Considering the Cloud Architects

The industry storyline of IT evolution is getting very interesting indeed: cloud concepts are changing how we think about delivering IT services.  

The IT supply chain is de-constructing and re-constructing at an amazing pace.  More change is going on right now than perhaps any other period of IT evolution.

And, as with any riveting narrative, understanding the motivations of the key characters is an essential part of the plot.  

Who are they, and how are they getting dragged into the drama that's unfolding?

When it comes to transforming IT, the central heroes are now turning out to be a new breed of IT professional -- the nascent roles of "cloud architect".

If you've been following our story, you'll be aware that we've started to build training and certifications for this new breed.

But, in many respects, we've only just begun ...

Agents Of Change

Traditional IT careers in the physical world were mostly about being really good at one specific thing or another: networking, storage, application development, etc.

In the new world, deep functional expertise is still useful, but you ostensibly need less of it overall.  Instead, there's a pronounced bias towards two key perspectives.

The first perspective is understanding a little about a lot of different things -- and how they interact at the boundaries and interfaces.  Breadth wins over depth in this new world.

And the second perspective is organizational change management: how do you introduce the new way of thinking into the established organization -- in logical, bite-sized steps that makes meaningful progress forward without causing undue chaos?

It turns out that in many situations, there are actually *three* distinct flavors of cloud architects emerging that have both perspectives.  And, very often, they're not entirely aware that they're being pulled into an essential part of the storyline.

The "Technology Enabler" Cloud Architect

For most technologists, this role is the easiest to grasp, but not necessarily achieve.  At a high level, it's understanding the essential elements of different technology disciplines, and using them to create architectural design patterns that can support cloud-like IT delivery.

EMC has dug into this agenda with a passion: this certification (and associated training materials) have proven to be exceptionally popular.  Undoubtedly, more to come in this vein.

But, by itself, having a dandy technology infrastructure is only part of the equation.

Which brings us to ..

The "Process Reengineering" Cloud Architect

Cloud isn't about doing things the way you've always done them, only with shinier technology.  Almost none of the benefits associated with cloud (efficiency, robustness, agility, etc.) can't be achieved without significant process redesign.

From how services are provisioned to how applications are constructed to how IT is governed and paid for -- there's substantial IT process re-engineering at each and every turn.  Fail to get good at this, and you'll fail to achieve the benefits that were so motivating at the outset.

Indeed, like other parts of the business, re-engineering IT processes is a well than never runs dry: there's always more to do, and there's always more benefit to be had.

But, indeed, there's even more to consider ...

The "Business Enablement" Cloud Architect

One aspect of cloud is the notable goal of transforming IT from being perceived as a cost-center to becoming a key value generator for the enterprise.  At some point, this activity has to reach outside the boundaries of IT: it has to directly engage the users and stakeholders who are driving the enterprise itself.

For starters, IT is now less about individual projects, and more about consuming pre-existing services.  That's a big change in behavior for just about every enterprise consumer of IT.  Going farther: real rationalization of what needs to be done internally, and what's better left to external service providers with unique expertise.  Or perhaps a continual process to create new IT services for the enterprise (regardless of source!) and driving their intelligent consumption.

When people say they want to "run IT as a business", what they're really saying is "deliver superior value by anticipating current and future client needs better than anyone else".  That's the business mindset, isn't it?

Cloud Architects -- The Creators Of The Next Wave of IT?

We as technology vendors can only do so much to accelerate change.  We can create cool technology, and make it easy to consume.  We can position it to do a better job with today's applications, and prepare you for tomorrow's.

But, at some point, the tennis ball is in the other court, so to speak.  

Proficient consumers of enterprise technology are realizing the game has changed, and have started to invest in the key skills and behaviors required to bring about change.  

Very often, this is happens inuitively, but -- in a few cases -- there's an explicit evolution in IT leadership along these lines.

I'm glad we're doing our part to help ...

Comments

[Mitutoyo Calipers]

The future is here :) I am so EXCITED to see where everything is going with this cloud stuff. A completely revolution I'm guessing, and I CANT WAIT!

[Mike Campbell]

Thought proving post Chuck.

I'm finding myself identifying with a couple of the roles above. I have idea’s based on research and my own experience and when I go to vendors and say “here’s what I want” I continue to get responses like “huh, I hadn’t thought about doing it that way…”. Perhaps it’s time for me to jump the fence and step into one of the roles you mention above with a vendor. Might be fun.

Thanks for your effort in framing the many topic’s around virtualization and Cloud Computing. It leads me down many interesting paths.

Cheers
Mike

[Chuck Hollis]

Hi Mike -- thanks for the comments!

To re-iterate a previous thought, I think that these roles are ideally on the customer side, and not the vendor side.

Vendors need to identify and support the creation of these new roles, but it's my opinion that this is expertise that the customer would want and need to own vs. rent!

-- Chuck

[Andy Kiln]

Hi Chuck - Doug Neale of our/CSC's Leading Edge Forum has a similar view of the world and has coined the phrase "double deep employees" -

http://lef.csc.com/research/commentary/2010/sept10/the-emerging-double-deep-employee-are-cxos-keeping-pace2