David Sprott

In October 2010 Gartner Group assessed that Cloud Computing is at the top of the Hype Curve, the peak point of inflated expectations. But no one really needs this authoritative assessment to confirm an opinion that the industry in general is still in the early stages of Cloud Computing. An even more recent survey reveals that just 7% of organizations have approved cloud strategies and most organizations are now planning to establish strategic plans. So notwithstanding the cautionary reports, most government and commercial enterprises are planning to move rapidly to embrace the profound change inherent in this computing model. Clarify Scope and Objectives As many organizations embark on strategic planning for Cloud Computing, they should be strongly advised to think hard about the scope of their planning activity. First, what's becoming very obvious is that we are in... (more)

… so you should do a SOA Certification! But which one? And how?

After a near death experience SOA is alive and well. After mixed early learning experiences, most enterprises are seeing SOA in a fresh light. Just the other day one company was discussing with me their "SOA Reboot" project! They are in good company. I observe widespread activity that is based on doing SOA properly a second time around, including portfolio planning, shared services, good governance and not least education and certification of in-house practitioners and service providers’ personnel. There are several sources of SOA education and certification including ZapThink, ... (more)

Cloudburst - Coordinating Vectors for Business Transformation

I note Tom Graves, Robert Phipps and Richard Veryard discussing vectors as a metaphor for enterprise change. They argue As-Is and To-Be models are way too static. The organization is not a series of snapshots, rather it is a complex, multi-dimensional, interconnected series of continuous changes. I agree. For some time now we (Everware-CBDI) have been advising and practicing continuous evolution. We realize this concept in modernization projects by baselining the current state and modernizing that; actually rejecting the inevitable change request list. The outcome of the project ... (more)

Service Oriented Cloud (SOC)

I am almost shocked by the vast volume of tweets hitting #Cloud. Of course it’s a reflection of the frenetic level of interest in the subject. But it’s also because Cloud Computing is such a huge, complex domain. Following in the well-trodden path of many new information technology concepts we might expect morphing to occur. Much of the Cloud focus has been about infrastructure and technology, plus commodity applications, productivity tools and multi-tenant Web applications. Whilst all the really good Cloud environments are Service Oriented, it’s very much the minority of consum... (more)

Beware gurus promoting their new book on SOA Governance

SearchSOA.com interviewed co-authors Thomas Erl and Anne Thomas Manes to discuss their recently published book, SOA Governance: Governing Shared Services On-Premise and in the Cloud (Prentice Hall, April 2011). The Q&A; didn’t encourage me to buy their book. Question: How you define SOA governance? Answer: Manes “The quick definition is 'governance makes the rules.' . . . the best governance system is one that people appreciate, that helps people get work done, with the highest quality, and that is beneficial to business. Commentary: Governance doesn’t just make the rules. SOA Gover... (more)