and content management acmurray@techweb.com 724-266-1310 Eric Zeman Mobile and Wireless eric@zemanmedia.com

CONTRIBUTORS
Michael Biddick mbiddick@nwc.com Michael A. Davis mdavis@nwc.com Jonathan Feldman jfeldman@nwc.com Randy George rgeorge@nwc.com Michael Healey mhealey@nwc.com Kurt Marko kmarko@nwc.com

INFORMATIONWEEK.COM
Benjamin Tomkins Managing Editor btomkins@techweb.com 516-562-5336 Roma Nowak Senior Director, Online Operations and Production rnowak@techweb.com 516-562-5274 Tom LaSusa Managing Editor, Newsletters tlasusa@techweb.com Jeanette Hafke Web Production Manager jhafke@techweb.com Joy Culbertson Web Producer jculbertson@techweb.com Nevin Berger Senior Director, User Experience nberger@techweb.com Steve Gilliard Senior Director, Web Development sgilliard@techweb.com
Please direct all inquires to reporters in the relevant beat area.

UBM TECHWEB
Tony L. Uphoff CEO John Dennehy CFO David Michael CIO Joseph Braue Sr. VP, Light Reading Communications Network Scott Vaughan CMO John Ecke VP and Group Publisher, InformationWeek Vertical Industries Ed Grossman Executive VP, InformationWeek Business Technology Network Martha Schwartz Executive VP, Group Sales, InformationWeek Business Technology Network Beth Rivera Senior VP, Human Resources David Berlind Chief Content Officer, TechWeb, and Editor in Chief, TechWeb.com Fritz Nelson VP and Editorial Editor, InformationWeek Business Technology Network, and Executive Producer, TechWeb TV

UBM LLC
Pat Nohilly Sr. VP, Strategic Development and Business Administration Marie Myers Sr. VP, Manufacturing

NetworkComputing.com Networking , Communications, and Storage Mike Fratto, Editor mfratto@techweb.com InformationWeek Healthcare Paul Cerrato, Editor pcerrato@techweb.com PlugIntoTheCloud.com Cloud Computing John Foley, Editor jpfoley@techweb.com InformationWeek SMB Technology for Small and Midsize Business Benjamin Tomkins, Site Editor btomkins@techweb.com Dr. Dobbs The World of Software Development Andrew Binstock, Editor In Chief alb@drdobbs.com

INFORMATIONWEEK VIDEO
informationweek.com/tv Fritz Nelson Executive Producer fnelson@techweb.com

EDITORS
Jim Donahue Chief Copy Editor jdonahue@techweb.com

ART/DESIGN
Mary Ellen Forte Senior Art Director mforte@techweb.com Sek Leung Associate Art Director sleung@techweb.com

INFORMATIONWEEK BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY NETWORK

DarkReading.com Security Tim Wilson, Site Editor wilson@darkreading.com

INFORMATIONWEEK ANALYTICS
analytics.informationweek.com Art Wittmann VP and Director awittmann@techweb.com 408-416-3227 Lorna Garey Content Director, Analytics lgarey@techweb.com 978-694-1681 Heather Vallis Managing Editor, Research hvallis@techweb.com 508-416-1101

Copyright 2011 UBM LLC. All rights reserved.

July 25, 2011 25

Previous

Next

IN THIS ISSUE
ERPs cool again >> SaaS brings back data silos >> Takeaways from tech earnings >> Can blades revive Cisco? >> Table of contents >>
Executive VP of Group Sales, InformationWeek Business Technology Network, Martha Schwartz (212) 600-3015, mschwartz@techweb.com Sales Assistant, Salvatore Silletti (212) 600-3327, ssilletti@techweb.com

Business Contacts
Account Executive, Kevin McIver (212) 600-3036, kmciver@techweb.com Inside Sales Manager East, Ray Capitelli (212) 600-3045, rcapitelli@techweb.com Sales Assistant, Bill Myers (212) 600-3163, wmyers@techweb.com Strategic Accounts District Manager, Mary Hyland (516) 562-5120, mhyland@techweb.com Account Manager, Tara Bradeen (212) 600-3387, tbradeen@techweb.com Account Manager, Jennifer Gambino (516) 562-5651, jgambino@techweb.com Account Executive, Elyse Cowen (516) 562-3051, ecowen@techweb.com Sales Assistant, Kathleen Jurina (212) 600-3170, kjurina@techweb.com

MARKETING
VP, Marketing, Winnie Ng-Schuchman (631) 406-6507, wng@techweb.com Director of Marketing, Angela Lee-Moll (516) 562-5803, aleemoll@techweb.com Marketing Manager, Monique Luttrell (949) 223-3609, mluttrelll@techweb.com

UBM TECHWEB
Tony L. Uphoff CEO John Dennehy CFO David Michael CIO Joseph Braue Sr. VP, Light Reading Communications Network Scott Vaughan CMO Ed Grossman Executive VP, InformationWeek Business Technology Network John Ecke VP and Group Publisher, InformationWeek Business Technology Network Martha Schwartz Executive VP, Group Sales, InformationWeek Business Technology Network Beth Rivera Senior VP, Human Resources David Berlind Chief Content Officer, TechWeb, and Editor in Chief, TechWeb.com Fritz Nelson VP, Editorial Director, InformationWeek Business Technology Network, and Executive Producer, TechWeb TV

SALES CONTACTSWEST
Western U.S. (Pacific and Mountain states) and Western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta) Western Regional Director, JohnHenry Giddings (415) 947-6237, jgiddings@techweb.com Strategic Account Director, Mark Glasner (415) 947-6245, mglasner@techweb.com Account Manager, Kevin Bennett (415) 947-6139, kbennett@techweb.com Inside Sales Manager, Vesna Beso (415) 947-6104, vbeso@techweb.com Sales Assistant, Silas Chu (415) 947-6330, schu@techweb.com Strategic Accounts Account Director, Sandra Kupiec (415) 947-6922, skupiec@techweb.com Account Manager, Shoshana Freisinger (415) 947-6349, sfreisinger@techweb.com Sales Assistant, Matthew Cohen-Meyer (415) 947-6214, mmeyer@techweb.com

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
Director, Karen McAleer (516) 562-7833, kmcaleer@techweb.com Subscriptions: informationweek.com/magazine Email: customerservice@informationweek.com Phone: (888) 664-3332 (U.S); (847) 763-9588 (outside U.S.)

ADVERTISING AND PRODUCTION

Publishing Services Manager, Lynn Choisez (516) 562-5581 Fax: (516) 562-7307

SALES CONTACTSNATIONAL
Dr. Dobbs Sales Director, Michele Hurabiell (415) 378-3540, mhurabiell@techweb.com Account Executive, Shaina Guttman (212) 600-3163, sguttman@techweb.com Sales Assistant, Casey Franklin (212) 600-3157, cfranklin@techweb.com

MAILING LISTS
MeritDirect LLC (914) 368-1083 acarraturo@meritdirect.com

UBM LLC
Pat Nohilly Sr. VP, Strategic Development and Business Admin. Marie Myers Sr. VP, Manufacturing

REPRINTS AND RIGHTS

For article reprints, e-prints, and permissions, please contact: Wrights Media, (877) 652-5295, ubmreprints@wrightsmedia.com Back Issues Phone: (888) 664-3332 (U.S.); (847) 763-9588 (outside U.S.) Email: customerservice@informationweek.com

SALES CONTACTSEAST
Midwest, South, Northeast U.S. and Eastern Canada (Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick) District Manager, Jenny Hanna (516) 562-5116, jhanna@techweb.com Account Executive, Tom Connelly (212) 600-3387, tconnelly@techweb.com District Manager, Cori Gordon (516) 562-5181, cgordon@techweb.com

SALES CONTACTSMARKETING AS A SERVICE

Director of Client Marketing Strategy, Jonathan Vlock (212) 600-3019, jvlock@techweb.com

BUSINESS OFFICE
General Manager, Marian Dujmovits

SALES CONTACTSEVENTS
Senior Director, InformationWeek Events, Robyn Duda (212) 600-3046, rduda@techweb.com

EDITORIAL OFFICE
(Fax) 516-562-5200 United Business Media LLC 600 Community Drive Manhasset, N.Y. 11030 (516) 562-5000 Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

informationweek.com

July 25, 2011 26